Issue #792 Feb. 11, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- Don’t Blow Your Chance for a Good Review
- Help Me Choose a New Slogan
- Use My Best Tips
- Hound Video of the Week
This Week in the Hound House:
It’s back to the doctor today. The natural oils, jams and jellies are no match for the nasty bug that seems to have taken over my life. But I have to feel better by Saturday. That’s when I’m emceeing my garden club’s annual “Green Up Your Winter Blues” seminar. The show must go on!
1. Don’t Blow Your Chance for a Good Review
You’ve spent months–years even–bringing a new product or book to market.
Now, it’s time solicit reviews. Don’t make these five mistakes that many other marketers make:
–They buy expensive email lists and mass email everyone on the list asking for a review. That’s inviting trouble because they’re not only spamming, they’re breaking the law.
–They go after influential journalists and ignore bloggers, many of whom are stars in their niches and have very loyal audiences.
–They send the book or product, unsolicited, to bloggers who write about their industry. Bloggers love free stuff. But they hate it when someone like you litters their office with products their readers don’t care about.
–Their email request for a pitch includes no personal details about the reviewer.
–They don’t have high-resolution product photos available for magazines that want to feature the product in the “new product” section of their magazine.
One of the very best ways to capture the attention of journalists and bloggers who you want to review your product or book is to give it to them, for free, and ask them to “test drive” it. But who you ask, how you ask, and when you ask, are critical.
I’ll walk you step by step through the process when I host the webinar “How to Ask for Book and Product Reviews from Bloggers, Journalists and Consumers” from 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Feb. 13. And I’m making this super-easy for you. Everyone who registers will receive five short fill-in-the-blank templates you can customize, depending on whom you are pitching. You’ll get these after the presentation.
2. Help Me Choose a New Slogan
A few weeks ago, I told you about SloganSlingers.com, the service that helps you find a clever slogan or tagline.
You can pay however much you want. But just for the heck of it, I put $100 on the line and filled out a form explaining what I needed. I’m curious to see if there’s anything better than my current slogan “Tips, tricks and tools for free publicity.”
I got 169 entries! Most of them aren’t very good, but a few of them caught my eye. I’ll spend some time later this week plucking out the best ones, and I’ll let you vote on your favorite. You ALWAYS come through when I need your help, and I know you’ll give me good advice on this one.
Who knows? You might tell me to keep the slogan I’ve been using for almost two decades. Stay tuned…
3. Use My Best Tips
If you’re new to this ezine, or if you had a hectic December, you might have missed downloading the handy ebook that includes my best 34 tips from last year.
You can still grab it at my site.
We even created a handy app you can use with your mobile phone.
You’ll find a special emphasis on free tools that will save you time and money in a publicity or social media campaign. And don’t forget to regift the book to your clients, business buddies, or anyone you know who needs help promoting themselves or their businesses.
4. Hound Video of the Week
Thanks to Publicity Hound Kathleen Mahan of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., for this video of a squirrel trying to hide a nut in the fur of a Bernese Mountain Dog.
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