Lurk on Message Boards

Issue #840 Aug. 5, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

Lurk on Message Boards
Free Training for Authors
How to Get on Big TV Shows
Hound Video of the Week

This Week in the Hound House:

What’s with the lousy watermelon this summer? I bought a red seedless for $5 at the local farmer’s market and, after two tasteless bites, chopped it up and threw it onto the compost pile. It was the fourth time this has happened this summer. I’m even paranoid about wasting my money on cantaloupe.

1. Lurk on Message Boards

When planning a publicity campaign, you can find your target audience on message boards and in discussion groups and forums.

Many of these groups appeal to people who are passionate about very narrow topics.

Selling a product or service to moms of babies 6 to 9 months old? Go to the Baby Bump forum.

Are you an expert on outdoor gasoline and electric powered equipment and small engines? There’s a forum for that too.

Need to find people who want gluten-free vegan desserts? They’re on EGullet forum.

Here are three tips for using message boards:

–Lurk before you participate so you can get a feel for what people are discussing.

–Be generous with free advice. Link to helpful information like blog posts and articles you’ve written that provide more tips. Don’t link to sales pages unless someone is looking for a specific type of product or service.

–No flame wars.

Alexa’s excellent database for message boards includes a wide variety of discussions, from Small Business Administration topics to mechanics’ tips. Or search for “top message boards on …”

My newest article for Entrepreneur.com explains “6 Not-So-Obvious Places to Find Your Target Market.”

2. Free Training for Authors

Take advantage of two free training sessions about book publishing and publicity this week.

–Don’t get caught off-guard with unexpected tasks and expenses. Book shepherd Judith Briles will present a free webinar from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Aug. 6, on “Book Publishing Costs and Critical Timelines: What to Expect When You Are Expecting.” She will give you a helpful overview of a typical book budget and the important tasks you must complete. It’s the second of four free webinars to promote our “Publishing at Sea” cruise Jan. 18-25 in the eastern Caribbean, and I’ll be on the call with you. Register for the free training. If you missed last week’s session on “Blurbs, Endorsements and Reviews,” you can register for the replay.

–Promoting fiction can challenge even the most creative authors. I’ll give you ideas galore on how to promote fiction and nonfiction when best-selling author Edward Vilga interviews me during a free teleseminar from 7 to 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Aug. 7. I just finished Edward’s novel Downward Dog, about a wolf-on-the-prowl yoga teacher in New York City, and gave it a “two-paws up, way up” review on Amazon. Register for our free call. I’ll ask him to share his best publicity tips and explain how he got more than 100 Amazon reviews, most of them rated five stars.

3. How to Get on Big TV Shows

It’s one of the many phrases that will force TV producers to blackball you forever: “Go to my website.”

You’re kidding, right?

Producers, especially the ones who work for the big talk shows, field dozens of pitches a day. They hardly have time to pick up the phone.

Yet if you know what they’re looking for in the perfect guest, you can give it to them right there on the call without making them go anywhere.

Producers from shows that book guests for “Ellen,” “Live With Kelly & Michael,” “Rachael Ray,” “The Wendy Williams Show” and “Dr. Drew’s Life changers” will give you a peek into their mindset when they interview with Steve Harrison. The free call is at 2 and 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Aug. 7.

You’ll learn about the strategy a husband-and-wife team used to land a seven-minute segment on the “Today” show, and what you should and shouldn’t send to producers to catch their attention.

4. Hound Video of the Week

If you ever need to get a Pug out of a dog bed, this little dog shows you how.