The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #470 Sept. 22, 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 Promote Local Events on Twitter
2. Five Social Media Marketing Ideas
3. Entertainment Tonight Needs Pitches
4. Promoting a Reading Program
5. Help This Hound
6. Hound Joke of the Week
7. And at My Blog…
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1. How to Promote Local Events on Twitter
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You can find some of the best tips by reading comments at blogs.
For example, if you’re curious about how to use Twitter to
publicize local events, you’ll find a slew of tips in the
comments.
They include:
–Download and install Tweetdeck, a browser that will let you
organize your tweets and see everything all at once. Then set up
search columns based on your local area. You’ll then “see” people
talking about that area. Chances are that if they are talking
about it, they either live there, or visit regularly, so follow
them. Chances are also good they’ll follow you, too.
–Follow the premiere local tweeters in your area, including
bars, hotels, clubs and local businesses whose target customers
are the people you want to attract. Retweet events and posts they
tweet. This will tell them you’re interested in promoting what
they’re doing and, in turn, they may follow you and promote your
event.
–Two good tools for finding Twitterers in your area are
TwitHawk.com and Twellow.com
Be sure to read the rest of the comments for lots more tips.
Now that you have the tools, adopt a good strategy. Warren
Whitlock shows you how. See “How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army
of Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts–and Promote.”
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2. Five Social Media Marketing Ideas
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Social media is more than just collecting Facebook fans, sending
tweets and joining the conversation. It’s also about making all
that hard work pay off.
Here are five great social media marketing ideas, courtesy of DP
Dialogue, a social media marketing agency in Australia. All of
them are free. Pick and choose which ones are best for you:
–Start a Twitter account and give people incentives to follow
you. Read their blog post to see how Domino’s Pizza did this at
http://budurl.com/8flq
—Use Google’s keyword tool at to find whatever keywords related to
your business are being searched for the most. Blog about them and
make videos about them.
–Become an expert and start blogging or podcasting.
—Start a Facebook group that people will want to join and subtly
sponsor it. If you sell candles, start a Facebook group for
people who are afraid of the dark.
–Figure out who the key influencers are for whatever it is
you’re selling. Read their blogs and leave comments on them
regularly. (When it comes time to pitch them, see “How to Pitch
the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion.”
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3. Entertainment Tonight Needs Pitches
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Entertainment Tonight has asked PitchRate.com, a media leads
service, to suggest segment ideas and experts to be featured in
short segments of three to five minutes. Segments must be unique
and interesting.
PitchRate will review your pitches and pass along the best ones
to Entertainment Tonight. If the producers are interested,
they’ll contact you.
If you’ve already signed up as a Publicity Hound at PitchRate.com,
simply visit the site again, log in, and at the top of the request list,
you’ll see the request for Publicity Hounds only.
P.S. Shannon Nicholson says PitchRate’s recent request for women-
related tips, advice and success stories resulted in 17 great
pitches from Publicity Hounds. He will forward all of them to
PitchRate’s top media contacts, including O Magazine, Montel
Williams, the Associated Press, and more.
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4. Promoting a Reading Program
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This week, nine Publicity Hounds have tips for Suzanne Wood, of
Raleigh, NC, who is starting an after-school writing academy to
help kids in grades 8-12 improve their writing.
From Meryl Evans:
“Contact local school PTAs to offer a free presentation on a
topic of value. I am sure there’s something you can offer to help
parents with kids and writing.”
From Karen Zapp:
“Look for any club or group for Home Schooling. Then meet with a
few moms to demonstrate how you can help them and the kids, and
the word will start to spread. These moms can also help spread it
to parents in the neighborhood who don’t home-school.”
From Shel Horowitz:
“Do a free demo for teachers and guidance counselors who then
could send a steady stream of referrals.”
The Publicity Hound says:
Read all the responses from last week’s “Help This Hound”
question.
Send your own Help this Hound question and include your city, state or province.
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5. Help This Hound
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Vicki Young of Dallas, Texas, writes:
“What’s the best way for a very worthy nonprofit agency to get
free help with their PR campaign?
“I’ve been doing PR work for Captain Hope’s Kids as a nonprofit
client for years, but I have to step down. It’s a great
organization in Dallas, Texas, that’s dedicated to meeting the
critical needs of homeless children in North Texas.
“They need an annual marketing and public relations plan
developed, and help publicizing their annual special events.
“I know this agency isn’t the only one that needs volunteer PR
help, so I’m hoping your Publicity Hounds can recommend ideas
that will help many other groups, too. Where should we be looking
for volunteer PR people who can write press releases, or at least
advise nonprofits on how to create a good marketing plan?”
The Publicity Hound says:
I hear this question all the time, so I hope my Hounds can
suggest ideas for nonprofits or any other company on a budget.
How about it Hounds? Are unemployed PR people, particularly
beginners, a possibility? What about college journalism classes?
Or stay-at-home moms who once worked in PR? Ideas? Post them to
my blog.
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6. Hound Joke of the Week
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The front door was accidentally left open and our dog was gone.
After unsuccessfully whistling and calling, my husband got in the
car and went looking for him.
He drove around the neighborhood for some time with no luck.
Finally he stopped beside a couple out for a walk and asked if
they had seen our dog.
“You mean the one following your car?” they asked.
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7. And at My Blog…
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