The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #491 Feb. 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. More Facebook Changes, Ugh
2. Radio Show Needs Guests
3. A Year’s Worth of Promotion Ideas
4. Corporate Sponsors & Social Media
5. Promoting a Day for Retirees
6. Help This Hound
7. Hound Commercial of the Week
8. And at My Blogs…
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1. More Facebook Changes, Ugh
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If you log into your Facebook page and it looks different, it’s
because Facebook is rolling out a new redesign of its home page,
yet again.
Here’s what’s new:
–Your “Home” and “Profile” links are on the top right.
–On the menu in the top left corner, near the search bar, you’ll
see red bubbles. When you click on them, drop-down menus will
show your new notifications. This is the place to look if you
want to see who wrote on your wall or tagged you.
–The “Highlights” column along the right side is gone.
–The left-hand bar has been expanded.
–You now have two views of the news feed: a summary view of the
most interesting activity that’s happened in the last day and a
real-time view that shows you what is happening right now.
You can read more about the changes, and read comments from those
who are mostly griping, at Facebook’s blog at
http://tinyurl.com/facebookgriping
As a special customer service, I’ll be sending revised handouts
to anyone who attended the teleseminar or bought the product “11
Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.” If you haven’t
ordered yours yet, do it! You’ll get the new handouts in several
days or as soon as they’re ready. Read more about what you’ll
learn at http://budurl.com/facebookwithchris
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2. Radio Show Needs Guests
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Thanks to RadioGuestList.com for this media lead:
The “Cal and Bob Show,” on KBLF-AM in Northern California, is
looking for guests who have stories that don’t sound true, but
are. Topics range from “dumb” small-town criminals to the
(thousands of) stupid decisions made by politicians in D.C.
If you have a book or product to sell, you’re welcome to appear
as a guest, as long as your story is a good fit and you’re
willing to laugh about it. The show airs during the all-important
drive-time from 7 to 9 a.m. Pacific. Contact Paul Vietti,
producer, at 520-276-3641 or email dpvietti@gmail.com.
Sign up for more booking and podcasting leads, or submit leads
for your own show, at http://www.radioguestlist.com/
If you have a great story to tell but you need tips on how to be
the type of guest who’s invited back, see “How to Get onto Drive-
time Radio Shows” at http://tinyurl.com/drivetimeradio
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3. A Year’s Worth of Promotion Ideas
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Tim Morse of Norfolk, VA for sharing
this helpful website that gives 12 months worth of promotion
ideas by listing special days, weeks and months of the year:
http://www.adsources.com/IDEAS/Cal/index.htm
Use these to plan advertising campaigns. Or piggyback onto them
for free publicity. They’re very similar to Chase’s Calendar of
Events at http://www.chases.com/. The deadline for Chase’s, by the
way, is April 15.
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4. Corporate Sponsors & Social Media
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Here are teleseminars and webinars of interest this week:
–“How to Get Major Companies and Nonprofits to Sponsor the
Promotion of Your Book, Product or Service.” Steve Harrison
interviews Brendon Burchard about how to get big companies and
nonprofits to gladly sponsor your marketing, publicity and
promotional efforts. Brendon teaches simple methods that anyone
can use. This teleseminar, conducted in December, is being
brought back by popular demand. It’s free, but you must register
at http://www.sponsorshiptrainingteleseminar.com/?10011 (I’m an
affiliate).
–Social Media Rx. This is a private customer appreciation
webinar for anyone who has purchased “Social Media Rx: Your 20-
Minute Prescription for Cutting through the Clutter, Chatter &
Confusion of Social Media.” Come with your questions about how to
use your assessment report, checklists or bonuses, or anything
else dealing with social media. Jeanne Hurlbert, my partner, and
I will answer them. We’ll email your invitation today. Anyone can
see the replay of the webinar Jeanne and I hosted last week at
http://www.mysocialmediarx.com/subscribe/msms.htm
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5. Promoting a Day for Retirees
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This week, three Publicity Hounds have ideas on how Phyllis May
can promote “Refired Not Retired Day” on March 1.
From Reece Franklin:
“You should easily be able to find a list of senior centers. A
note to the center activity directors might work.
“Another way might be to get the addresses, send a postcard in a
color like goldenrod, and announce it on the card, with a message
asking, ‘What do you plan to do for Refire Not Retire Day?’
“While the people in assisted living are retired physically
(maybe) they are sure not retired mentally. You can create a
contest or, next year, ask people how they intend to refire
themselves. Just because the timeline is tight for March 1, does
not mean this cannot extend to the entire month.”
From The Publicity Hound:
“Tap into social networks that consist of retired people. Search
Facebook groups, Twibes.com (Twitter tribes) and Yahoo groups. Or
form your own group.
“Tell those people about your day and have them offer suggestions
on things they’d like to do-something that would be fun or help
their communities. It could be something as simple as doing
volunteer work on that day. Getting more people involved at the
ground level will give you lots of ideas to choose from.”
From J. Frizzera:
“I agree with Joan. If youre looking for a theme, remember that
March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. If you can
incorporate that idea, or anything else you like, it helps people
identify with what youre doing. Make it memorable and people will
pay attention.”
Read all the responses to this “Help This Hound” question at
http://tinyurl.com/ygrw3oa
Send your own Help this Hound question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound
and include your city and state or province.
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6. Help This Hound
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Jenni Bowring-McDonough of St. Paul, MN writes:
“My husband, Tim McDonough, is a graphic artist who is now
producing book trailers (book promotion videos) at Standard Book
Videos at http://www.standardbookvideos.com/
“Because I work in publishing, I introduced him to our president
who hired Tim to design several trailers (book videos) for us.
Thats terrific, but Tim needs more exposure to attract more
clients. He advertised in the event catalog for a regional
publishers conference and he will be running an ad in ForeWord
Magazine’s national online newsletter later this month.
“We have reached out to other local publishers to introduce Tim’s
business. He’s on Twitter, and we will be building a Facebook
page soon. We have also reached out to other contacts via the
local Book Publishers Association, but thus far, to no avail.
“I even pitched Tim’s story of reinventing himself after 20 years
in broadcast news to several weeklies and dailies, but no one bit
on the idea. We have also begun branching out into web videos and
hope to expand into promotional/sales web videos for small
businesses. Thanks for any and all advice!
The Publicity Hound says:
Jenni, I love Tim’s videos! Authors, you’ll love them, too. Go
take a look. While you’re there, post your best ideas for Jenni
and Tim at my blog at http://tinyurl.com/bookvideos
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7. Hound Commercial of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Tracey Bennett of Honolulu, HI for the
link to the clever Doritos commercial shown during the Super
Bowl. I howled with laughter when I saw it:
http://vodpod.com/watch/3011187-doritos-underdog
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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8. And at My Blogs…
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Consider retweeting these blog posts:
Don’t let PR clients insert damaging info into press releases
http://tinyurl.com/pressreleasesinfo
Huffington: ‘Blogs more effective than press releases’
http://tinyurl.com/blogsmoreeffective
Find social media frustrating? You’re not alone
http://tinyurl.com/frustratingsocialmedia
Pittsburgh PR company + social media = A virtual intern
http://tinyurl.com/avirtualintern
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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound
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