Issue #845 Aug. 23, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- Free Facebook Training
- Start an Ugly Pinterest Board
- Important Deadline Sept. 15
- Hound Video of the Week
This Weekend in the Hound House:
If you like potato salad, garlic and cilantro, try Emeril Lagasse’s Cilantro Potato Salad. When I take it to picnics and potlucks, everybody asks for the recipe. Yesterday, I made a double batch for a cookout tonight. Something magical happens when you let this sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Let me know how you like it.
1. Free Facebook Training
You don’t have to look far to find high-priced training packages for Facebook.
Why spend the money when Facebook now has Studio Edge, an entire suite of free courses that will help page administrators understand how to use Facebook Pages for business.
The eight courses include:
–Page Fundamentals, perfect for newbies.
–Page Insights and Metrics, which explains how to read and interpret your stats.
–Align Strategies to Objectives so you have a clear idea going in exactly what you want to accomplish.
–Conversations to Engage & Retain. Learn what kinds of updates to post and how to motivate your fans to Like, Comment and Share.
–Facebook Advertising Options. There’s a lot to learn about how to spend money with Facebook and get the best results. This covers it all.
–Campaign Management. This explains how to set up an ad campaign and how to target niches.
–Understanding Ad Policy. Your ads must follow Facebook’s policies, which are explained here.
Each module takes about 30 minutes.
Social Media Examiner gives a great overview of Facebook Studio Edge.
2. Start an Ugly Pinterest Board
My Pinterest board 50 Tips for Free Publicity is still Number 1 on Google search for the phrase “free publicity.”
It’s Number 3 on Yahoo and Number 4 on Bing.
That UGLY board–void of pretty photos, sexy images and jaw-dropping visuals–is largely responsible for Pinterest being the fourth biggest traffic generator to my website. More people Like, Comment and Share my content on Pinterest than they do on any other social media sites where I have profiles.
I spend almost no time there. Every few weeks, I post an image to the board and write a keyword-rich description that includes hashtags. Total time: About 15 minutes.
If your topic is academic, boring, embarrassing, technical or impossible to illustrate, do what I do.
Offer helpful how-to tips that followers will love to share.
This board is as close to “set it and forget it” as they come.
You can use my complete list of step-by-step directions on how to do this when you buy the video replay of the webinar on “How to Create How-to Tips for Non-visual Topics on Pinterest.” It comes with five cheat sheets that will help you build your board and images quickly so you can go have fun instead of sitting in front of the computer.
3. Important Deadline Sept. 15
If you’ve been flirting with the idea of joining me on the “Publishing at Sea” cruise Jan. 15-23 to the eastern Caribbean, you have until Sept. 15 to take advantage of the $300 discount for early-bird signups.
We’ve even added a handy, six-month payment plan. So if you don’t have the money now, no worries.
Every author needs a crash course on the business of publishing. If you’re thinking of writing a book, you must know how to choose a printer, where to find an agent, the advantages of self-publishing, how to budget for your book, how to cover unexpected costs, areas where you can skimp and areas where you can’t, and other dollars-and-sense topics.
The sad truth is, most authors lose money on their books. But smart authors know, even before writing the first word, where the opportunities and the landmines are hidden.
When you join us, you’ll spend a week on the Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas and have access to me and four other publishing experts who know every facet of book writing and editing, distribution, marketing and publicity, and graphics and design.
Our workshops are scheduled on days when we’re at sea. When we’re in port in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Martin, you’re on your own to have fun, enjoy the shore excursions and shop until you drop.
You’ll be assigned to a gorgeous balcony cabin, and be treated to a hassle-free vacation that includes all taxes and gratuities.
Clients pay $300 an hour to pick my brain. But you’ll have access to me for a full week.
We can meet over drinks, or by the pool, and you can ask me anything you want about your book–at no additional charge. I’ll even help you brainstorm publicity ideas. You’d be crazy to pass up this offer.
Go to www.PublishingatSea.com to learn more about the best vacation you’ll ever have, and how you’ll be so much smarter when you return.
Questions? Call me at 262-284-7451.
Or go to watch the replays of the four free webinars we hosted this past month. This is a small slice of the kinds of things you’ll learn on the cruise.
4. Hound Video of the Week
What can be better than a soldier returning home and being welcomed by his dog? Being welcomed home by two dogs.
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