The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #530 Nov. 9, 2010
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 Use QR Codes for PR
2. Before You Speak on Cruise Ships…
3. Fun, Free Photo Tool
4. Promoting Garden Club Lectures
5. Help This Hound
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…
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1. How to Use QR Codes for PR
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At first glance, it looks like a crossword puzzle that’s about
twice as big as a postage stamp.
It’s a QR code, short for quick response. And it can be one of
the most valuable tools in your PR arsenal.
QR codes, similar to bar codes that appear on packaged products,
are used widely in Japan but are becoming a popular way for
marketers to catch the attention of busy consumers. You can find
them on everything from buses to business cards.
Mobile phones that have barcode scanning applications installed
can “read” the code, which can have URLs and other information
embedded. Within seconds, a visitor can arrive at your website to
learn more about a product or service.
Here are six ways to use QR codes in a PR campaign:
–Lead reporters to your online pressroom.
–Point consumers to a press release.
–Authors, use it to lead people to reviews for your books.
–Speakers, send people who are considering hiring you to a short
video demo.
–Restaurants, print the code on your menus and let diners read
about the specials of the day so they don’t have to wait for the
waiter to explain them.
–Nonprofits, use QR codes to send visitors to a donations page.
(More tips at my blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=7338)
I’ll tell you where to get QR codes and how to use them during my
webinar “60+ Places Offline to Promote Your Product, Service,
Cause, Issue or Event to Build the Buzz and Encourage Others to
Promote for You.” It’s at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Nov.
23. The first 20 people who register get the free bonus handout
“13 Ways to Involve Journalists and Bloggers in Whatever You’re
Promoting.”
Register at http://publicityhound.com/promoteoffline.htm
Also, let me know about offline tactics you use to promote, and
send a photo if you can. I can work the idea into my presentation
and create even more publicity for you!
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2. Before You Speak on Cruise Ships…
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If you’re a new speaker, don’t even think about speaking aboard
cruise ships until you’ve bombed on dry land, learned from your
mistakes and honed your speaking skills.
Then, and only then, are you ready to start promoting yourself to
the cruise lines. (Princess and Royal Caribbean cruise lines, by
the way, are recommended for newer speakers.)
If you’re beyond a beginner, start promoting yourself NOW,
because enrichment coordinators are reviewing marketing materials
from speakers who want to be booked for cruises in 2011.
But don’t just dive in if you don’t know the step-by-step process
on how to sell yourself. This is very different than marketing to
meeting planners, and you don’t want the decision makers to brand
you as an amateur.
Listen to the replay of the webinar I hosted on Friday with
Daniel Hall. It’s “Speakers Cruise Free: The Opportunity to Trade
Your Talents for Luxury Cruises,” and you can watch it at
http://www.speakerscruisefree.com/SCFJoan.html
Warning: This video is a little more than three hours long. It
will only be available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Nov.
11. Go there right now and watch it, or enlist someone to watch
it for you and take notes. Because the webinar is divided into
several smaller videos, it’s easy to jump around from one topic
to the next and watch it in chunks.
Daniel’s special offer at the end of the video is good only until
11:59 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.
You snooze, you lose.
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3. Fun, Free Photo Tool
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I found a very cool website where you can insert photos of
yourself into other photos and create your own custom
illustrations that really attract attention.
It’s PhotoFunia.com at http://www.PhotoFunia.com
Insert your photo onto a billboard, turn it into a painting, or
plaster it onto a big sign outside a sidewalk cafe, like I did.
Read more about how to use it, and see the photo I created at my
blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=7352
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4. Promoting Garden Club Lectures
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This week, 24 Publicity Hounds have names for my garden club’s
winter lecture series.
From Linda Swisher:
“Pot & Grass: A Gardening Seminar”
From Patricia Daeley:
“I’m struck by how most of the things folks will be learning will
have to be envisioned for spring and summer, rather than
immediately put to use. Something about imagining your garden:
‘Grow Your Mind, Grow Your Garden. Learn It Now, Grow It Later'”
From Sharon Z:
“Put Petal to the Mettle: Expand Your Horticultural Horizons With
a Garden Variety of Earth-shattering Ideas”
The Publicity Hound says:
Hounds, you came through in, uh, spades. Thanks so much for all
your suggestions. I’ll take these to my garden club meeting later
in the month and let you know who wins the $50 gift certificate.
Read all the responses to this week?s “Help This Hound” question
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7272
Send your own “Help this Hound” question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound and
include your city and state.
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5. Help This Hound
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This week?s “Help This Hound” question is from McKenna Donovan of
Asheville, N.C.:
“I’m the founder and executive director of To Write Well, which
offers a wide variety of writing courses online.
“Typically, the market includes professionals (journalists,
lawyers, corporate communications officers), who need to improve
their voice and style; and hobbyists, who are seeking higher-
level skills in genre writing and poetry. My faculty offers
courses on fiction, non-fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry.
“My infrastructure is in place, but while it would be easy to
blame the economy, it’s more accurate to say I’m missing an
essential promotion ingredient. I use Facebook, including
Facebook ads. I have an active blog that automatically tweets,
and I have run promotional courses (for free) to select writers
to gain word-of-mouth. And yet the seats remain empty.
“In my site trial, I had students from India, Switzerland,
Australia and China. The site is designed asynchronously, so all
students have access based on their schedules, but interaction is
kept moving along on a daily basis.
“What am I doing wrong?”
The Publicity Hound says:
Lots of writers and authors read this newsletter and I know
they’ll be among the many Hounds who are willing to help you,
McKenna. How about it, Hounds? Post your best ideas to my blog at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7362
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Shriley Lichti of Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada for making me laugh and laugh and laugh while watching
this video of a high-strung dog going about its daily chores,
from sunrise to sunset. Can you imagine the hours of training it
took to make this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RRjqkUAs8k
DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes,
perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
good laughs.
BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50
best websites for dog humor.
http://publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/
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7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…
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You can now sign up to receive email notifications every time I
publish a new blog post. Submit your email address to “Subscribe
to Email Updates” on the right side of my blog at
http://www.PublicityHound.net
Here are posts from the last seven days:
9 ways to use QR codes for PR, publicity & marketing
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7338
So I’m in Fast Company this month? Big deal
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7326
Use hyperlinks in press releases: Here are 19 ideas
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7243
Need a publicist? Ask jobless journalists + 16 other tips
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7293
Meet 2 speakers who cruise free in exchange for speaking
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7314
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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
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