Issue #984 Jan. 9, 2016
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- Best & Worst of LinkedIn’s Changes
- Tweets Appear in Google Search
- The Value of Q&A Interviews
- Hound Video of the Week
This Weekend in the Hound House:
I’m back from Orlando. First on the list is to fetch Bogie from doggy day care this morning, then get caught up on all the boring chores I do every weekend. The short trip was a nice break from winter in Wisconsin.
1. Best & Worst of LinkedIn Changes
LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth, who created the helpful LinkedIn Game Plan for Success cheat sheet that I shared with you a few weeks ago, is back with a thorough update of changes LinkedIn made last year.
The worst one is that LinkedIn has buried the “Invitation to Connect” button. It has also infuriated group moderators by not letting them approve Discussions questions. I’m seeing way more spam in Groups.
Maybe that’s a small price to pay for the improvements.
And this one is huge. You can now join up to 100 groups instead of 50. This seems like overkill, but the big advantage is that if someone in one of your groups is searching their groups for someone like you, you will be more “findable.”
Wayne has summarized all the changes, good and bad. See “Capitalize on LinkedIn’s 2015 Updates and New Features.”
To-do: Join more LinkedIn groups!
2. Tweets Appear in Google Search
Tweets have now begun to show up prominently in Google’s mobile search results on Android and iOS. Desktop integration is coming soon.
Why this is important: Google will take your social participation into account when determining your influence, says social media expert BL Ochman.
She has 7 tips on how to help your brand make the most of the Twitter and Google search integration.
Here’s a big no-no: Using Twitter as a broadcast medium and repeatedly tweeting the same photos and content. It dilutes your stream and makes the tweets, in Google’s eyes, less valuable.
See the other tips in her blog post “Tweets now appear in Google Search: 7 Tips for brands.”
To-do: Follow me on Twitter where I share valuable links, mostly to other people’s content.
3. The Value of Q&A Interviews
When a blogger or journalist emails and asks if you’d be willing to do a Q&A interview and answer a list of questions, don’t groan and think, “They’re lazy.”
Sure, it’s a lot more work for you than if they interviewed you by phone. But the enormous advantage is that you can explain your message and flaunt your expertise in your own words–not theirs.
When author Mark Tilbury, an avid Publicity Hound, asked for a Q&A interview several weeks ago, I groaned. I take these interviews seriously and spent a lot of time answering his questions.
When he sent me the link this week, I was thrilled at the results. I share tidbits like how I came up with the name The Publicity Hound, why I’d never write fiction, the most frequent question people ask me about publicity, and how I got a client onto the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
See “Interview with Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound.”
To-do: Ask a thought leader for a Q&A interview for your blog. Ask tough questions.
4. Hound Video of the Week
Have you seen the commercial for the Suzuki motorcycle? Be sure to watch it to the end.
[Tweet “#PublicityTips from @PublicityHound– Best & Worst of LinkedIn’s Changes #LinkedIn”]
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