Enhance Your Pitch with Video

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #439 Feb. 24, 2009

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. Enhance Your Pitch with Video

2. Target College Blogs

3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold

4. Meet Journalists Face to Face

5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

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1. Enhance Your Pitch with Video
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Too many Publicity Hounds are obsessed with generating coverage in the printed versions of newspapers and magazines.

They forget that newspaper circulation is plummeting and that things aren’t exactly rosy in the magazine industry, either.

If you can make it into your local daily newspaper, congratulations. But what about the thousands of people who have stopped subscribing because they can read much of the content online and not have to pay?

If your story shows up in the printed newspaper, but not at the paper’s website, you’re missing the chance to be in front of all those people who read it online.

Entice editors to publish your story in the printed and online editions by offering them video at their website. For example:

–Let’s say you’re a fashion consultant. You can pitch a story about how Casual Friday has resulted in slobs in the workplace, and then offer a short video that shows the Top 10 Casual Friday Fashion Mistakes. Editors will be happy to put the video at their website and refer to it from the story in the printed edition.

–An author publicizing a recipe book for children can offer the food editor a video that shows a child making a peanut butter and jelly roll-up, with help from mom or dad.

–A manufacturer who’s pitching a business story can offer video that shows a product in various stages of completion, sort of a mini version of the popular show “How it’s Made” on the Science Channel.

Print journalists love video because they’re under immense pressure to provide multi-media at their websites. Multi-media draws visitors, and that means more people reading paid ads. So be sure to mention video in your pitch. Lots of other Publicity Hounds aren’t using video. If you do, you’ll set yourself apart from the crowd.

Publicity Hound John Easton, a videographer, has turned into a media darling in his own community of Charlotte, North Carolina by cranking out videos whenever he can–for use at newspaper websites and the local Chamber of Commerce websites, among others.

He says you don’t have to be a video professional like he is to endear the media. With an inexpensive Flip Video camera and a few tricks up your sleeve, you can generate mountains of publicity far and above what every else is getting.

John explained all his tricks during a teleseminar last year on “9 Clever Ways to Use Video to Become a Publicity Darling in Your Industry or Community.”

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2. Target College Blogs
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If you’re publicizing something that appeals to a college audience, the school’s newspaper and campus TV and radio stations should be on your targeted media list.

Don’t forget about the blogs associated with those media.

I picked up a copy of The Marquette Tribune, the campus paper published by Marquette University in Milwaukee. Inside, I found four URLs leading to the newspapers blogs. They are devoted to student government, music and entertainment, Greek life, and club sports. Most of them accept comments.

I’m guessing that some college students who don’t read traditional newspapers also don’t read their college paper but, instead, search for information online, including these blogs.

Including college newspapers in your publicity campaign is one of the thousands of tips featured in the 2013 update of my ebook “How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound.” When co-author Tom Antion and I updated it late last year, we added six new chapters on social media.

This is one of my most popular learning tools because it gives Hounds an overall view of hundreds of publicity tools and resources, and gives specific strategies on how to use them. Our eight new chapters include tips and strategies for using video, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, photo-sharing sites, and social bookmarking. If you’re late getting started with social media, this ebook explains in easy-to-understand terms how to incorporate these sites into a publicity campaign.

Read more about what you’ll learn.

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3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold
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Authors, if you want more reviews for your books, pay attention to this tip.

Publicity Hounds everywhere, if you’re trying to generate publicity among the blogging community, and you blog, this tip applies to you, too.

It’s courtesy of Rebecca Morgan, who publishes the excellent SpeakerNetNews ezine for speakers.

Rebecca says that since so many newspapers are discontinuing their book review sections, Hounds need to think creatively about ways to publicize their books.

She suggests that you hunt down bloggers who mention your blog in their blogroll. The blogroll is the list, usually in the right or left margin, that links to all the blogs they find interesting.

I’ve seen my blog listed on dozens, maybe even hundreds, of blogrolls that deal with marketing, publicity, books and promotion.

Rebecca suggests that you ask bloggers who list you in their blogroll to review your book.

“You already know they are your fans. Send them an advance copy. When they review it, put a link on your site to the review and tell your readers to check it out.”

She also suggests:

–Add a quote from their review on your book description page with a link to the full review.

–Ask other bloggers or sites that focus on your book’s topic for a review, even if your site isn’t on their blogroll.

–Offer five free books to their site to use as awards for a contest they may want to run. Thus your book’s title stays in front of key buyers.

–Provide bloggers with a jpg of the book cover to post with the review.

–If you have an affiliate program, invite them to join so they earn commissions from orders coming from their readers. Many of these folks will also invite you to appear as a guest on their podcasts or Internet radio shows.

Her ideas could work for many other products, not just books. To find blogrolls that mention your blog, you can use Google.com/Blogsearch or Technorati.com.

