The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #575 Oct. 4, 2011
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. Tips for Your 2012 Media Plan
2. Your Competitors’ Press Releases
3. How to Find Influential People
4. Don’t Use Facebook’s Links Box
5. Artists Need International Publicity
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…
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1. Tips for Your 2012 Media Plan
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This is the time to start collecting editorial calendars so you
can begin creating your media plan for next year.
Contact the advertising department at each newspaper and magazine
where you want publicity and ask a sales rep to send you a
calendar or lead you to it at their website.
Editorial calendars list special sections and other topical
features being planned for specific publications. They tip you
off to sections where your story would be a good fit. Find out
who edits the section, write a pitch, and then deliver it. Using
editorial calendars will put you miles ahead of everyone else
who’s pitching.
Here are three more tips for creating a media plan:
–Less is more. You’re better off targeting fewer media outlets
and writing customized pitches for each, rather than delivering
the same one-size-fits-all pitch to dozens of media outlets, many
of which will have very different audiences.
–Use the social media sites to find journalists who cover your
topic. If you find a beat reporter on, say, Twitter, follow him.
Pay attention to topics he’s writing about. Retweet his content.
Start the conversation. And then pitch.
–Think of ways to repurpose your publicity, using multi-media.
If a local newspaper prints a story about your company’s new
product, don’t stop there. Create a video for YouTube. Post
photos to Flickr. Feature the product on Company Pages on
LinkedIn. Consider hosting a free webinar showing people how to
use the product, and offer replays of the video at your blog.
If you aren’t creating a strategy right now to generate publicity
in the next 12 months, in another month or two, it may be too
late. Long lead times for some media outlets, like national
magazines for instance, mean you need to be pitching stories six
months before the magazine goes to press.
But you don’t have to start creating a plan from scratch. Let me
help.
“How to Create a Media Plan” is a graduate-level course on how to
get worldwide attention for your product, service, cause or
issue, by creating and following a well-thought-out, month-by-
month strategic plan that also leaves room for publicity ideas
when there’s breaking news.
It’s available as electronic transcripts, CDs or MP3s. Read more
about how it will shorten your learning curve at
http://publicityhound.com/mediaplan.htm
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2. Your Competitors’ Press Releases
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Your media plan, mentioned above, has an important component:
online press releases.
You will write them primarily to reach consumers directly through
the search engines. For journalists, you’ll deliver those
customized pitches.
Just for the heck of it, go see what kinds of press releases your
competitors are writing. I’m a huge fan of ExpertClick: The
Online Yearbook of Experts, which lets you post up to 52 press
releases per year, with a subscription.
Go to http://www.ExpertClick.com/Referral/Publicity_Hound and
click “Site Map” in the menu bar. Now go to the “Experts” column
and click on “Find Experts.”
Scroll down to the long list of hundreds of topics. Click on your
topic and you’ll see a list of your competitors. You can now call
up their press releases and see what they’ve written. If you
don’t see your topic, use the search box.
One of the reasons I like ExpertClick, and am a compensated
affiliate, is because press releases rank well in the search
engines. You can also write them even when there’s no news.
Create a tips list, take a stand on a controversial topic, make a
prediction, issue a proclamation, or identify a trend you’re
seeing in your industry and write about it, and include a call to
action.
If you use the link above, you can take advantage of the $100
Publicity Hound discount.
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3. How to Find Influential People
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I recently discovered Appinions, a fascinating company that shows
you how to find and connect with influencers like journalists and
bloggers who are discussing topics in your area of expertise
right now.
Unlike sites, such as Klout, that measure only social media
influence, Appinions also tracks traditional media to round out a
true picture of influence.
Appinions claims to be the first service that matches influencers
to specific topics, based on opinions from news, blogs, tweets,
TV transcripts and social networks. Publicity Hounds can then
identify the most influential people who can move the needles of
influence, and pitch them.
After speaking with CEO Larry Levy, and watching him demonstrate
how the service works, I was so impressed that I asked him to
host a free webinar for you.
The ideal client for this service is a PR or marketing agency
that has multiple clients and does at least $5 million a year in
revenue.
If that’s you, join us for a free one-hour webinar at 3 p.m.
Eastern Time on Thursday, Oct. 13. After you sign up, email me
the topics where you need to find influencers. Levy has promised
to demonstrate his service, using as many topics as possible from
participants.
We have room for only 50 Publicity Hounds on the call. But if you
can’t attend live, you can watch the video replay. Register for
the webinar at
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/308195010
Full disclosure: I will earn a commission from all subscriptions
sold.
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4. Don’t use Facebook’s Link Box
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When you write a Facebook status update and want to link to an
article, Facebook gives you two options:
–Click on the “Link” box and type your link.
–Simply type the URL directly into your status update.
Lots of testers have done it both ways. They’ve found that, in
most cases, the second option encourages more people to click on
the link.
Mari Smith has lots more ideas on how to encourage people to Like
your page and click on your links. She was my guest during the
webinar on “33 Ways to Attract Facebook Fans, Provide Sterling
Content & Keep Them Coming Back for More.” No time to watch the
webinar replay? That’s OK. Use the handy checklist I compiled. It
includes all 33 tips. Follow one tip each day and watch the
number of “Likes” on your page skyrocket.
Read more about how to access the replay and the checklist, part
of the handouts, at
http://publicityhound.com/facebookpages.htm
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5. Artists Need International Publicity
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Publicity Hound Kate Farrall of San Diego, CA, writes:
“I need to get national/international publicity for my two
muralist clients who are completing a five-story public art
installation this November for the City of Davis, just outside of
Sacramento. They have transformed a water tank into a 360-degree
kinetic art installation. You can see a short video that explains
the project at
http://lcmuralanddesign.com/watertank/shadow.html
“My pitches have done well, thanks to your great advice. So far,
I’ve gotten my clients a segment on our local PBS channel that
will run for a year and a half, along with a few other news and
print hits. The feedback on my pitches has been really good and
I’ve tailored each one.
“How do I create a hook for national publications, especially art
publications? Or even publications that are not so big but
located elsewhere? Local has been a good hook for us so far, but
that won’t work in the Midwest, New York or Europe. My clients
want to be recognized as professional artists and have a broader
name recognition so they can expand where they work and the types
of projects they do.
You can read a press release about the project at
http://lcmuralanddesign.com/press/pressrelease1.html
The Publicity Hound says:
My readers love questions like this because there are so many
publicity possibilities. One of the first things I’d do is go to
their Flickr and write captions and tags for each photo. OK,
Hounds, let’s hear your ideas. Post them at my blog at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9512
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Elaine Grassbaugh of Columbus, Ohio for this hysterical
oldie-but-goodie video of the “Jack Russell Balloon Dog” on, I
assume, a Stupid Pet Trick segment on the “Tonight Show” with Jay
Leno.
http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/52494209
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.
http://publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/
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7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…
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Celebrity publicists: Interviewer will promote your clients
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9494
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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
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