The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #588 Jan. 3, 2012
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. Missing the Publicity Target
2. Embarrassing Online Pressrooms
3. Make Your Bio Fun
4. Twitter Resolutions
5. Promoting a Book Giveaway
6. Hound Joke of the Week
7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site
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1. Missing the Publicity Target
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Here are the top three problems Publicity Hounds are facing, in
order, based on the 298 people who completed my survey in
December:
–Leveraging the power of social media, including blogs.
–Generating online publicity.
–Generating publicity in traditional media.
No surprises there.
But I was shocked to see the number of people who mentioned in
their comments that they either don’t know how to find their
target audience or, once they’ve found it, they don’t know how to
create a compelling message that brings results. Dozens of
Publicity Hounds also complained that they’re overwhelmed with
all the work and don’t understand how to focus their energies on
the things that really matter.
Here’s a sample:
–“Social Media: What a time suck!”
–“Engaging with the right audience and finding ways to measure
success.”
–“Creating a list of all the places that would be appropriate
for my client’s publicity. How to go about creating that list.”
–“How do I get momentum and people wanting to follow me and like
my Facebook page and download my promo video?”
I also found a disturbing number of comments from Publicity
Hounds who were frustrated that their press releases aren’t
resulting in major publicity.
Hint: Press releases seldom generate major publicity, so don’t
waste your time. You need to create targeted pitches for targeted
media outlets. Use press releases primarily to pull traffic to
your website or blog, or as back-up information for journalists
who have already responded to your pitches.
So where do we go from here?
I’ve studied the results and I have some ideas on how to help you
simplify your life, save time, and reach the right audiences with
the right message. I’m creating a video right now that addresses
some of your major concerns, and it will be ready next week.
Stay tuned, and hang in there!
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2. Embarrassing Online Pressrooms
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If your online pressroom looks anything like mine did yesterday,
it’s time to drag out the dust mask, the Shop-Vac® and maybe even
a garbage dumpster.
I found so much outdated information and ancient publicity photos
in the pressroom at my website that I almost didn’t recognize
myself! And then it dawned on me that the current photo at my
blog is several years old and needs to be replaced.
If you go to your pressroom right now, I bet you’ll find lots of
embarrassing things like:
–Old photos that look nothing like the way you look now.
–Old phone numbers, email addresses and even fax numbers that
have been disconnected.
–An absence of links to social media profiles.
–No references to things like your blog or ezine. Remember that
many of your website visitors aren’t necessarily entering your
site from your homepage but from dozens of internal pages.
–Old logos, taglines and other marketing materials that are out
of date.
–Dusty bios, with no references to recent awards, major media
hits, new books you’ve written or other bragging rights.
Read my entire blog post on this topic at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10025 and then update your
pressroom.
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3. Make Your Bio Fun
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What’s the most memorable sentence in your bio, the one thing
people comment on most often?
If you don’t have one, it’s time for a rewrite. Also consider
rewriting the one- or two-sentence author blurb that’s at the end
of articles you write.
Here are a few fun blurbs that caught my eye recently:
–Jason Whitlock writes about the sports world from absolutely
every angle, including angles other writers can’t imagine or
muster the courage to address. His columns are humorous, thought-
provoking, agenda free, honest and unpredictable. (He writes for
FOXSports.com.)
–Naomi Dunford is the woman Brian Clark lovingly refers to as a
marketing genius and Tourette’s survivor. She is the author of
IttyBiz and co-author of How To Launch The **** Out Of Your
Ebook. Her alleged potty-mouth is prominent in the former and
virtually non-existent in the latter.
–Michelle Pierce is the editor-in-chief (and word ninja) for
Aqua Vita Creative, and she is very picky about spelling,
grammar, and punctuation. She would like to remind the entire
Internet that there is no “a” in “definitely.”
Want lots more examples, including complete bios that really
command attention? See “Special Report #46: Tips for Rewriting
Your Boring Bio” at
https://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/reports.html
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4. Twitter Resolutions
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Here are three things to consider doing differently on Twitter
this year so that you tweet smarter and more efficiently:
–Rewrite your best tweets and post them at different times
throughout the day. Don’t let your followers miss a terrific
article or video you’re linking to, just because they weren’t
reading their feed at the exact time your tweet showed up.
–Don’t tweet identical information you’re also sharing on
Facebook and Twitter. You can share the same article, but rewrite
it for each of the three sites. These sites are all very
different, and people who follow you on all three sites don’t
want to keep seeing duplicate content.
–Every few weeks, go to your Twitter profile and click on
“Listed” in the upper right corner. You’ll see the names of all
the lists that others have created and where you appear. It’s a
fascinating glimpse into how others view you. Let’s say you’re a
book marketing expert, but you don’t see any lists named “book
marketing” or “book marketers.” That tells you something is
wrong, and you need to start sharing more content on your topic.
Read two more resolutions at my blog at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10039
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5. Promoting a Book Giveaway
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This week, five Publicity Hounds have tips for Anne Roos of South
Lake Tahoe, CA, an author looking for ideas for a “giveaway”
contest for her two books, “The Musician’s Guide to Brides: How
to Make Money Playing Weddings” and “The Brides Guide to
Musicians: Live Wedding Music Made Easy and Affordable.”
From Marcia Yudkin:
“You’ll get the biggest bang for your giveaway copies if you
contact popular blogs for 1) Musicians (the type who do wedding
gigs) and 2) Brides. Offer each blog one or two free copies to
give away. Let them decide how best to run the giveaway as
they’re likely to know their audience quite well.
“Give them each a short one-paragraph description of the book
they can use in the giveaway.”
From Maria Mar:
“How about doing a blog book tour? If you have a book to publish,
this is the best route. But you can adapt this to other goals and
offers. Network with other bloggers who already do contests for
your market and topic. Offer them a prize for a contest. Find one
blogger for each of the books you have available or offer several
books to a handful of bloggers with high traffic. Everyone wins.”
From Shawn Hansen:
“Are you a member of a writing group? If not, get involved! These
organizations are great ways to network as well as to find out
where and when local signing events are happening. Give a book or
two away in drawings that require folks to fill out their name
and email address. Instant mailing list! If you don’t know where
to begin, look into the California Writers Club, Sacramento
Branch. It’s a bit far from Tahoe, but I live about 20 minutes
west of you, and I am an active member of that organization.”
The Publicity Hound says:
Read all the responses to this “Help This Hound” question at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9991
Send your own question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com and
include your city and state.
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6. Hound Joke of the Week
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“You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give
you a look that says, ‘My God, you’re right! I never would’ve
thought of that!'” — Dave Barry
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 Blog & Mobile Site…
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Have an online pressroom you can be proud of–update it!
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10025
5 Twitter resolutions that will help you tweet smarter
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10039
Nice year-end gift for clients, and more tweets
(Top tweets from last week)
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10015
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