A Really Impressive PR Pitch

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #595 Feb. 28, 2012

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. A Really Impressive PR Pitch

2. How Pinterest Violates Copyright

3. LinkedIn’s New “Follow” Button

4. Authors: Meet Me in San Francisco

5. Write for My Blog

6. Hound Video of the Week

7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site

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1. A Really Impressive PR Pitch
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Trust me when I tell you that a media list chock full of juicy
personal details about a journalist or blogger can be your ticket
to publicity.

BL Ochman agrees. She’s a social media expert and a prolific
blogger who writes about online promotions.

On Friday, she wrote about a pitch she received from Rob Toledo,
of Distilled Creative, calling her attention to a social media
campaign roadmap.

BL, who has seen her share of lame pitches, was bowled over by
the personal details about her that Rob, whom she doesn’t know,
included in his pitch. Impressed, she wrote a post titled “Dear
PR Peeps: please read this *really great* PR pitch! (And what he
was pitching).”

BL analyzed Rob’s pitch to show you exactly what made her pay
attention. The screenshot she used at her blog is a little
difficult to read, and she gave me permission to reproduce it at
my blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=10470

Please, please, please read it. Study it. And use Rob’s
techniques the next time you pitch a blogger or journalist.

For more tips on how to do some good, old-fashioned sleuthing and
find personal details about the people who you will be pitching,
check out the webinar I hosted recently on “How to Create Your
Own Database of Valuable Media Contacts” at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/mediadatabase.htm. It included the eight templates I use
for my own database because I want to save you time and not make
you start from scratch.

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2. How Pinterest Violates Copyright
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Thousands of people who use Pinterest, the social media site that
lets you “pin” images to a digital corkboard, are violating
copyright by pinning other people’s artwork, photographs,
trademarks, logos and more.

Many give the source credit, but some don’t.

Pinterest’s terms of use place the responsibility for following
copyright laws not on itself, but on its users. Pinterest also
gives itself the right to actually sell content that users place
on its site.

If you don’t want Pinterest members to violate copyright and
steal your work, and if you don’t want Pinterest to sell your
work, you can opt out by going to
http://pinterest.com/about/help/ and scrolling all the way to the
bottom to the category “Linking to your blog or website.” Click
on “What if I don’t want images from my site to be pinned?” and
you’ll see a snippet of code that you can add to the head of any
page on your site.

When a user tries to pin from your site, they will see this
message: “This site doesn’t allow pinning to Pinterest. Please
contact the owner with any questions.”

Here’s a very helpful blog post, with lots of links, where you
can read more about how people violate copyright on Pinterest:
http://greekgeek.hubpages.com/hub/Is-Pinterest-a-Haven-for-
Copyright-Violations

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3. LinkedIn’s New “Follow” Button
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Let people interested in your company stay connected to you on
LinkedIn by adding a “Follow Company” button to your website or
blog.

LinkedIn rolled it out yesterday and explains how to use it at
http://blog.linkedin.com/2012/02/27/linkedin-follow-button-for-
companies/.

To grab the code, click here:
https://developer.linkedin.com/plugins/follow-company

While you’re at it, give people an easy way to stay abreast of
new products and services you’re offering. Create Company Pages
on LinkedIn and fill them with lots of content. It’s the perfect
place to promote!

LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth shared all the little tricks on
how to use Company Pages when he was my guest on the webinar
“Your LinkedIn Power Formula Part 2: Advanced Strategies for
Writing a Killer Profile, Cashing in on Groups and Creating
Company Pages.” Read more about how to access the video replay at
http://publicityhound.com/linkedinpowerformulapart2.htm

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4. Authors: Meet Me in San Francisco
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If you’ll be at IBPA’s Publishing University in San Francisco on
March 9-10, attend at least one of three panels where I’m
presenting on Saturday:

–9 to 10:15: Advanced Techniques for Creating Websites/Blogs
That SELL

–1:45 to 3: Using Facebook and Twitter to Jump-Start Sales

–3:15 to 4:30: Getting Attention: Promoting Your Titles to
Bloggers and Online Communities

I’m back on the speaking circuit, sharing my publicity and social
media expertise. Email me at JStewart (at) PublicityHound.com if
you’d like to host The Publicity Hound at your event.

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5. Write for My Blog
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Get in front of PR people, publicists, authors, speakers,
experts, do-it-yourself Publicity Hounds and others who read my
blog by writing a guest post.

It will expose you to a new audience. And I’ll promote you like
crazy on the social media sites.

Read more about how to pitch me:
http://publicityhound.net/?p=6573

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6. Hound Video of the Week
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If you can stand two and a half minutes of cuteness, watch this
mama Husky love her baby, and watch the pup tell its mom in
puppy-speak, “I love you more.”

http://youtu.be/PkUVnYG27Vc

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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7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…
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Great content for retweeting:

Expert on gossip? Top-tier reporter needs sources
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10535

Check your Pinterest influence score with PinClout
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10517

Pitch stories about employees in their 80s, 90s
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10496

Personal details in your pitch is your ticket to publicity
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10470

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