60 Ideas in 60 Minutes

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #576 Oct. 11, 2011

Publisher: Joan Stewart
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“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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In This Issue
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1. 60 Ideas in 60 Minutes

2. Join Hot Conversations Immediately

3. LinkedIn’s Company Pages Widget

4. Best Practices for Facebook Pages

5. What Separates Rich, Poor Authors

6. Artists Need International Publicity

7. Hound Video of the Week

8. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…

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1. 60 Ideas in 60 Minutes
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Nothing elicits more gasps, ooohs and aaahs from audiences at my
workshops than when I demonstrate the Google Wonder Wheel.

It’s a nifty tool that, within seconds, helps you learn which
specific keywords and keyword phrases people are searching for
within a general topic. I use the Wonder Wheel to find ideas for
articles, blog posts and press releases.

I encourage authors to use it to find ideas for chapter topics
for their next books. If you create products in a particular
niche, the wheel will help you pinpoint the kinds of problems
people within that area are struggling with, based on their
Google searches. Once you know their problems, you can provide
the solutions.

The Wonder Wheel is just one of hundreds of free tools I’ve
shared with you over the last few years. But to access the rest
of them, you’d have to look in more than a half dozen places: in
this ezine, at my blog, in articles at my website, in guest blog
posts I write for other bloggers, in my Twitter feed, and in my
status updates on LinkedIn and Facebook.

But you don’t have that kind of time.

So I’ve compiled the 60 best ideas on how to use free or almost-
free tools to navigate the world of social media and publicity,
particularly helpful if you have a tight budget and are looking
for ways to save time. I’ll present them, and demonstrate some of
them, during a webinar I’m hosting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on
Monday, Oct. 17. It’s called “60 Tips in 60 Minutes: Free (or
Practically Free) Tips, Tricks, Tools & Tutorials for Publicity &
Social Media.

If the time is inconvenient, sign up anyway because you’ll get
the video replay. You’ll also receive, as a bonus, my newest
special report on how to find influential people who can lend
their names to whatever you’re promoting.

If you think your followers would benefit, share this on Twitter,
Facebook and LinkedIn. Affiliates, ask me how to configure your
affiliate link to earn a commission.

UPDATE: After this newsletter was sent, several alert readers
emailed to tell me that Google has pulled the Wonder Wheel. I’d
been using it for years and never thought to check to see if it
was still there. I should have. I regret the error. Google,
Please bring back the Wonder Wheel.

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2. Join Hot Conversations Immediately
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Savvy marketing and PR people stay on top of the hottest
conversations within their clients’ niches.

They have to.

They want their clients to be able to comment on blog posts,
write letters to the editor, pitch timely story ideas, offer
background information for journalists’ articles, or offer
commentary for an author’s forthcoming book–long before the
client’s competitors are even aware that there’s a hot topic
being discussed.

But until now, PR people have had to slog their way through a
variety of tools such as Klout, which doesn’t do a very accurate
job of measuring true influence.

A new tool from Appinions, a New York company, tracks traditional
and social media to round out a true picture of influence both
online and offline. It’s a subscription-based service that
matches influencers to specific topics, based on opinions it
finds from news reports, blogs, tweets, TV transcripts and social
networks.

The ideal user for this service is a PR or marketing agency with
numerous clients and revenues of more than $5 million a year.

CEO Larry Levy will demonstrate the tool during a free webinar
I’m hosting from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Oct. 13.
Register today because we have room for only 50 people:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/308195010

Or read more about it at my blog at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9541

After you register, email me your topics and Levy will try to
work them into his demonstration.

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3. LinkedIn’s Company Pages Widget
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Are you promoting your products and services yet on LinkedIn’s
Company Pages?

They’re free. You can create multiple pages. You can add photos.
And they’re a terrific way to promote B2B companies.

But how do you get people to find your pages, and then follow
you, so they can stay up to date on new products you’re
introducing?

Add the Company Pages widget to your website and blog.

Go here and build it:

https://developer.linkedin.com/plugins/company-profile-plugin

Learn more about LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth’s power formula
for writing a killer profile, cashing in on groups and creating
company pages at
http://publicityhound.com/linkedinpowerformulapart2.htm

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4. Best Practices for Facebook Pages
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Don’t create the standard Facebook page if you or your PR client
are in one of these categories: celebrities, musicians,
journalists, politicians, athletes, nonprofits.

Facebook has Best Practices Guides for all those people, designed
to help you tell your story, build deep, lasting connections with
your audience and keep them updated and engaged.

You can find the guides at
https://www.facebook.com/FacebookPages?sk=app_229825110408473

Mari Smith has more ideas on how to encourage people to Like your
page and click on your links. She was my guest during the webinar
on “33 Ways to Attract Facebook Fans, Provide Sterling Content &
Keep Them Coming Back for More.” No time to watch the webinar
replay? That’s OK. Use the handy checklist I compiled. It
includes all 33 tips. Follow one tip each day and watch the
number of Likes on your page skyrocket.

Read more about how to access the replay and the checklist, part
of the handouts, at
http://publicityhound.com/facebookpages.htm

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5. What Separates Rich, Poor Authors
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Poor authors place their hopes, dreams, sweat, blood and money
only on their books.

If the book fails, the author fails.

Rich authors use the book as a calling card to upsell readers to
a wide variety of other products and services: coaching programs,
board games, wall calendars, membership programs, and more.
That’s one of the key differences between rich authors and poor
authors.

Learn the other six at a free 75-minute telephone seminar hosted
by Steve Harrison of Radio-TV Interview Report, at 2 and 7 p.m.
Eastern Time on Thursday, Oct. 13. Even though the call is free,
I promote it as a compensated affiliate. I’ve seen hundreds of
authors miss this important distinction and tie up their life’s
savings in cardboard boxes of books they can’t sell.

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6. Artists Need International Publicity
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This week, three Publicity Hounds have ideas for Kate Farrall of
San Diego, CA, whose PR clients, both artists, need international
publicity for the mural they painted on a water tank outside
Sacramento, CA.

From Celeste Balducci:

“Promote an event at the site and give something back to the
community, such as a kids’ arts day. Connect with all the mom
bloggers, schools, local officials, ongoing social media,
museums, press and non-profit arts groups.”

From Alyson B. Stanfield, a business coach for artists:

“There is an entire magazine devoted to public art called Public
Art Review at http://forecastpublicart.org/par.php. Try also
Sculpture magazine at
http://www.sculpture.org/redesign/mag.shtml. You’re calling it a
mural, but it is really an installation piece.

“How about community enhancement/planning pitching? There are so
many communities trying to revive themselves. Surely there are
publications devoted to city planning. (Art is my bailiwick, so
not sure about this one.)

From The Publicity Hound:

“I recommend two blogs for inspiration. Visit Lori McNee’s blog
at http://www.finearttips.com/blog/. She is an internationally
recognized artist who specializes in still life and landscape oil
paintings. She shares fine art tips, including marketing tips.

“Also, go to Alyson B. Stanfield’s blog at
http://www.artbizblog.com/. She’s savvy marketer and a Publicity
Hound!”

Read all the responses to this “Help This Hound” question at my
blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=9512

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7. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Sophie Wajsman of Australia for sharing
this “Which is the Guilty Dog?” video. I promise you’ll laugh:
http://www.maniacworld.com/which-is-the-guilty-dog.html

DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes,
perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
good laughs.

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50
best websites for dog humor.

http://publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/

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8. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…
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6 ways to promote your retail business before you open
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9556

7 ways to congratulate journalists–without brown-nosing
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9522

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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound

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