The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #536 Dec. 21, 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. Hyper-Local Site Covers 19 States
2. Inspiration for Clever Taglines
3. Problems Downloading My Ebook?
4. No Gifts for Journalists
5. Year-end Recommendation
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…
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1. Hyper-Local Site Covers 19 States
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Here’s another website to add to your media list if you want
publicity for local news.
It’s Patch.com at http://www.Patch.com/about and it already
covers more than 600 communities and neighborhoods in California,
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia,
Washington and Wisconsin.
The site, owned by AOL and based in New York, hires professional
journalists and contracts with freelancers to cover local news
and events, business and government, police and fire news, and
more. Users can submit their own announcements, photos and
reviews, and participate in discussions.
Here are Patch’s advantages, mentioned in several articles I’ve
read the last few weeks:
–It hires experienced journalists, many of whom have been laid
off by local newspapers and are already familiar with the
communities they cover.
–Patch makes it easy to find whoever covers your community. Just
go to http://www.Patch.com and click on the state where you live.
Choose the community where Patch already has a presence. Contact
information for every Patch editor is at the top of every local
site. All Patch.com contributors can be contacted via email
through the local site.
–It encourages participation. Send a news tip, put an event on
the calendar or submit an announcement. If you’re a business
owner who wants to be listed, just send an email to
support@patch.com.
–It fills a void created by the demise of local newspapers.
Here are Patch’s disadvantages:
–It pays many journalists far less than what they made before,
and some editors have suffered from burnout and left.
–Critics say it can strangle many other smaller local websites.
But I think competition helps, not hurts, the news consumer.
–It needs to make enough money to support all those journalists,
and its growth might be too aggressive.
But you won’t hear me complaining.
Most important: Local means local! Patch.com sites are hyper-
local. The focus is very specific–on the community or
neighborhood served by the Patch site.
A smart Publicity Hound will want to develop story ideas that are
directly related to a Patch.com community. As always, take the
time to review each site before developing the pitch. Better
yet, introduce yourself to the Patch editor.
If you have experience with getting news placed on Patch, or you
have other comments to add, share them at my blog at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7584
Also see “50+ Places Online to Promote Your Live & Virtual Events
to Reach Your Target Market & Pull Sell-out Crowds” at
http://publicityhound.com/events.htm
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2. Inspiration for Clever Taglines
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Need a tagline for your business or non-profit? Or looking for
some inspiration to create your own?
You can access more than 4,800 nonprofit taglines and a guide to
making yours great, for free, courtesy of nonprofit marketing
expert Nancy Schwartz. Her All-New Tagline Database and report
includes tons of tips for high-impact taglines that people
remember. They include 10 have-tos, 6 deadly sins, and tips on
what makes a winning tagline.
Go to
http://gettingattention.org/nonprofit-taglines/get-nonprofit-
tagline-report-database.html and complete the form.
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3. Problems Downloading My Ebook?
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If you’re having trouble downloading “The Best of The Publicity
Hound’s Tips of the Week” from 2010, email me and I’ll send the
ebook as an attachment.
This is my annual gift to you, and it includes the best 25 tips
from last year’s newsletters. Hundreds of Hounds already have re-
gifted the ebook on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. A few have
encountered technical problems and can’t access it.
If you missed it, go here: http://Ez.com/bestof2010
Email JStewart@PublicityHound.com for help.
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4. No Gifts for Journalists
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Just a few quick reminders about sending gifts to your media
contacts:
–It’s best to not send gifts to journalists. Many media
companies have ethics policies that prohibit accepting gifts.
Sending a holiday greeting card is fine, however.
–If you’re going to a TV or radio studio to do an interview,
take food. They love it!
–Don’t take food if you’re visiting a newspaper or magazine.
–As for bloggers, it depends on the blogger. If you’re not sure,
ask first. Remember that many traditional journalists also blog.
I think the very best gift you can give traditional or new media
is a big fat scoop.
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5. Year-End Recommendation
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I’ve received so much great reaction from Publicity Hounds who
have already created ebooks for the Kindle that I’m suggesting
you add this to your year-end to-do list.
Daniel Hall was my guest during a webinar a few weeks ago, and he
offered exact step-by-step instructions on how to create an ebook
and offer it for sale on Amazon within a day.
The replay is free. It’s more than four hours and includes two
bonus sessions. Daniel has sliced and diced the video so you can
watch it in segments.
The Kindle is the hot gift this year, and millions of Kindle
users might be looking for ebooks about your area of expertise.
Will you have something to sell them? If you haven’t seen the
video yet, it isn’t too late. This is an excellent year-end task
to accomplish so you’re positioned on Amazon as we enter 2011.
Access the replay here:
http://www.realfastbook.com/joankindle.html
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Watch this dog, crazy with anticipation, on Christmas Eve:
http://budurl.com/doggieChristmaseve
Way too cute.
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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How to un-Google yourself & push bad news off Page 1
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7525
Manage your online reputation BEFORE bad news hits
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7570
Hyper-local Patch.com covers 600+ communities
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7584
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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
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