Issue #905 April 7, 2015
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- LinkedIn’s Confusing Power Tool
- How Authors Become Experts
- 9 Ways Corporate Sponsors Help
- Hound Video of the Week
This Week in the Hound House:
Watching the final four minutes of last night’s NCAA championship was like watching a giant balloon deflate. My Wisconsin Badgers gave it their best but shot only 41 percent–seven percentage points under its season average. Still, it’s been fun having a team in the finals. And I was relieved to see no reports of riots, torched cars or looting.
1. LinkedIn’s Confusing Power Tool
If you don’t have a blog, LinkedIn’s publishing platform offers a powerful way to promote your expertise by sharing rich content that gives people solutions to problems or explains topics within your industry.
But what if you already have a blog?
If you’re simply republishing your blog posts to LinkedIn, you’re probably doing yourself more harm than good because Google doesn’t like duplicate content.
You can also get into trouble if you accept guest posts at your blog and republish someone else’s post on your profile.
Here’s another problem. Even though content published on LinkedIn’s publishing platform remains your work, and you own the rights to any original posts you publish, it isn’t your property. And that means you don’t have full control over it. LinkedIn can restrict, suspend or terminate your LinkedIn account or disable your posts for any violation of its User Agreement, which can change on a moment’s notice.
So what’s a content-weary Publicity Hound to do?
If you have a blog, rewrite the post for LinkedIn. If you don’t have a blog, continue publishing to LinkedIn but remember that you don’t own the property. Publishing on a blog is like living in your own house. Publishing on LinkedIn is like renting an apartment.
LinkedIn has made so many changes in the last year that many users don’t understand the new tools at their fingertips and how being unaware of other changes can put them in hot water. And what about upgrading to a paid account?
LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth knows all the ways to navigate LinkedIn’s many changes, even without upgrading, and he’ll be teaching them during a 60-minute webinar from 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 9.
Everyone who registers will five valuable bonuses within 48 hours of the call: the video replay, a self-evaluation that lets you score yourself so you can see how well you’re doing on LinkedIn, a list of “10 Ways to Promote Your Events on LinkedIn” and Wayne’s checklist of “10 Ways to Get More Company Page Followers.”
Here’s the fifth bonus: Wayne and I also use a fast, incredibly easy trick for growing our email lists. We’ll tell you what it is and even give you the copy we use so you can steal our idea.
Register for the webinar at my shop. If you can’t attend live, you’ll receive the video replay.
2. How Authors Become Experts
You’ll find an author under every rock.
That’s why smart authors, even those who write fiction, become experts in their topics.
Impossible? Not if you listen to the interview I did last week on Judith Briles’ radio show. I explain the various levels of expertise, how more doors open to expert authors, and all the things experts do to gain credibility, authority and respect.
Join Judith and me at the Author U Extravaganza May 7-9 in Denver where I’m presenting two sessions. Save $100 off registration by using the coupon code AU2015 at checkout. Register here.
3. Meet Me in St. Louis
Authors, speakers and experts lucky enough to partner with a corporate or nonprofit sponsor have benefits galore:
- They have access to a giant marketing budget.
- They can book speaking engagements because the sponsor already has lots of contacts the speaker can use.
- Big corporations and nonprofits have giant email lists and often mail to their lists on your behalf when they’re partnering with you on an event.
Brendon Burchard, who has partnered with giant brands like Sony, cracked the code and developed a surprisingly easy way to get major companies like Coke, Toyota, and Sony Pictures to promote and sponsor his books, publicity, and speaking tours. But only after a lot of trial and error.
He’ll explain how he did it when Steve Harrison interviews him during a free teleseminar at 2 and 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 9. Register here.
You can also read my blog post about the nine ways a corporate sponsor can help you promote.
4. Hound Video of the Week
Buick’s new “Woof” commercial is a hoot. Want your dog to be featured in the next one? It’s as easy as 1-2-3. Go to Buick’s website where you can upload a video of your dog giving its best bark.
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