The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #543 Feb. 15, 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. Quick, Upgrade Your FB Fan Page
2. Pesky Facebook Birthday Greetings
3. The Power of LinkedIn Groups
4. You Don’t Need this for Publicity
5. Tips for Hounds with Disabilities
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…
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1. Quick, Upgrade Your FB Fan Page
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If you’re using a Facebook Fan Page to brand your business, as
every savvy Publicity Hound should, do yourself and your fans a
favor and upgrade to the new layout.
Here’s a recap of what’s new:
–The tabs are gone. Navigation is now where people expect to
find it–on the left, under their profile photos.
–You now have the flexibility to interact with the other areas
of Facebook as a Page, or as a person. To do that, go to Account
in the upper right corner and click on the drop-down arrow to
“Switch back to…” This toggle lets you decide if you want to
comment on other people’s pages under your own name, or under the
name of your Fan page. Commenting under the name of your Fan
Page could pull people back to your own Page.
–Get notifications when fans interact with your Page or posts.
You can see activity from the Pages you like in your news feed.
You can “Like” other Pages and feature them on your Page.
–You have new Settings. You can set defaults for your email
notifications and how you post to your Page–as yourself or your
Page. You can also select which featured Pages appear in the left
column.
–The most recent photos that you post to your Wall, or photos
that you tag your Page in, will appear at the top of the Page. To
hide a photo, roll over it and click X. I don’t like this change
because photos junk up the Page and claim prime real estate.
Please, Facebook, give us the power of making these photos go
away. Until that happens, I’m going to make the photos that
appear at the top of my page more interesting by including more
interesting photos in the content I post to my Fan Page Wall.
Facebook is rolling out the new look right now and you’ll
eventually be forced to convert to the new format next month. But
don’t wait. Do it now.
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2. Pesky Facebook Birthday Greetings
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I’m re-evaluating everything I do on Facebook, including sending
birthday greetings that once were cool but are quickly losing
their luster.
So I asked my Facebook fans if they still send birthday
greetings.
What a response!
Several fans suggested clever ways to make your birthday greeting
really stand out from the hundreds of others. Somebody even
commented that she doesn’t have her real birthday listed on
Facebook. I don’t either. Why make it easy for thieves to steal
my identity?
Go to my Fan Page and take a look. The post is the second from
the top.
If you’re not a fan yet, you first must “Like” my Page. Do that
by clicking on the thumb-up “Like” box on the right side, near
the top.
http://www.Facebook.com/publicitytips
Please join in the conversation and tell me if I’m wrong.
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3. The Power of LinkedIn Groups
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With a few exceptions, the Groups function on Facebook has proven
to be a time-waster if you’re using Groups primarily to promote
your expertise and your business.
That’s because Groups have turned into a haven for spammers.
Unless a Facebook Group is really serving your needs, you’d be
wise to spend the majority of your time on your Fan Page.
Not so on LinkedIn.
Wayne Breitbarth, an expert on how to use the world’s top
business networking site, says his research shows that LinkedIn
users rate Groups as the second most important part of LinkedIn.
(People-searching is rated the most useful function.)
Groups are very easy to join, and Wayne recommends that you join
several DOZEN. That’s right, as in 40 or 50 (the limit). Here’s
why:
–It will be easy for people to find you.
–Joining Groups in which your customers, suppliers or vendors
hang out is a way to connect, answer questions and share
expertise and resources.
–You can promote an event you’re hosting to a group of people
who have the same interests, even if they aren’t connected to
you. I get lots of LinkedIn invitations from people who I meet in
Groups.
Still need convincing? Join Wayne and me for a webinar on March 3
on “Your LinkedIn Power Formula: How to Make Killer Contacts,
Pull Crowds to Events, be a Star in Your Industry & Track Down
Leads Like a Bloodhound.”
Inc. magazine is so impressed with Wayne that the magazine has
invited him to speak at its Growco conference April 6-8 in Las
Vegas.
Learn more about the webinar, how to register, and what you’ll
find on the killer handouts, at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/linkedinpowerformula.htm
Time conflict? Sign up anyway. I’ll send you the link for the
video replay and all the downloads.
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4. You Don’t Need This for Publicity
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Authors, speakers, experts and business owners who try to get
booked on big TV talk shows or into major newspapers and
magazines–and fail–mistakenly think it’s because they don’t
have one of these three things:
–A pretty face. They see drop-dead gorgeous TV talk show hosts
and think they have to look that good, too, just to be invited
onto the set. Wrong.
–A college degree or fancy credentials. Nope.
–An expensive publicist. A good one can cost more than $2,000 a
month. (Who has that kind of money?)
Many experts who get booked repeatedly don’t have any of those
things. In almost every field, there are people who are very good
at getting publicity.
The media loves them and they’re regularly on radio/TV shows and
featured in print publications. They not only get a ton of free
publicity but they also know how to really profit from the media
coverage through increased sales, name recognition, speaking
engagements and more.
To discover how these “publicity superstars” do it and how you,
too, can get more coverage using their strategies, join Steve
Harrison, this Thursday, Feb. 17, for a free webinar (or
teleseminar if you prefer):
http://www.freepublicity.com/superstars/?10011
P.S. Even though the call is free, I’m a compensated affiliate if
you buy any of Steve’s products or services.
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5. Tips for Hounds with Disabilities
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This week, two Publicity Hounds have tips on how Judith Bron of
Spring Valley, NY, who is blind, can deal with the problem of
typing letters into a captcha box when she wants to create a
social media account.
From Christine Buffaloe:
“I just did a Google search and found this posting:
“Making Facebook Accessible for Everyone, at
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=71852922130, then leads to
another article as well:
“Accessibility and Assistive Technology at
http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=440
From Raghava Satish:
After giving specific instructions on how to install a Firefox
plug-in, Raghava says:
“I am also blind, and if you would like to know more about
accessible social networks, visit this site
http://www.inclusiveplanet.com which is an accessible social
network website for people with visual challenges. Here, people
share software, books and music.”
Read the comments at my blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=7772
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Meet Chaser, the border collie that knows 1,022 words and can
find objects by name.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41489081/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/?gt1=43001
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 Blogs & Mobile Site…
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Why LinkedIn Groups put Facebook Groups to shame
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7839
6 ways to romance journalists with your pitch
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7817
9 ways to connect with LinkedIn pals who change jobs
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7810
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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
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