Newsjack Gas Prices

Issue #874 Dec. 2, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

Newsjack Gas Prices
Event Publicity Cheat Sheet
How to Get on Big Network Shows
Hound Video of the Week

This Week in the Hound House:

I make a mean apple pie. But it’s nothing compared to the Caramel-Pecan Apple Pie made by my good friend, Jo Steinberg, who served it on Thanksgiving Day. The recipe is from Taste of Home magazine, published here in Wisconsin. Your mouth will water while reading the 53 five-star reviews. Don’t forget to bookmark the page. Bon appetit.

1. Newsjack Gas Prices

Plummeting prices at the pump mean opportunities galore for newsjacking–putting your own spin on a national story.

This happy trend, just in time for the holidays, is expected to continued well into the new year. Here are some ideas you can pitch:

–How have lower prices affected your household? Are you buying something now that you’ve held off purchasing?

–How have lower prices affected your own business? Are you able to pass on any of the savings to customers? This idea is perfect for florists, lawn maintenance companies and any business that makes deliveries.

–Will you be incorporating the message about lower gasoline prices into your Christmas marketing campaign by encouraging people to spend the extra money they’ll be saving on gasoline on your own products and services?

–Black Friday promotions and falling gas prices drove U.S. auto sales higher in November, kicking off what’s expected to be a strong holiday season. Auto dealers, share the good news with local and national media.

–Are falling prices bad news for you? If so, pitch! The media love hearing the contrarian viewpoint.

Do you know my formula for pitching, a technique that will set you apart from all the other Publicity Hounds? As a newspaper editor, I accepted and rejected thousands of story ideas, and I know what it takes to get journalists to bite. The video replay of a webinar I hosted explains “A Simple 5-Part Formula for Delivering the Perfect Media Pitch and Hitting it Out of the Park.” It comes with a bonus package that includes 27 angles for stories. You’ll also get an example of a pitch that I’ve customized for three different media outlets so you can see exactly how I’ve changed it, and understand why.

Don’t pitch anything unless you know what you’re doing. Read about all the other pitching tips you’ll learn.

2. Event Publicity Cheat Sheet

Whether you’re an author promoting a book signing or a big industry association planning an annual conference, nothing beats a handy cheat sheet that reminds you of all the ways you can let the world know about your event.

I found one yesterday. It’s an infographic that’s a Sample Social Media Plan for Events. It was created by Marketo, a company specializing in digital marketing.

It includes ideas galore for pre-event planning, social media marketing, what to do while the event is under way, and post-event marketing. It will make you realize how many promotion opportunities you’ve been missing.

3. How to Get on Big Network Shows

In the publishing world, it’s no secret the right national TV appearance can catapult a book to the top of the Bestseller List.

If you don’t have a book, there are still plenty of opportunities to be interviewed on a top national TV show on ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX.

Find out how during a free 90-minute telephone seminar at 2 and 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Dec. 4. You’ll hear Steve Harrison interview a group of his producer friends who book guests for ABC, NBC and CBS.

You’ll hear from:

–Mariann Sabol, “Live with Kelly”

–Tommy Crudup, “Rachael Ray”

–Dan Fitzpatrick, “The Wendy Williams Show”

–Stacy Rollins, Telepictures Productions

Even though this call is free, I’m one of Steve’s affiliates and earn a commission if you buy anything from him.

4. Hound Video of the Week

Thanks to Publicity Hound Sophie Wajsman of Melbourne, Australia, for this hysterical video of two dogs playing “Dueling Banjos.” You’ve seen variations of this one, but this is the funniest one yet. How did they get those dogs to sit still?