The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #599 March 20, 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. Millions of Online Book Reviewers
2. Ditch Hotmail & Yahoo Addresses
3. Graphic Designers for Facebook
4. Oprah, Rosie, Ricki & Huckabee
5. In-flight Magazine Database
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site
8. The Publicity Hound’s Appearances
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1. Millions of Online Book Reviewers
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Smart authors don’t waste time fretting over shrunken book review
sections in newspapers and magazines.
Instead, they penetrate sites like Goodreads.com, the largest
site for readers and book recommendations in the world.
Its more than 7.3 million members create virtual bookshelves
where they have added more than 260 million books they love
reading. Members recommend, review and compare books. They keep
track of what they’ve read and what they want to read.
They form book clubs. They debate plot lines and characters, and
comment on each others’ reviews.
Goodreads lets authors write a detailed profile, publicize events
like book signings, write quizzes about their books or topics,
post videos, give away books before launching, lead Q&A
discussion groups, join book groups, and chat about their books
in discussion forums. (Learn more about the Authors Program at
http://www.goodreads.com/author/program.)
Generate positive reviews on a site like Goodreads and you could
be reaching millions more readers than even a big newspaper like
The New York Times.
“People are more likely to get excited about a book their friend
recommends than a suggestion from a stranger,” says Otis
Chandler, the Founder and CEO of Goodreads who got hooked on the
Hardy Boys series in the second grade. “We even created an
amazing algorithm that looks at your books and ratings, and helps
you find other books based on what fellow Goodreads members with
similar tastes enjoyed.”
The site appeals to casual readers and bona-fide bookworms, and
the next book they read might be yours.
Goodreads is one of the dozens of online communities where you
must have a presence if you’re serious about creating buzz for
your books. Confused about which sites are best for you? Join me
at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 29, when I host the
webinar “Where to Find Millions of Readers Online to Review,
Recommend & Buy Your Books.”
You’ll learn about the biggest and best online book review sites,
online book clubs, web-based book discussion groups–and which
ones are best for poetry.
As a bonus, I’ll even throw in a list of several excellent forums
and listservs where publishers and authors can learn about
writing and publishing. And I’ll show you where to find a network
of nearly 2,000 book bloggers and book reviewers.
Register here even if the time is inconvenient because you can
get the video replay and the other downloads and bonuses:
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/bookreviewsites.htm
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2. Ditch Hotmail & Yahoo Addresses
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If you’re having a problem generating publicity, maybe it’s
because bloggers, journalists, broadcasters and others aren’t
taking you seriously when they see your Hotmail or Yahoo email
address.
Authors, do you have any idea how much damage these freebie
addresses are doing to your reputation?
Speakers, you can’t really expect meeting planners to pay you
when they see you using an AOL address, or an address that
doesn’t brand you with your domain name.
Yet thousands of authors, speakers, experts and other Publicity
Hounds use these addresses all the time and communicate to the
world, “I’m cheap.”
Read more about this marketing sin and what to do about it, at my
blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=10765
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3. Graphic Designers for Facebook
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If you’re one of the millions of people on Facebook who are
scrambling to meet the March 30 deadline for the new Timeline
cover image, and you’re looking for a graphic designer to help
you create it, check out this list of designers, courtesy of
Denise Wakeman, an expert in online visibility:
http://bit.ly/yHhDub
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4. Oprah, Rosie, Ricki & Huckabee
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–Oprah says buh-bye to Rosie O’Donnell, whose new show on OWN
was averaging a dismal 190,000 viewers. So scratch this one from
your media list.
–Ricki Lake’s upcoming talk show is issuing an invitation: Go
online and join a production meeting. Once a month, “The Ricki
Lake Show” will put a live planning session on Facebook. The goal
is to let people get a peek at the series’ development and weigh
in on it. Lake and the producers will ask for feedback on program
elements like set design, the website and music. The show debuts
this fall. Learn more at
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/ricki-lakes-show-asks-public-input-online-15911297#.T2i7VxEgdgg
–Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a conservative talker and
FOX News commentator, goes head-to-head with Rush Limbaugh in a
syndicated radio program airing in the noon to 3 p.m. Eastern
time slot weekdays. “The Mike Huckabee Show” will initially air
on 140 stations.
Add Ricki Lake and Mike Huckabee to your media database. What?
You don’t keep your own media database? It’s time to start
because it will be far better than the massive databases with the
huge price tags you’ve seen advertised on PR websites. Use the
same eight templates I use for my own database. They’re the bonus
that comes with the video replay of “How to Create Your Own
Database of Valuable Media Contacts.”
Read more about how to access it at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/mediadatabase.htm
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5. In-flight Magazine Database
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Don’t miss this chance to get my two-year-old database of contact
information for more than 50 in-flight magazines, for only
$19.40, a steal.
It’s part of my inventory clearance sale on older titles, where
you can save 80 percent off the original price.
When the titles are gone, they’re gone, and this database will
not be updated. Here’s the list and the special coupon code:
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/inventorycloseout.htm
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Jacqueline Simonds, aka @jcsimonds on
Twitter, for sharing this fun video of dogs enjoying snowboards,
skateboards and boogie boards:
http://www.zapiks.fr/share/player.swf?autoStart=true&lang=
fr&file=52372
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 at
http://publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/
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7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…
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Great content for retweeting:
Want respect? Ditch the Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL addresses
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10765
80 percent off on my older CDs—DIY publicity tips galore
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10780
Dog Tweets: B2B marketers devote 26% of their budget to content
marketing
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10758
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