P.S. If you list me in your blogroll and want to review the 2009 edition of “How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound,” or if you’re a blogger or ezine editor who wants to review the book, let Christine Buffaloe, my customer service manager, know.

Authors, if your book sales have fallen flat, do NOT give up and start writing your next book. That’s a big mistake. Instead, start applying the same strategies that book publicist Lissa Warren uses when her clients’ book sales hit the skids. She details them all during the teleseminar we conducted on “How to Revive a Dying Book Marketing Campaign.”

This title is no longer available, see “How to Launch a Book, Promote It and Sell a Truckload–Without an Expensive Publicist.”

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4. Meet Journalists Face to Face
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More than 100 journalists from media outlets large and small will meet Publicity Hounds face to face at the National Publicity Summit April 22-25 in New York.

The journalists will sit across from authors, speakers, consultants, experts and others who will be pitching their ideas to get onto shows like “48 Hours,” ABC’s “The View,” Fox News and the “Today” show.

Hounds will be delivering succinct, 10- or 15-second pitches and including all the enticing little “extras” that encourage a media person to say “tell me more.”

Each year, only 100 people are accepted at the summit so that each can have enough face time with journalists.

In years past, the summit has produced dozens of success stories that include:

–Ron & Lisa Beres’s appearance on the “Today” show.

–Steve Shapiro’s big write-up in “O the Oprah Magazine” after meeting the writer at the publicity summit.

–Barry Spilchuk’s interview on the Fox News Channel within just five hours of meeting the producer at the summit!

–Sandy Clemmons’s stories in Health Magazine, Money Magazine and TV Guide, all from meeting journalists face to face at this event.

You’ll have to complete an application before you’re accepted. Visit the National Publicity Summit for all the details.

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5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows
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This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips on how Lori Feldman of St. Louis, Mo. can promote home & garden shows in four cities throughout the United States.

From Jeff Rutherford:

“There has been so much media coverage of the impact of the economy on people’s day-to-day lives, why not pitch reporters on the idea that more people will be gardening this year? It’s relatively low-cost fun, and some of those people may very well be growing their own food. You could offer spokespeople from the show as experts on the power of gardening–to help feed people and promote family bonding.”

From Holly Miller:

“Get in touch with your local Master Gardeners, Cooperative Extension Office, and any regional government groups that promote water conservation, beautification, or storm water management through rain gardens. For examples, see AskHRGreen.org.

“Additionally, check  Meetup for environmental or gardening groups in your target area. You’ll be amazed at how many resources there are for finding your target audience. And, a give-away targeting a specific green initiative wouldn’t hurt. Think about free rain barrels or installation of a rain garden.”

From Catherine McVicker:

“Get a garden center to contribute the creation of a pint-size victory garden for four people as a prize. They get publicity at the show, get to put a sign at the street like painters do, and, hopefully, get word of mouth exposure as the family of four eats its way through the garden produce during the summer.”

The Publicity Hound says:

These ideas are fabulous. The first one, about promoting gardening during a bad economy, is perfect for TV because there will be so many great visuals at the show. I’d pitch it to local TV stations a day or two before the show opens in each city. If you can find local people who preserve their garden vegetables, that would be a great local tie-in.

TV producer Shawne Duperon gave step-by-step directions on how to contact local TV newsrooms and pitch ideas when she was a guest on my teleseminar “How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow.”

This title is no longer available, see “61 Publicity Ideas in 61 Minutes.”

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

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6. Help This Hound
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Jill Cranford of Livermore, Colo. writes:

“My company, Stone2Furniture, which makes outdoor furniture from stone, is having an Ugly Patio Furniture Contest and we’ll be giving away a set of our stone furniture valued at $4,100.

“So here I am with the rules drawn up, and it’s live on our website and in the Media Room. I sent out 130 snail-mail flyers and emails to editors.

“My next step is getting it to the local news channels. But I am wondering if I am missing a step? I haven’t heard from any editors. I know this will be fun but I’m just not sure how to launch it.”

The Publicity Hound says:

I love these “ugliest” contests and other journalists do, too! Sometimes a photo can tell a story far better than a press release or a brochure. You already have two photos of entries at the link above. The photo that shows the ugly patio table made out of two rubber storage containers will really attract a lot of attention when you’re pitching this story.

I’m leaving it up to my Hounds to offer suggestions on how to use that photo, and any other ideas they have on how to promote your contest. Hounds, you can post your ideas to my blog.

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7. Hound Joke of the Week
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Today is Mardi Gras Day.

To celebrate, Jeanne Hurlbert of Baton Rouge, La., shares this video of the Mardi Gras Dog Parade, an annual event where she and her family “throw beads and dog treats and have a great time.” (If the video won’t load, come back in an hour or so because too many people might be trying to watch it.)

Jeanne is the survey consultant I hired to help me create the survey that you’ll be getting from me soon.