The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #521 Sept. 1, 2010
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. Betting on the Bush Tax Cuts
2. Sales Leads from Your Blog
3. How to Get Onto Twitter Lists
4. Fun Ideas for a Pizza Shop
5. Authors, Last Call for Tips
6. Hound Joke of the Week
7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…
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1. Betting on the Bush Tax Cuts
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When estate planner Jeff Scroggin of Roswell, Ga., knew his
fellow tax advisors were closely watching debate over repealing
the Bush tax cuts on Jan. 1, he decided to have a little fun with
a serious topic.
Jeff asked them to place their bets on what Congress will do
about extending the estate tax. He created 80 chances to win, at
$1 a chance. Some planners bet multiple times and placed more
than $1 on the line. The winner whose guess comes closest to what
will actually happen will take home $200.
Jeff advertised the pool to an email list of about 100 people,
mostly estate planners. He also extended invitations through the
National Association of Estate Planners and Councils. His email
list included Arden Dale, who writes for the Wall Street Journal
and who has interviewed Jeff for other stories. She wrote about
the wager for the Journal’s blog last week at
http://blogs.wsj.com/financial-adviser/2010/08/18/on-estate-tax-all-bets-areon/ Since then, Jeff has gotten about five other
calls for interviews.
As for his own prediction, he says, “Anybody who thinks or says
they think they know what will happen next with the tax cuts is
either clairvoyant or deranged.”
Jeff, an attorney, says he knows the pool is illegal but that
it’s all in fun.
You can take his idea of betting on the outcome of an issue and
adopt it to almost any controversial topic in your own industry.
Even if no money changes hands, the winner can have bragging
rights. Your story could be perfect for trade publications, blogs
that cover your industry and, depending on the topic, even
consumer publications. You might even try pitching it to
reporters and hosts of network and cable TV news shows.
I devote an entire chapter to offbeat publicity ideas like this
one in my ebook, “How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound,” the
best all-around how-to guide for generating publicity using
traditional and social media. Learn more about the book and the
eight new chapters on social media at
https://publicityhound.com/publicity/publicityhound.htm
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2. Sales Leads from Your Blog
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If you’re using your blog to position yourself as a subject
matter expert, you’re only halfway there.
You can also use it to generate sales leads.
Dean Rieck, a direct marketing copywriter, explains how in a post
he wrote for Copyblogger.com at
http://www.copyblogger.com/generate-sales-leads/
No surprise that he advocates bringing people into your sales
funnel by first offering something for free like a White Paper,
ezine, video, or something of value that helps your audience
solve a particular problem. But he also offers great tips on how
to follow up on those leads.
I’m revamping my blog to make it more search-engine friendly and
add features I learned about when Patsi Krakoff was my guest
during a teleseminar I hosted earlier this year on “Time-saving
Tips for Smart Business Blogging.” If you’re new to blogging,
this is the perfect tool to get you started. If you’ve been
blogging for several years, it may be time to revamp your blog,
and this teleseminar will give you dozens of ideas. The MP3, CD
or electronic transcript each come with 27 pages of handouts that
include 101 ways to find content for your blog. Read more about
what else you’ll learn at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/businessblogging.htm
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3. How to Get Onto Twitter Lists
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The more Twitter lists you’re on, the more people are exposed to
you and your expertise, even if they don’t have a Twitter
account.
I’m on more than 660 lists, many devoted to PR, publicity and
social media, and that number is growing almost daily. Here are
four ways to get onto other people’s lists:
–Tweet helpful, relevant content frequently and forego the
“here’s what I’m doing today” tweets. Help people solve their
problems.
–Ask! Don’t be shy about suggesting that someone add you to a
list they’ve already created, or a new one devoted to a specific
topic.
–Write a blog post suggesting topics for lists that should
include you, and then tweet the post. See the blog post I wrote
this morning at http://publicityhound.net/?p=6984
–Add a reminder to your email signature, with a link to your
Twitter profile. Once people log into their Twitter account, they
can go to your Twitter page, click on the “Lists” button at the
top of your feed, and add you to one or more of their lists. Or
they can create a new one.
These tips were among dozens I shared during last week’s webinar
on “How to Use Twitter Lists & Directories to Generate Publicity
and Build Your Brand.” Order the video, MP3 and the handouts
which include step-by-step instructions on how to create, use and
promote your lists at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/twitterlists.htm
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4. Fun Ideas for a Pizza Shop
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This week, 16 Publicity Hounds have tips for Deborah Lott of
Giddings, Texas, who needs help marketing her pizza shop and
Italian restaurant between Austin and Houston.
From Stephanie Trahd:
“Start collecting email addresses. Entice diners to sign up by
giving them coupons, chef’s secrets and anything else they would
value. You’d be surprised how many people will come in toting
‘free soda with dinner’ coupons.”
From Gayle Carson:
“You can start a frequent dining program and when they have
ordered X many times or spent X number of dollars, they get a
pizza free. Or, you can have them join a club where they pay you
a certain amount every month and they get to eat pizza for free
that month. Another pizza store I know has a continuity program
and they never lack for business.”
From Diana:
“Name certain pizzas (or create sandwiches) for local town
celebs–mayor, high school principals, media anchors, newspaper
reporters, etc. and put them on your menu. Then let the celebs
know and invite them in to try it. People love to frequent
restaurants with items named in their honor.”
The Publicity Hound says:
Read all the responses to this “Help This Hound” question at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=6959 and then check out my own tips
that I shared with http://www.RestaurantReport.com when I was a
guest on their teleseminar called “Publicity Tips for
Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies” at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/restaurants.htm
Send your own Help this Hound question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound and
include your city and state.
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5. Authors, Last Call for Tips
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You have 72 hours to download the webinar that I recorded with
publishing and marketing mentor John Eggen on how to ?Write a
Client-Attracting Book Fast That Makes $150,000 Even Before It?s
Published? (and more thereafter).
He explained exactly how many weeks you should spend writing,
editing, designing, printing and shipping your book. While some
authors exceed his 90-day window for producing a book, they still
complete the task in far less time than it takes many other
authors who labor for years over their books. Don’t make this an
exhausting task.
I recorded the call and you can listen to it, including the
killer question-and-answer session, at http://tinyurl.com/25blcta
There?s a valuable free gift (a $265.00 value) offered to
attendees during the interview, but it will only be honored until
Saturday, and then John is taking down the page. Get it now
before it’s gone at http://tinyurl.com/25blcta
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6. Hound Joke of the Week
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This isn’t a joke, but I thought you’d like it. I found this in
an old issue of My Midwest, the inflight magazine of Midwest
Airlines, which has been bought by Frontier Airlines.
To make it easy for people to travel with their dogs, Loews
Hotels has introduced “learning vacations” for your favorite
pooch at three of its hotels.
At “The Hound of Music” at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville,
your dog can head into the recording studio with a voice coach
for a professional recording session where it will howl along
with a musician or bark to its favorite karaoke beat.
If you’re targeting your publicity at an upscale, well-educated
audience, in-flight magazines might be the perfect vehicle for
your story. “Fly High with Publicity in the In-flight Magazines”
saves you hours of research with pitching tips galore and contact
information for 56 inflight magazines. Read more about the report
at http://www.InflightMagazinePublicity.com
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 Blogs & Mobile Site…
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Great fodder for retweeting:
If you MUST stage a groundbreaking event, try this
http://publicityhound.net/?p=6968
5 ways to be included on other people’s Twitter lists
http://publicityhound.net/?p=6984
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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound
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