The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #509 June 15, 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. LinkedIn’s Badge of Honor
2. How to Get LinkedIn Recommendations
3. The Power of Guest Blogging
4. Advice for Family Experts
5. Help This Hound
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…
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1. LinkedIn’s Badge of Honor
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Here’s a powerful way to promote your expertise and outstanding
work.
Generate more than 10 recommendations on your LinkedIn profile
and you can become a member of LinkedIn’s Top Recommended People
group. Its logo will show up on your profile, along with those of
your other group memberships.
You’ll also find six sub-groups. You can join at the Gold level,
like I did, if you have from 25 to 99 recommendations, at the
Platinum level for 100 to 499 recommendations, and at the Elite
level for more than 500.
Of the more than 50 million people on LinkedIn, only about 1,600
are in the TRP group, so you’ll be in elite company.
Learn more about TRP, which was created by LinkedIn member Ross
Dodwell, at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1857786
After you join, you can also display the badge proudly at your
website or blog, and in your online press kit. Mention that
you’re a member of LinkedIn’s Top Recommended people in your
email signature, and in your social media profiles.
A gourmet doggie treat for Dustin Martin, one of my LinkedIn
connections, who tipped me off to this group.
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2. How to Get LinkedIn Recommendations
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How do you get LinkedIn recommendations so you can become a
member of Top Recommended People?
Here are my three favorite ways:
–Give recommendations. Every time you recommend someone,
LinkedIn will notify that person and ask them if they want to
recommend you. But don’t go hog wild. Space out your
recommendations every few days or you’ll raise a red flag on
LinkedIn.
–Every time someone compliments you, tell them, “I’d be honored
if you’d say that in a recommendation on my LinkedIn profile.”
That’s what I do, and many people reciprocate. Pay particular
attend to compliments in your email.
–Ask co-workers, people in your trade associations, clients and
vendors. But be very careful. Make absolutely sure they are
familiar with your work.
Social media strategist Scott Allen (who has 70 recommendations
on LinkedIn) was my guest during a teleseminar on How to Use
LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically & Powerfully.” Learn
about how to create a promotional campaign on this high-powered
site without looking like you’re promoting. He shows you how at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/linkedin.htm
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3. The Power of Guest Blogging
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The two biggest complaints from people who blog is that they
don’t have enough time to write, and their blogs aren’t
generating enough traffic.
Smart bloggers have this indispensable tool at the top of their
toolbox: guest-blogging.
They can recruit guest bloggers to provide content for their blog
over the holidays or while they’re on vacation.
They can offer their own expertise to other high-profile blogs
and reach audiences they could never reach on their own.
If they write a guest blog for a popular site, it can bring tons
of traffic, give them valuable back-links, and attract more
subscribers to their own blog and newsletter.
But there’s a lot of confusion. How do you find guest bloggers
and know if they’re any good before you commit to publishing
their content? Why do some bloggers reject duplicate content like
last week’s leftovers, and should you? How much liberty can you
take editing someone else’s copy? And what if you disagree
vehemently with the opinions of a guest-blogger?
I’ll give you those answers and show you how to let guest
bloggers do some of the heavy lifting for you, when I host a
webinar at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 30. Join me for
“How to Find Valuable Guest Bloggers (and Be One Too!). Register
at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/guestblogging.htm
If the time is inconvenient, sign up anyway. You’ll get the link
afterward where you can watch the video.
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4. Advice for Family Experts
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This week, six Publicity Hounds have tips for Rosemary Lichtman,
PhD, and Phyllis Goldberg, PhD, of Los Angeles, Calif., family
relationship experts, on how to promote their blog and ebook.
From Mary Jane Hurley Brant:
“Put an additional link on your email signatures indicating that
you are offering a free ebook.”
From Rekaya:
“Set up a Virtual Book Tour. It’s an online tour of websites,
blogs, radio shows, etc. Research the ones that are a good fit.
Ask the blog owner if you can be a guest, or stop by their site
during your tour. Some will ask you to complete interview
questions about your book or write a short piece. During a set
amount of time, such as two weeks, your information will appear
on a series of websites/blogs. Don’t forget to mention your free
ebook and to include the link to your blog.”
From Bruce Jones:
“I have no idea what your book is about, so I would put a picture
of it right above the sign-up box and a short text description
right below. Make sure the picture is really clear, with oversize
type because it will be just a thumbnail on the blog. You could
even use a different picture for the blog than it is in reality
so that the image really stands out.”
The Publicity Hound says:
Read all the responses to this week?s “Help This Hound” question
http://publicityhound.net/family-relationship-experts-need-tips-
for-promoting-free-ebook/
Send your own 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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I’m all out of questions, so here’s one of mine (send
questions!):
“If you use coupons on your Facebook Fan Pages, particularly if
those coupons are bringing more leads and sales, I’d like to see
them.
“Include the link in the comments section at my blog at
http://publicityhound.net/wanted-examples-of-facebook-fan-page-
coupons/ and explain how you created the coupon, and the results.
“I’m looking for examples for a course I’m teaching. I’m familiar
with coupons used by the big companies like Coke and Zappos. But
I’m particularly interested in those used by entrepreneurs and
small businesses.”
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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You’ll love this “Bailey Plays Dead” clip from a segment of David
Letterman’s Stupid Pet Tricks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DalB-CvO7Qc
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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Consider retweeting:
12 more fill-in-the-blank headlines for your articles, blog
http://publicityhound.net/12-more-fill-in-the-blank-headlines-
for-your-articles-blog/
Wanted: Examples of Facebook Fan Page coupons
http://publicityhound.net/wanted-examples-of-facebook-fan-page-
coupons/
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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound
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