The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #643 Sept. 1, 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. New Global Media Leads Service
2. LinkedIn’s Free Billboards
3. New Posts at My Blog
4. Hound Video of the Week
This Week in the Hound House:
Over Labor Day weekend, I’ll be laboring over pots of boiling
water and a sink full of jars, canning beets. Why you ask?
In the winter when you open a jar, the beets will taste MUCH
better than any store-bought canned beets that originated in
Holland!
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1. New Global Media Leads Service
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If you’re a subject matter expert looking for free publicity
around the globe, or if you’re a blogger or journalist looking
for sources in other countries, check out MediaDiplomat.com.
It’s a new media leads service similar to HARO, but it’s devoted
to connecting experts to journalists or bloggers internationally.
Paul Dixon, a former PR pro and freelancer who’s based in the
United Kingdom, started the service about two months ago and
already has about 2,000 experts in his database. The website is
in beta. He emails leads as often as he receives them, but won’t
send them on a regular schedule until the database grows
significantly and he starts actively promoting it to more
journalists and bloggers.
“Most industry professionals, especially in the U.S., know of
online services connecting reporters with sources,” he said. “The
concept has been around for a while. But we discovered that high-
level reporters and sources from Asia, Latin America and
elsewhere have been forgotten.”
He already has connected numerous journalists with the expert
sources they need. Dixon says that in many cases, journalists who
submit media leads to him encourage you to share them with your
friends and followers on social media sites like Twitter,
Facebook and LinkedIn. (What great content, especially for a
LinkedIn group!)
That’s one more reason why it’s worth your time to at least try
this service.
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2. LinkedIn’s Free Billboards
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LinkedIn would love it if you bought an ad.
But you’re smarter than that. Instead, you’ll have a designer
create one or more banners for your business and you’ll upload
them to the “Products & Services” section of your LinkedIn
Company Page. And you won’t pay LinkedIn one cent.
Here’s the best part. When visitors click on each banner, it can
send them to a specific page at your website.
Authors, send them to the sales page for your books. Speakers,
send them to the page where you list your keynotes and workshops.
If you’re giving a way a freebie in exchange for an email
address, or to sign up for your newsletter, send visitors to the
opt-in page.
Banners, which resemble giant billboards, are one of the most
valuable but seldom-used tools on LinkedIn, says LinkedIn expert
Wayne Breitbarth.
Wayne blew the roof off the dog house during Thursday’s webinar
on “4 Secret LinkedIn Tools Power Tools to Connect with
Journalists & Put Money in Your Pocket.” The banner ad, by the
way, wasn’t even one of the four tools we discussed. It was a
bonus tip.
Read about the others, and how you can access the video replay
when it’s available later this weekend, probably late on
Saturday. As soon as you order, however, you’ll receive an email
with a link to the bonus handouts.
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3. New Posts at My Blog
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Pitching tips from ABC, NBC, CBS producers Thursday
Need national publicity? Master the art of storytelling
11 things to give journalists instead of a pitch
The LinkedIn tool that unlocks a company’s door
Dog Tweets: Tell a story with your next press release
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4. Hound Video of the Week
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Guilty! That’s what the expression on this dog’s face says when
his owner asks whether he stole the cat’s treats. The video is a
little over two minutes, and worth it. More than 19 million
views. I howled.
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