How to Use Other People’s Money

Issue #795 Feb. 22, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

How to Use Other People’s Money
These 3 Phrases Grab Readers
Speakers: 5 Easy Ways to Get Gigs
Hound Video of the Week

This Weekend in the Hound House:

I don’t know how this happened, but seven extra pounds magically appeared since the holidays and my “Publishing at Sea” cruise. So it’s back to counting points, starting this weekend. My incentive for taking it off: An invitation from my friend, Deb Neulreich, who owns Zing, a chic boutique in the town where I live. She wants me to be one of the models during a spring fashion show fund-raiser she’s planning in April. I need to strut, not waddle, down that runway!

1. How to Use Other People’s Money

If you’ve always dreamed of publishing a book, creating an app, writing a screenplay, or hosting a special event to help someone in need, your dream can turn to dust if you have no money.

But if you know where to find other people’s money–moohla that you don’t have to pay back–your dream can come true.

It’s called crowdfunding, a way to get financial help, even from total strangers, by making them so excited about your project that they’re practically throwing checks at you.

Last year alone, entrepreneurs, inventors, nonprofits and others raised more than $5 billion via crowdfunding to pay for a variety of projects.

–Author Allan Karl convinced 546 backers on Kickstarter to pledge almost double his goal of $22,000 to print and publicize his self-published book that chronicled a three-year motorcycle trip around the world. It includes stunning photos, recipes and stories about the many friendly people he met on his journey.

–Victoria Allbright raised more than $171,000 for her friend’s daughter, Farrah Soudani, who was seriously injured in the Colorado theater shooting. Her family didn’t have health insurance.

–Three years ago, Scott Wilson created the TikTok and LunaTik wristbands, which converted the Apple iPod Nano into a watch. He asked for only $15,000 but raised almost $1 million in funding. More than 13,500 people contributed. The products are now sold by Amazon, Walmart and even Apple.

If you want to get in on the action and us other people’s money to pay for your marketing and publicity, join me from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Feb. 27 when I host the webinar “Crowdfunding: How to Use Other People’s Money for Your Book or Project.”
Book shepherd Judith Briles will be my guest. She has successfully used crowdfunding to raise money for her author clients, and she knows the booby traps to avoid. When she presented this session on our Publishing at Sea cruise in January, I knew I had to introduce her to you!

2. The 3 Phrases Grab Readers

When writing a pitch, a press release, a blog post or copy at your website, use these three phrases that grab readers and make them pay attention:

–“Here’s what people need to know…”

–“Here’s why this is important…”

–“This is significant because…”

All three phrases “flag” the reader to pay attention. That’s one of the things Colin Martin taught during Thursday’s free “Stealth Persuasion” webinar on how to write powerful copy.

He also taught a very simple two-part formula you can use to write a killer headline on the homepage of your website, or a headline on a press release or pitch. I was so proud of my Publicity Hounds when Colin challenged them to use his formula to create their own sales message. You’ll love hearing what they wrote!

If you missed the webinar, set aside some time this weekend to watch the free Stealth Persuasion replay.

Please don’t multi-task during this training. You’ll need to listen and watch the screen so you can see how he turns ho-hum messages into tempting teasers that leave you wanting more.

You’ll also learn about a tool Colin uses to “grade” the copy he sends in emails. Just cut and paste, click, and you have your score.

3. Speakers: 5 Easy Ways to Get Gigs

What if getting more people paying you $3,000 or more for a one-hour speech was actually easier than you thought?

Steve Harrison will be interviewing four speakers, all who make a healthy six-figure income from speaking, during a webcast from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern this Monday, Feb. 24.

This is a long session because they’ll all reveal some of their biggest shortcuts and best strategies for landing paid speaking gigs, including:

–How to find the places and decision-makers who will pay you to speak, even if you’re not yet well-known in your field.

–How to get $3,000 to $10,000 for a talk even if you’ve never been paid that much before.

–The truth about working with speakers’ bureaus.

–What these six-figure speakers do to get dozens of paid speaking engagements WITHOUT cold calling decision-makers.

–What most speakers don’t know about turning radio/TV interviews into paid speaking engagements.

I’m proud to be a compensated affiliate for Steve’s company because Publicity Hounds benefit from his training.

4. Hound Video of the Week

Olympics silver medalist Gus Kenworthy has gone viral for his tweets of puppy love and for rescuing a stray mom and her four puppies that he found on the streets in Sochi.