Bloggers, What if You’re Sued?

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #448 April 28, 2009

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“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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In This Issue
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1. Bloggers, What if You’re Sued?

2. Gardening Story Ideas

3. ZooLoo’s Intern Contest

4. Sneak into Inflight Magazines

5. Promoting a Concierge Service

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

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1. Bloggers, What if You’re Sued?
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If you woke up tomorrow and discovered that someone who you wrote
about in your blog had sued you for libel, what would you do?

Regardless of how many blogging books, online courses, tutorials
and other materials you’ve devoured on blogging, I’m betting you
wouldn’t know what to do next.

I’m also betting that you don’t know exactly what constitutes
libel, defamation and invasion of privacy.

Do you know what you can and can’t write about that celebrity you
loath? What about your busy-body neighbor next door? Is she
immune from public criticism?

What if you’re researching material for a blog post and you cut
and paste a few paragraphs from somebody else’s blog into your
own blog but fail to rewrite it? Is that copyright infringement?

There’s nothing like a big fat lawsuit dumped right in your lap
to make all those other blog topics we’re always sweating–like
Typepad vs. WordPress, or moderated vs. unmoderated comments–
seem so absolutely irrelevant.

When the former headmistress at Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls
in South Africa sued me in October last year, I was lucky enough
to find the Media Bloggers Association, a membership-based
organization that helped me when I didn’t know where else to
turn.

It was founded in 2004 by dozens of leading bloggers as a “mutual
defense pact” for bloggers facing legal threats. The MBA
promotes, protects and educates its members and supports the
development of “blogging” or “citizen journalism” as a distinct
form of media.

I blogged about the lawsuit, how the MBA helped me, and what you
can learn from my mistakes.

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2. Gardening Story Ideas
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At my local garden club meeting last week, somebody announced
that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was looking for members to
quote in a story on sustainable gardening.

That reminded me that gardening stories are in demand in every
state and country as people try to trim their grocery bills. The
Milwaukee paper has an entire section at its website devoted to
gardening stories. So if you can’t make it into your newspaper or
onto TV, offer content for media websites.

Here are ideas for your media pitches, blog, articles and videos:

–Are local farmer’s facing tough economic times? Will more
backyard gardeners be selling produce at these markets to make
some extra money?

–People who have never gardened before want to know the basics.
It’s a great opportunity for horticulturists and garden centers
to offer tips on how to minimize weeds, fertilize and keep the
critters from eating at your backyard salad bar.

–Is organic all it’s cracked up to be? Why is organic food so
expensive?

–Restaurants, are you specializing in food grown locally?

–Are neighborhoods creating Victory Gardens? What about rooftop
gardens in bustling metropolitan areas?

–Artists, how about demonstrating how to make inexpensive garden
art like scarecrows, metal doo-dads for the herb garden and
whimsical garden angels?

–My compost pile is a mess. Will somebody please explain how to
keep it from looking so gross?

–Parents, are you teaching the kids how to garden?

–Are more people going to be canning pickles, applesauce, beets
and other fruits and veggies like I do?

–What are the most in-demand gardening supplies and accessories?

If you don’t have a gardening idea, but you still want publicity
during the next few months, you have opportunities galore.
Shawne Duperon and I teamed up to present “116 WOW! Story Ideas
from January through June.” It’s available as a CD and comes with
a downloadable handout that lists all 116 ideas. If you order by
midnight tonight Eastern Time, we’ll send you the companion “103
Sizzling Story Ideas from July through December,” a $39.95 value.

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3. ZooLoo’s Intern Contest
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If you’re hiring a summer intern, take a cue from Zooloo.com, an
Internet marketing company in Scottsdale, Ariz.

It’s looking for a marketing intern to help promote a new product
that’s still a secret. The formal launch will be later this year.

ZooLoo’s PR strategy incorporates many social networking tools
such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Reddit,
Technorati and Digg. And, of course, video.

To apply for the job, candidates had to create videos explaining
why they should be chosen.

Very clever.

If you’re hiring an intern or anybody else for a job that entails
creativity, why not incorporate videos as part of your
application process?

Then, once they’re hired, get them up to speed very quickly on
publicity and promotion. A series of teleseminars I sponsored on
“How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign” is
perfect for newbie interns, or a great refresher course for
somebody returning to PR. The course is available as a series of
CDs, MP3s or electronic transcripts.

