The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #706 April 13, 2013
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. Find Top Blogs in Your Niche
2. Why I Love Email Interviews
3. New Posts at My Blog
4. Hound Chuckle of the Week
This Weekend in the Hound House:
Wishing I could go to all the big concerts this summer featuring
all the old codgers: Paul McCartney, The Stones, The Eagles, The
Beach Boys. Never too old to tour.
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1. Find Top Blogs in Your Niche
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Tracking down the top bloggers in a particular niche can be time-
consuming and frustrating.
There just aren’t that many free or easy-to-use tools out there.
Inkybee, a new service that simplifies the process of finding the
most influential bloggers, is offering a free trial, with
discounted pricing for their launch, through April 30.
Here’s how it works. You register for free without giving them
your credit card number. Then start experimenting with the site.
Choose a topic and up to three related keywords or keyword
phrases. Inkybee will go to work finding bloggers that are a good
match.
It’s up to you to contact them and deliver your pitch.
I plugged in a keyword for a corporate client and, about 10
minutes later, Inkybee returned a list of seven blogs. Most
aren’t a good fit, but a few are.
I created another search for “free publicity” and got a much
longer list, with The Publicity Hound right at the top!
As you come across other blogs you find on your own, you can add
them to the Inkybee lists. Inkybee will update your lists with
new blogs it finds.
Danny Brown, an A-list marketing blogger who has an army of
admirers, including me, recommended the service in a tweet this
week. You can also read a detailed account of how it works at
http://spinsucks.com/communication/simplify-blogger-outreach-
with-inkybee/.
Give it a try and let me know what you think.
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2. Why I Love Email Interviews
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If a journalist or blogger wants to interview you by email
instead of calling, don’t start grumbling about how lazy they
are.
A reporter from one of the largest circulation magazines emailed
me recently and said she wanted to interview me for comments on a
celebrity-related story that will be published this summer. She
included several questions in the email.
I loved the topic and knew this would be an A+ publicity hit for
me. But I wasn’t prepared to talk right now because I needed more
background. I tried to buy time and asked if we could talk the
next day. She said it would be OK if I simply emailed my answers
back to her.
That gave me plenty of time to research the topic and craft a few
sizzling sound bites. I answered all of her questions except one
because I told her I wasn’t familiar with the celebrity.
She loved my answers!
Three lessons here:
–Never be afraid to say “I don’t know.”
–Email interviews are easier for busy reporters who can’t always
connect with multiple sources in different time zones. And all
good Publicity Hounds know we ALWAYS try to make the reporter’s
job easy.
–Email interviews give you time to collect your thoughts, do
your research, create sound bites, and hunt around online for
interesting tidbits about the reporter. They also give you a
chance to respond with well-thought-out answers and commentary.
There’s still time to grab my checklist of 219 publicity ideas–
several ideas for every month of the year–and many of them are
perfect for pitching to bloggers. It’s a two-for-the-price-of-one
special, and it comes with two CDs I recorded with TV producer
Shawne Duperon. Listen as we explain the inner workings of TV and
newspaper newsrooms and how that affects your ability to get
publicity. Grab them now, this week only, at
https://publicityhound.com/shop/?p=2239
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3. New Posts at My Blog
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How to partner with corporate, nonprofit sponsors
(Free call Thursday with Brendon Burchard)
BlogTalkRadio: A huge rip-off or a handy resource?
Dog Tweets: 30 PR experts you should follow on Twitter
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4. Hound Chuckle of the Week
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Thanks to Dan Janal of PR Leads.com for this story about a man
who got the shock of his life when he bought what he thought were
two toy poodles.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2305310/Man-gets-shock-
toy-poodles-turn-GIANT-RODENTS-steroids.html
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