The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #499 April 6, 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. Facebook’s Royal Mess
2. Colleges Need Speakers on 17 Topics
3. In-flight Magaziness Pitching Tips
4. Vote for the Best Success Story
5. Promoting McAllen, Texas
6. Help This Hound
7. Hound Video of the Week
8. And at My Blogs…
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1. Facebook’s Royal Mess
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Just when you think you understand Facebook Fan Pages, and you’re
starting to build your own Fan base, Facebook gums up the works:
–Within a few weeks, the bloggers are reporting, Facebook will
change the “Become A Fan” button on Fan Pages to read “Like,” and
it looks as though it may eventually do away with the entire
concept of “Fans,” though nobody knows what those Fans will then
be called. (“Likers?”)
–Adding to the confusion is the thumbs-up “Like” button that
already appears under every item in your news feed. If you like a
post, you can click on “Like.” As for Fan Pages, I think “Like”
sounds like a casual endorsement and “Fans” sounds like a group
of people who can’t wait to see what you have for them.
–Late last week, Facebook introduced its new “Community Pages”
which several bloggers were convinced was an April Fool’s Joke.
Unsuspecting Facebook users who intended to create a Fan Page
suddenly found themselves faced with another choice: they could
create a Community Page, designed to support topics and causes.
These pages can also be “unofficial” pages that support a
company, a brand, or a public figure. They’re different than the
“official” Fan Pages a company creates for itself.
–If you create a Community Page, and it eventually spikes in
popularity, Facebook can yank the administrative function from
you and hand it over to the Facebook community, thus turning it
into a public wiki. A wiki is a Website that allows users to add
and update content on a site, like Wikipedia, using their own Web
browser.
–Facebook never explained any of this on its blog–the logical
place you’d expect to see details of any major changes. Social
media bloggers got wind of it through confidential memos that
someone had leaked.
If your head feels like it’s ready to explode trying to
understand all this, you’re not alone. In comments at social
media blogs, Facebook users understandably are screaming about
the changes. Here’s one example: http://tinyurl.com/facebookmess
One comment I saw at a blog stated that the “Become a Fan” vs.
“Like” issue is only for paid ads on Facebook. Some people are
even speculating that Facebook might eventually start charging
companies to keep their own Fan Pages.
Stay tuned.
But don’t abandon Facebook just yet. There are still plenty of
ways you can use the site to build a following. Christine
Buffaloe explains how in the electronic transcript or audio
recording of “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook,”
one of my most popular learning tools. Read more about it at
http://www.tinyurl.com/facebookwithchris
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2. Colleges Need Speakers on 17 Topics
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These are grim times for professional speakers. But they don’t
have to be, if you know how to tweak your topic for the college
market.
–A speaker who trains corporate executives on leadership can
take the fundamental points of the presentation and teach college
students how to be leaders, whether it’s within their
fraternities or sororities, student government or special-
interest groups on campus.
–An expert on corporate recruiting and retention can teach
college fraternities and sororities how to recruit and retain
members. Greeks, by the way, have their own budgets for hiring
speakers, yet another recession-proof pot of money.
–Speakers who specialize in motivating corporate audiences as
convention keynoters can take their message to college campuses,
where motivational speakers are in high demand.
–Diversity trainers who target corporate America can teach
college faculty, staff and students about diversity. At a four-
year college, a kid from the inner city and a farm kid from
Kansas can suddenly find themselves roommates, with all kinds of
potential problems.
Those four topics are among 17 categories of topics that are in
demand at colleges, universities, two-year colleges and tech
schools. James Malinchak, “King of the College Speaking
Circuit,” will review them all during a teleseminar at 2 p.m.
Eastern Time on Wednesday, April, 14.
His teleseminar will also include a look at how speaking at
colleges can generate fabulous publicity without you lifting a
finger, because the colleges do all the PR for you.
James says his sign-up page isn’t quite ready, so I’ll send you a
separate email tomorrow with details on how to register.
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3. In-flight Magaziness Pitching Tips
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Here are the three biggest mistakes people make when they try to
get their story into in-flight magazines:
–They treat all magazines the same. Different airlines serve
different geographic markets, and many of those markets have
different audiences with different needs.