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4. Sneak into Inflight Magazines
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Landing a full feature story in one of the inflight magazines can
be next to impossible unless you know exactly what the magazine
is looking for.

If you can’t convince them to write about you, there are other
ways to sneak into these high-circulation publications:

–Submit a press release and photo for their new product section,
particularly if the product is related to business or travel.
Publicity Hound Jason Claybrook, of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics,
wrote to tell me that a pair of compact binoculars his company
sells ended up in Delta Sky’s “Splurge of the Month” section
several years ago, thanks to my tips. The publicity resulted in
“tremendous feedback from travelers all around the world.”

–Submit a press release and photo for the magazine’s calendar
section.

–Write a letter to the editor, particularly if you’ve had great
service on a recent flight. Clever Publicity Hounds can always
figure out a way to weave into their letter a mention of whatever
product or service they sell.

–Establish a relationship with a freelancer who writes for the
magazine. Pitch your story to her, and let her pitch it to the
editor. Freelancers often write for more than one publication and
might use you as a source multiple times.

“Special Report #29: Fly High with Publicity in In-Flight
Magazines” includes pitching tips, contact information and more
insider tips for 49 magazines published by domestic and
international airlines.

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5. Promoting a Concierge Service
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This week, six Publicity Hounds have tips for Shametra L. Thomas
of Dallas, Texas on how to promote her new concierge service,
The Savvy DFW, in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.

From Molly Cook:

“A business like this will rely more than many others on
personal, one-on-one contact. Visit your likeliest
customers/clients personally, take small gifts along with
business cards and brochures, and get acquainted with as many
potential users of your service as possible.”

From Mary Shafer:

“Your target customer is the home decision-maker, most likely a
woman. So look for her where businesswomen congregate:
networking groups like Le Tip, Chamber of Commerce mixers,
business card exchanges and businesswomen’s organizations. Send
press releases to their newsletters and websites.”

From LisaMarie Dias:

“Collect email addresses from events, networking, etc. and then
start an e-newsletter and flyer campaign to make sure everyone
knows what you are offering.”

The Publicity Hound says:

Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question

Send your own Help this Hound question to me and include your city and state.

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6. Help This Hound
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Terri Jay of Washoe Valley, Nev. writes:

“I am a psychic messenger for humans and pets. My main focus
right now is to generate private reading clients and also to get
the word out about what I do.

“I am able to communicate with people who have Alzheimer’s,
dementia, autism, or those in a coma. These communication
disorders affect millions of people.

“Some people want pet readings. As soon as they start talking
about their pet, I can feel the pet through them. Pet
communication covers everything from health to behavior to
grieving to performance (especially with horses).

“I have virtually no advertising budget, but I do have an agent
in L.A. who is pitching a TV show idea. I’d like to find ways to
reach out to people and let them know this is possible right
away, until I get the TV show going. I’m doing fairly well, have
a show at the Pioneer Underground in Downtown Reno on some
Saturdays, but would really like to become more well known
because it would help move the TV show pitching along.

“Can your Hounds help me with ideas?”

The Publicity Hound says:

By teaming with some joint venture partners, you can really
expand your reach, Terry. I can hardly wait to see the fun ideas
my Hounds post to my blog.

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7. Hound Joke of the Week
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Thanks to Lois Carter Fay, who found this joke in the newsletter,
“Ah, there you are!” published by Dick Cook in Norfolk, Va.:

A guy walks into a bar with a small dog. The bartender says, “Get
out of here with that dog!”

The guy says, “But this isn’t just any dog…this dog can play
the piano!”

The bartender replies, “Well, if he can play that piano, you both
can stay…and have a drink on the house!”

So the guy sits the dog at the piano, and the dog starts playing
ragtime, a little swing, some Gershwin. The bartender is amazed
and patrons are enjoying the music.

Suddenly a bigger dog runs in, grabs the small dog by the scruff
of the neck, and drags him out. The bartender asks the guy, “What
was that all about?”

The guy replies, “Oh, that was his mother. She wants him to be a
doctor.”

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8. And at My Blog…
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11 publicity tips for retails who sell tea–or anything else

Bloggers, ask the right question: ‘What if I’m sued tomorrow?’