How to Infiltrate Event Calendars

Issue #1053 Sept. 6, 2016
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

How to Infiltrate Event Calendars
Create an Audio Tips List
Roadmap for Your Book Launch
Hound Video of the Week

This Weekend in the Hound House:

Since Bogie died almost two weeks ago, I’ve wanted to know if dogs really go to heaven. Indeed they do. It says so, right there on Page 162 of the book “The Loss of a Pet” by Wallace Sife, a pet bereavement counselor. I read it on Saturday as my feet were under the dryer at the local nail salon where I got a pedicure. The one-page description of what it’s like to finally meet our dogs in heaven turned on a gusher. For 20 minutes, I sat there sobbing. I’m rereading the page every day because it comforts me, and I can finally do it without crying.

1. How to Infiltrate Event Calendars

We had a blast at the Paramount Music Festival over the weekend.

But I heard too many people saying they didn’t know until the last minute about the three-day event that featured an eclectic program of blues bands. For crying out loud, how could a blues fan NOT know that Saturday night’s premiere act was Big Bill Morganfield, the son of Muddy Waters?

If you’re sponsoring an event, don’t overlook the dozens of popular and obscure #eventcalendars that can put butts in seats and result in standing room only.

Calendars in your daily and weekly newspapers, city magazines and special interest magazines are a no-brainer. Submit your item to unconventional places like your local bank that might feature it on a scrolling sign, city event websites like TheBostonCalendar.com, and Google Calendar, which displays a calendar on your website and lets visitors save one or all of your events.

The key to infiltrating as many calendars as possible: know their deadlines. Want to get your item into one of the inflight magazines? Submit it from four to six months before the event.

To do: Use my “Special Report #29: How to Publicize Your Event on Local, Regional & National Calendars” as a checklist the next time you need publicity for an event. You’ll find calendars you never knew existed. And I include one golden tip on how to increase the odds of your event featured more prominently than many of the others on the same calendar. A steal at only $7. Order here.

2. Create an Audio Tips List

Don’t just write a tips list. Turn it into an audio, a video and an infographic.

For audio, use SoundCloud, a tool that lets you record your list and offer it as a free replay. If you want all the bells and whistles, including analytics that tell you how many people have listened, and a profile of your audience, buy the Pro Plan for $7 a month or the Pro Unlimited for $15. The Pro Unlimited lets you upload without a limit and it also lets you see which cities your listeners are in and which web pages and apps your tracks are played from.

I demonstrated how to write a #tipslist and shared more free tools for turning your lists into multimedia during Thursday’s training on “How to Use a Tips List to Promote Absolutely Anything.” The video replay comes with 3 sample tips lists and 3 cheat sheets to use when writing yours. Order here.

3. Roadmap for Your Book Launch

Most authors are so overwhelmed with the idea of a launch that they don’t know where to begin. Or they try to do too many tasks at the same time. Or they think, “I have a book marketing plan. I’ll use that as my launch plan.”

Big mistake.

A book marketing plan includes the approach you take—-and the strategies you use-—to develop your online and offline assets (an author website, email list, conferences, business relationships, and so on).

Your #booklaunch plan, however, includes specific things you do to leverage the assets and relationships you’ve established via your book marketing plan to promote an upcoming book.
And while your book marketing plan is fluid and ongoing, your book launch plan reaches its peak at a specific point in time–while building anticipation along the way.

Kim Grabas, an expert in building author platform and book marketing, has created a suite of tools that will help you create the perfect book launch easier than ever. “Book Launch Toolkit” includes a 103-page guidebook, 20 tools and techniques, step-by-step directions so you aren’t biting off more than you can chew, 7 worksheets and 4 cheat sheets.

To do: See the entire list of what you get here, and grab the toolkit now using this affiliate link. But please, don’t wait until a month before you launch or you won’t have time to complete all the tasks. Do it now.

4. Hound Video of the Week

A pair of dogs born in South Africa have been confirmed as the first set of identical twin puppies ever documented in history. After you’ve watched the super-cute video, find out about the popular Twitter account that shares humorous descriptions of peoples’ dogs, along with a rating.

[Tweet “RT @PublicityHound #PublicityTips — How to Infiltrate Event Calendars #EventPromotion #TipsLists”]