Issue #930 July 4, 2015
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- Media Pitching Checklists
- Blog Your Book
- LinkedIn Limits Group Email
- Hound Video of the Week
This Weekend in the Hound House:
I’m hosting my Garden Club meeting this week. So I’m spending today shopping for ingredients for the menu: Gluten-free Banana Carrot Muffins, Zucchini Feta Bruschetta, Vegetable Quiche Cups, a Cheese Plate, Watermelon Slices with Tajin Chili/Lime Seasoning, Cucumber/Peppermint Ice Water, and Root Beer Floats. I’m spending tonight with girlfriends, watching fireworks in Sheboygan, my old stomping grounds. Have a safe Fourth.
1. Media Pitching Checklists
If you struggle with pitching journalists, bloggers and influencers, you’ll love this freebie.
It’s a series of checklists for pitching, courtesy of the folks at Prezly.com.
The first is an interactive tool that’s a long checklist of tips and questions. Your answers will help you shape the story, write the pitch, choose your targets, go the extra mile, reach out, and learn about the success rate of your pitch. The checklist includes links to articles that discuss elements of pitching in more depth.
The second is a mini-checklist based on the longer version. Print it, cut on the dotted line and distribute one to each of your team members.
The third is an old-school worksheet you can print, perfect for adding handwritten notes.
Find them all here. Or, give Prezly your email and the company will send them to you.
2. Blog Your Book
If you already blog, and you don’t have a book or info product to sell, don’t start from scratch.
Create one the easy way.
“Combine your blog and book writing by blogging your book,” says Nina Amir.
Compose your manuscript in post-sized bits that you publish on your blog. These short installments—posts of from 300 to 700 words—of your book comprise parts of a chapter. As such, the posts work like a long series all focused on one topic or theme: your movement. Or the cause or issue you want to promote.
“As you blog your book, you attract people to your movement and to your site. You give Google and the other search engines content to catalog, which improves the discoverability of your site. That gets your site even more traffic. In the process, you also produce a manuscript for your change-inspiring book.”
Learn more about How Authors Can Use a Blog to Promote a Cause or Issue. The revised and expanded edition of her book, How to Blog a Book, is available on Amazon.
3. LinkedIn Limits Group Email
Gone are the days when you could email as many members of your various LinkedIn groups as you wanted, without being connected to any of them.
You can now send only 15 free one-on-one group messages to fellow group members each month. This limit is set for all the groups you belong to, and not just for each group individually. Your only other option is to upgrade to a paid account.
You can read more about the new rules here.
Dog treats to Susan Joyce, who tipped me off to this on Thursday while attending Week 4 of my Author Email Boot Camp.
Save a few treats for LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth, who knows under-the-radar tricks for tracking down ideal connections, growing a list of targeted leads, and building strong relationships that pay huge dividends. But only if you know how to use all the LinkedIn tools right at your fingertips.
The video replay of the webinar I hosted with him on 10 LinkedIn Changes, Workarounds and Apps is available in my store, along with a giant bonus package of cheat sheets and checklists.
4. Hound Video of the Week
People who let their dogs play with fireworks and sparklers are idiots, especially the ones in this video. Here’s a smarter idea. Download the Free ASPCA Pet Safety app that will come in handy today if your dog takes off after hearing fireworks or thunder. The app helps you find lost dogs and record their medical data. Learn more here.
[Tweet “Media Pitching Checklists #PitchingtheMedia #PublicityTips”]
Share Your Two Cents