The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #722 June 4, 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. When It’s OK to Quit
2. Why Alt Text Is Important
3. Guest Bloggers, Finish the Job
4. Hound Video of the Week
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First, This Week in the Hound House:
Eleven bucks. Eleven measly bucks! That’s all I made on
Saturday’s rummage sale. Lots of “drive-bys” but few people
bothered to even get out of their cars. I spent part of that
money on gas, driving to St. Vincent de Paul to donate the entire
pathetic load. Live and learn.
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1. When It’s OK to Quit
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When you find yourself struggling to write a blog post, and the
words just won’t come, it’s OK to quit. Really.
Here are three instances when I bail out:
–When the problem isn’t writing. It’s that I haven’t done enough
research on the topic to present it well, and I have no time to
research.
–When I feel as though I “ought to” write on a certain topic
simply because you expect me to, but I lack the enthusiasm
necessary to do it well. I start writing. But I’m bored to death
by what I see on the screen.
–When the post screams for a photo or illustration but I don’t
have one. I usually save it as a draft and come back to it later,
when I have time to search the stock photo sites. Why bother with
this? Because I can use the photo on sites like Google+ and
Facebook to catch people’s attention and promote the post.
Sometimes, I can still get the job done, but I rely on other
people’s writing instead of my own. This happens when I research
a topic and it’s clear that several other experts have already
covered it in far greater detail than I could.
The solution: Write a short introduction, and give readers a list
of the terrific posts I’ve found elsewhere, with links. You can
see how I did this in the post I wrote last week on “7 best
articles on how to use ‘new’ press releases.”
That solution is one of 21 I presented Thursday on how to write
super-fast blog posts. I threw in two more ideas I came up with
at the last minute. And instead of offering a bonus package of 10
cut-and-paste templates, I offered 11 because there was one more
I didn’t want you to miss.
If you registered but couldn’t attend live, and you missed the
email I sent Sunday with all the download links, contact my
assistant, Christine Buffaloe, and she’ll send it.
If you missed registering and you want all the materials, you can
order the webinar replay and the bonus package for “21 Ideas for
Quick & Dirty Blog Posts When You Don’t Have Time to Write.”
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2. Why Alt Text Is Important
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Here’s something that will help you pull more people–including
journalists, meeting planners and potential customers–to your
website or blog.
Alt text is an attribute you add to an HTML image element to
describe the image. If you write it well, the search engines will
better understand the content of the photo.
I sometimes give alt text short shrift, especially when I’m in a
hurry. But no more!
Blogging expert Marie Mosley explains it very well in her post
“All About Alt Text.”
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3. Guest Bloggers: Finish the Job
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When someone invites you to write a guest blog post, that’s
valuable free publicity.
But your job isn’t done when the post has been published. Pay
attention to the comments so you can reply and cement the
relationship with people who took time to react.
My post “Do You Know These 9 Huge Opportunities Even Smart
Authors Miss?” at Joel Frielander’s blog last week and it resulted
in more than a dozen comments, some from people
asking questions. I spent a lot of time over the weekend
replying, but it paid off.
Several of those people also emailed me to comment.
By the way, if you don’t reply to comments at your blog, you’re
missing a chance to show your readers you care about them. To
enable comments, do a Google search for “How to reply to comments
at a WordPress blog” or whatever platform you are using, and
you’ll find tutorials galore. Or, better yet, check with your
techie.
If you’re blogging, but you aren’t making money from your blog,
check out “27 Ways to Monetize Your Blog,” a training program I
hosted that includes ideas, tactics, tools and advice on how to
turn your blog into an ATM machine, without annoying your
readers.
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4. Hound Video of the Week
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Who says dogs can’t fly? Check out the DockDogs that fly through
the air with the greatest of ease, trying to catch a Frisbee in a
swimming pool.
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