–Authors send unsolicited copies of new books to every magazine
editor. This is a very expensive mistake because most in-flight
magazines don’t do book reviews. Those who do accept books prefer
business titles, and if you can get your book featured in just
one high-circulation magazine, you can be in front of several
million people in just one month.
–They fail to pitch freelancers, staff writers and local
correspondents who are often more accessible than busy editors.
Did you know that many of these people drop valuable clues at
their blogs about topics they love, and many of them can also be
found on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook?
My updated special report, “Fly High with Publicity in the In-
flight Magazines,” is the most comprehensive database of contact
information and pitching tips for in-flight magazines that you’ll
find anywhere. This update includes 56 magazines (I added four
more since I wrote about this last week). You’ll find dozens of
links to editors’ and writers’ blogs as well as profile pages at
the social media sites where you can connect with them.
Read more about the update and what you’ll find at
http://ow.ly/1t36W
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4. Vote for the Best Success Story
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Ten success stories that resulted from tips in this newsletter
are waiting for your vote.
They’re all at my blog at
http://snipurl.com/publicitysuccessstory
Read them and vote for your favorite at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PJQPLF2
I’ll announce the winner next week, when I publish edition Number
500 of this newsletter. The winner will receive $500 in
consulting services or products.
Also next week, the HTML version of this newsletter will have a
new, upbeat look.
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5. Promoting McAllen, Texas
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This week, three Publicity Hounds have tips for Nancy S. Millar,
director of the convention and visitors bureau in McAllen, Texas
on how to promote McAllen, a Texas border town that’s feeling the
effects of the bad publicity stemming from violence in Mexico.
From Gayle Carson:
“My niece-in-law is an avid birding enthusiast. If you found a
list of birding enthusiasts (which I am sure there is), you could
develop a campaign just for them and get it out either by email,
a great postcard or a terrific sales letter. When someone is that
passionate about something, they will tell others, and the
destination will go viral.”
From Gail Sideman:
“Post a brief, open and honest letter from your city’s mayor
about the safety record in McAllen and what law enforcement is
doing to deter the Mexican violence from spilling over. I would
include comments from area residents about how they feel secure
in McAllen, and invite others to come enjoy the great things it
has to offer.”
From Pacharee Pantoomano:
“Who’s your target market? Has the Convention and Visitors Bureau
in McAllen, Texas decided whom you want to campaign to, i.e.
senior citizens, retirees, backpackers, student on spring breaks?
When you narrow that down, brainstorm with a team on the best
approach to market/PR to this group on a shoestring budget.”
The Publicity Hound says:
Those are all good ideas. I suggested that once Nancy starts
incorporating some of these ideas, she should pitch a story to
travel writers and bloggers, telling them what you’re doing, and
why.
If she can round up a few other sources from border towns who are
doing interesting things to offset the negative publicity, that
could make for an interesting story. Read all the responses to
this week’s “Help This Hound” question http://ow.ly/1ss8I
Send your own Help this Hound question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound
and include your city and state.
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6. Help This Hound
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Kathy Slattengren of Kenmore, WA writes:
“I have an online parenting class. It’s $99 for three months of
instruction, and parents can take the course at their own pace.
You can learn more about it at http://snipurl.com/parentingclass2
“For $139, students take the same course, starting April 19, and
get email reminders and a weekly conference call with me. You can
learn about it at http://snipurl.com/parentingclass1
“The classes include issues like chores, how to set limits but
allow mistakes, controlling your temper, avoiding arguments,
creating consequences for bad behavior, and being a good mentor
and role model.
“What are some quick and creative ways I can market the course
and reach the right people-—parents who need help?”
The Publicity Hound says:
Many of my Hounds could use your help raising their pups. Others
will have great ideas for you, which they can post to my blog at
http://ow.ly/1vctJ
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7. Hound Video of the Week
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It’s almost beach season, and my VA, Christine Buffaloe, shares
this video of doggy beach bums getting an early start. It’s
precious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkPNa4DBFHI
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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8. And at My Blogs…
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Consider retweeting these blog posts:
Free contact info, pitching tips for 9 TV producers
http://ow.ly/1v53k
Tips for updating your LinkedIn profile
http://ow.ly/1uIt4
Questions to ask press release writing services
http://ow.ly/1uY8a
Magazine turns typo in ad into a contest
http://ow.ly/1uY6W
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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound
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