The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #458 July 7, 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. How to Pitch a Yucky Topic
2. Attention-Grabbing Phrases
3. Help Talk Show Hosts Find You
4. Nonprofits, Need Publicity?
5. Tips to Promote Sewing Classes
6. Help This Hound
7. Hound Joke of the Week
8. And at My Blog…
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1. How to Pitch a Yucky Topic
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How’s this for a yucky topic? Urinary incontinence.
If you’re a PR person pitching that story on behalf of your
client, a gynecologist, how do you convince the local TV station
to cover it?
You find a patient who’s willing to talk about her, uh, leaking.
That’s what marketing consultant Sandra Adams of Hendersonville,
N.C. did recently. Her client, Dr. David Ellis, a local
gynecologist, was offering complimentary screenings for urinary
incontinence during the month of April.
Sandra wrote a press release and sent it to the local TV
stations. A health reporter from WLOS, the ABC affiliate in
western North Carolina, had wanted to do a story on that
topic but was having a hard time finding a patient who would
agree to an interview.
Dr. Ellis was able to offer Cheryl Bell, one of his patients, who
suffered from urinary incontinence. She was a key part of the
story.
After the segment aired, response to the incontinence tests was
so good that the doctor decided to extend the screenings through
the end of July. You can see the entire clip at
http://wlos.com/newsroom/health_alert/vid_233.shtml
Lesson #1: Find somebody with the yucky problem who will agree to
discuss it on camera, without reservations.
Lesson #2: Good props. When you watch the clip, check out the
interesting prop that helped illustrate this story.
TV producer Shawne Duperon, who has been on the receiving end of
hundreds of pitches to TV stations, has dozens of tips and ideas
for catching the attention of broadcasters who work in TV
newsrooms. She shared them all during the teleseminar “How to Get
onto the Local TV News Tomorrow.”
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2. Attention-Grabbing Phrases
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Ever feel like you’re talking to yourself at your blog and at
social networking sites?
If so, try this experiment. It will lead to more comments at your
blog, on your Facebook wall, on Twitter, and even at niche social
networking sites.
Choose one of the following phrases and add it to the end of your
blog posts or messages:
–“Am I wrong?”
–“Am I crazy?”
–“What do you think?”
–“Do you agree?”
–“What’s your best advice?”
–“How many of you are guilty of this?” (I use this phrase after
linking to an article that talks about “the biggest mistakes.”)
–“Your thoughts?”
–“What’s your best tip?”
–“What’s your Number One pet peeve?”
These are all conversation-starters. They show your readers that
you’re curious about what’s on their minds.
Sometimes those magic phrases lead to a lively give-and-take.
When I end my messages with one of those questions, I generate
more comments at my blog and more retweets from my followers on
Twitter.
You can also use those phrases when pointing to controversial
content at somebody else’s site. Don’t shy away from sharing
other people’s information on Facebook.
One of the best ways to do that is by creating a Facebook Note,
where you can upload photos, link to other websites and use HTML
to command attention.
Not making good use of Notes is one of the mistakes we discussed
during the recent teleseminar on “11 Ways to Avoid Missed
Opportunities on Facebook.”
How many of those opportunities are you missing?
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3. Help Talk Shows Find You
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If you love promoting your expertise on Internet radio shows,
podcasts, satellite radio, and radio and TV talk shows, but
you’re not quite sure how to reach the hosts who need guests, add
this tool to your publicity toolbox.
RadioGuestList.com matches guest experts and the hosts who want
to interview them.
Guest bookers use this service to find guests, even on tightly
niched topics that can’t be covered on the top talk radio and TV
shows.
If you’d like to be notified when a show is looking for a
particular type of expert and sign up to receive their emails.
Whenever the site gets a request from a talk show host, they’ll
email you, and it will be up to you to respond.
Want to be invited back on the same day you appear on someone’s
show? George McKenzie shares his tips on how to have fun with the
audience and make the host love you.
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4. Nonprofits, Need Publicity?
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Publicity Hound Kathy Magrino is looking for nonprofits that need
publicity but can’t afford to hire a publicist.
She’s teaching a Publicity Methods course at Rider University in
New Jersey this fall. Her students will be working as teams and
creating publicity plans for about five non-profits that don’t
have big budgets.
Kathy, by the way, is using my ebook, “How to be a Kick-butt
Publicity Hound,” as the textbook for her class. But you don’t
have to take her class to learn the same things her students will
be learning.
The 2014 edition includes six new chapters on social media.
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5. Tips to Promote Sewing Classes
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This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips for Cynthia Harvey of
Pasadena, Calif., who owns The Sewing Studio where she teaches
children, teens and adults about the fashion industry and how to
sew. She asked for tips on how to reach potential students with
no advertising budget.
From Harry Hoover:
“Perhaps you could come up with a simple wardrobe to help clothe
homeless children in your area. Recruit the people you already
have taught to come in a couple of times per month to sew the
clothes. A perfect media opportunity that increases your Sewing
Studio awareness, without advertising.”
From Doreen Overstreet:
“The media might be interested in a ‘sew through a recession’
angle if you’ve seen an increase in adults wanting to learn how
to sew. It can be a good example of how you can save money
without losing any fashion appeal.”
From Mary Parker:
“How about contacting the local chapter of the American Sewing
Guild for cross-marketing? The ASG is heavily into community
service projects and helping to expand the ranks of those who
sew.”
The Publicity Hound says:
Save my idea for a few months from now. Pitch the local morning
TV news/feature shows on a segment in which you demonstrate how
to sew one inexpensive Halloween costume for adults, and one for
kids. I attend a Halloween party every year and always struggle
with ideas for a fun costume. I can sew, but I have a hard time
coming up with clever ideas for costumes I can sew quickly.
Read all the ideas from last week’s Help This Hound question
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6. Help This Hound
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Cathy Watson of Bostic, N.C., writes:
“I am trying to get traffic to my website and teach people the
therapeutic benefits of petting animals.
“I’m also trying to sell farm tours for $5 a person and spread
this message: Please educate yourself BEFORE you get that cute
puppy, kitty or piggy.
“I can’t take my animals on the road for a demonstration. But if
I can get people to come to my farm, I can show them how animals
should be cared for. I don’t like the term ‘petting zoo’ because
that usually means animals that are forced to participate.
“When you come here, the animals are in their natural environment
and come to you because they want to. I have been unsuccessful
trying to offer free animal education to the public schools. I
live between Asheville and Charlotte and the local economy is the
worst in the state. I’ve had TV coverage in Asheville, but with
no success to show for it.
“Can your Hounds suggest ideas on how I can generate traffic to
my website and get visitors to my farm?”
The Publicity Hound says:
My Hounds love these animal questions! Hounds with ideas on how
Cathy can get web and foot traffic can post them to my blog.
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7. Hound Joke of the Week
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From the book “I’ll be Doggone–401 Fun Facts About Dogs”:
The Lexington, Ky., police department had a bloodhound named Nick
Carter that tracked down 700 criminals during its long and
illustrious career. Book ’em, Nicko.
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8. And at My Blog…
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Career columnist seeking male sources 60+ with job twist
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