Need a Publicist? 3 Mistakes to Avoid

Issue #1055 Sept. 13, 2016
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

1. Need a Publicist? 3 Mistakes to Avoid
2. Free Media Lists
3. 5 Shortcuts to Top-Tier Publicity
4. Hound Video of the Week

This Week in the Hound House:

I’m heading to Denver for the Author U Extravaganza, a three-day deep dive into #bookpublishing and #bookmarketing. Join me on Thursday afternoon and learn how to become an expert in your topic. If you’re an early-bird, join me at 7:15 a.m. Saturday for a session on how to use email to sell more books. Registration deadline is today. Call Judith Briles at 303-885-2207.

1. Need a Publicist? 3 Mistakes to Avoid

Here are three major mistakes people make when hiring publicists:

1. They select the wrong person for the job. Musicians should hire music publicists. A local bank should hire a publicist who is familiar with local and business media. A children’s author should hire a book publicist, preferably one who specializes in children’s books.
2. When they’ve chosen their top candidate, they don’t check references. You cannot skip this important step or you can end up with the Publicist from Hell.
3. They abdicate all responsibility for publicity to the publicist. They don’t want to know what she’s doing, who she’s pitching or what kinds of results to expect.

If you can afford a publicist, you’re lucky. Make sure you understand how the relationship works and how to make the most of it.

The second edition of my ebook, “How to Hire the Perfect Publicist,” walks you through the task of finding, interviewing, rating and hiring the person who will do the best job for you. The book explains where to look for candidates, the four ways publicists set their fees, questions to ask during the interview, how to check references, and a chart that will help you rank your top candidates.

It also includes four new bonus chapters, including three for authors. For one week only, I’m offering the ebook for $10 off the cover price of $47.

To do: Learn more about it and use coupon code PUBLICIST (apply and recalculate) at checkout. Details here. #hireapublicist #findapublicist

2. Free Media Lists

If you’re looking for journalists, bloggers and influentials in a niche, or those who are tweeting about certain topics–and you don’t have money to spend on big media directories–you’ll love this.

It’s Anewstip, a media contact database that lets you search media influentials based on their tweets or news articles. It also lets you create your own list and see lists other people have created. Choose from the free or paid versions.

While taking a test drive, I found a lists of 37 Atlanta-area media, 11 journalists and bloggers who cover medical wearable devices, 29 labor reporters, and 8 disability journalists. You can use seven filters to help you get more relevant results.

After creating a free account, I received a friendly email from Jason Williams, a senior account manager, leading me to a 21-page guide and an invitation to call on him. Nice.

To do: Watch the video above, then play with this. Try the four ways to search. Do an advanced search. Add this to your list of media resources. And let me know if you like it. #freemedialist #mediadatabase

3. 5 Shortcuts to Top-Tier Publicity

While getting big-time publicity isn’t that easy, people make it a lot harder for themselves than it needs to be.

You can secure major media coverage much more quickly when you know how to put a few simple pieces together.

This Thursday, Sept. 15, six publicity experts will explain five specific shortcuts for landing your first or next national media appearance.

It’s at 2 and 7 p.m. and hosted by Steve Harrison. You’ll hear from a producer who booked guests for “Oprah.” Another guest will explain how she learned to speak in sound bites so well that she landed coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Reader’s Digest and Reuters. A third guest has booked guests for Anderson Cooper and many other national shows and she’ll tell you what she looked for when people pitched her.

You’ll hear from an author who landed her first national TV coverage on ABC and she has since become a guest on Dr. Oz, Anderson Cooper 360, CNN, and even hosted her own special on Discovery Health.

A psychologist who helps women find lasting love will explain something he was initially “clueless about” which later led to his first big publicity break. Since then, he’s become a regular on the “Today” show.

All will explain how to speed up the publicity process and grab the national spotlight.

To do: Register for the free call here using this affiliate link. #publicitytips #publicityshortcuts

4. Hound Video of the Week

Ramsay the pit bull loves his shower, as long as he has his shower cap and rubber ducky.

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