Facebook Deadline Oct. 1

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #571 Sept. 6, 2011
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://publicityhound.com
http://www.publicityHound.mobi
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.publicityarticles.net (Ezine Archives)

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“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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In This Issue
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1. Facebook Deadline Oct. 1

2. Make Your Blog Your Home Base

3. The Press Release Addiction

4. Repeat of TV Talk Shows Webinar

5. Help This HOund

6. Hound Video of the Week

7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…

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1. Facebook Deadline Oct. 1
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If you’re on Facebook and you have created a page that is
customized and hosted outside of Facebook, you will need to buy
an SSL certificate before Oct. 1. This affects almost all of us.
If you’re in doubt about whether you need it, talk to your web
consultant.

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. It lets your customers know
that their transactions and other communications with you are
secure.

You can buy an SSL certificate from hosting services such as
HostGator at
http://secure.hostgator.com/~affiliat/cgi-
bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=pubhound and GoDaddy at
http://x.co/ZW1h for less than $100.

Please don’t ask me about SSL certificates, because this isn’t my
area of expertise. But this deadline is important enough to
mention here. If you have questions, ask your web consultant or
read this blog post, the best one I found that explains this
topic is at
https://ilocalsearch.net/facebook-pages-changes-ssl-certificate-
requirements-that-you-need-to-know-about

Once this is out of the way, you go back to your checklist of
things you can do at your Facebook account to build a loyal base
of fans who have Liked your pages, the only place on Facebook
where you can promote what you’re selling.

I created a checklist of 33 items that Mari Smith mentioned when
she was my guest during the recent webinar on “33 Ways to Attract
Facebook Fans, Provide Sterling Content & Keep Them Coming Back
for More.” Follow one tip each day, and watch the number of
“Likes” on your page skyrocket.

Read more about how to access the replay and the cheat sheet of
tips, part of the handouts, at
http://publicityhound.com/facebookpages.htm

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2. Make Your Blog Your Home Base
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It’s darn near impossible to sell something directly from
Twitter, or even the snazziest Facebook page.

But not from your blog.

Your blog is the place where you can promote your expertise,
explain how to use one of your products, answer readers’
questions about your services, or go into great depth explaining
why visitors should donate to a worthy cause you’re promoting.
It’s also the place where you can convince journalists that you
know so much about your topic that they should be using you as a
source, and probably even interviewing you for their articles.

You can post photos and videos at your blog, too. After you’ve
hooked visitors and convinced them they need your products or
services, you can link to a sales page at your website.

The big mistake on social media sites is that most people skip
the blog. They try to take their followers directly from Twitter
to a sales page. Spend a few minutes reading all the junk in your
Twitter feed and you’ll see what I mean.

If you aren’t blogging yet, it isn’t too late to start. I have
yet another cheat sheet for you. It’s more than 100 ways to find
content for your blog so you’re never lacking for ideas. It comes
with the replay of the teleseminar I created with Patsi Krakoff
on “Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging.” Read about
what Patsi will teach you at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/businessblogging.htm

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3. The Press Release Addiction
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Writing press releases is like a drug addiction.

It’s a quick fix that feels good, because it makes you think
you’ve really accomplished something. But when you come down from
Cloud Nine, it dawns on you that the press release hasn’t moved
one journalist to call you. The problem of no media attention is
still there–staring you in the face.

Sound familiar?

If so, break the vicious cycle right now by vowing to never write
a press release and send it to a journalist or broadcaster if you
want them to cover your story. Instead, write a compelling,
personalized pitch that tells the journalist, “I know who you
are. I know what you cover. I know what you need. Here’s a story
idea that can help you.”

Keep the press release in your back pocket, just in case they
tell you they are interested in the story and would like a
release along with an interview.

A webinar I hosted recently, “A Simple 5-Part Formula for
Delivering the Perfect Media Pitch and Hitting it Out of the
Park,” shows you how to do what nine out of 10 other people
aren’t doing when they want media attention. They aren’t
customizing pitches.

The replay of the webinar includes handouts that offer samples of
compelling pitches that generated media coverage. When Publicity
Hound Mary Castillo used my formula, two journalists bit and said
they’d cover her client’s story. Find out what she did that you
could be doing at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/pitchingformula.htm

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4. Repeat of TV Talk Shows Webinar
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If you missed the webinar on how to get booked on big TV talk
shows like “Rachael Ray,” “Live with Regis & Kelly” and the
“Wendy Wilson Show,” you’re in luck.

Steve Harrison is repeating it at 2 and 7 p.m. Eastern Time on
Thursday, Sept. 8. When you pitch, producers and guest bookers
may ask you a question that you must be ready to answer, pronto.
Find out what it is and learn the inside secrets on exactly what
kinds of guests these shows are looking for. Register for the
call at http://www.tvpublicityteleseminar.com/?10011

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5. Help This Hound
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Leticia Meireles of San Diego, CA, writes:

“I just had my birthday and, in lieu of gifts, I’ve been asking
friends to support a cure for breast cancer.

“Many generous business owners helped me to gather almost 100
items to be sold on my fundraising online auction—items on
Ebay, too. Many of them are from retailers and restaurants in San
Diego. Others are from national chains such as BestBuy. All
proceeds will benefit the Susan Komen 3-Day for the Cure.

“I need to raise $10,000, but no one seems to be bidding. What
should I do differently? You can see the items up for bid at
http://www.32auctions.com/organizations/1878/auctions/2039

The Publicity Hound says:

Social media to the rescue. At least that’s what I’d do. I’d find
every social media group possible near San Diego and ask people
to spread the message for you. But that’s just a start. What
about other online promotion ideas, and the many ways you can
spread the word offline? Hounds with ideas for Leticia can post
them to my blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=9341

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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Check out this dog’s eyes as he stands before a plate of
cupcakes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTuOr2vlC-c&feature=
player_embedded

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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What Taylor Swift can teach you about book marketing
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9320

Press release mistake: Not including a call to action
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9311

Promoting fiction: Should authors fake a memoir?
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9252

9 ways to sneak your website address into media stories
(A guest blog post I wrote)
http://www.arikhanson.com/2011/08/25/9-ways-to-sneak-your-
website-address-into-media-stories/

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http://www.linkedin.com/in/publicityhound

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Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a Press Release.”

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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound