Issue #852 Sept. 16, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- Set a Guinness Record
- How to Market Your Event
- Cruise Deadline Extended
- Hound Video of the Week
This Week in the Hound House:
I’m trying to calm the fears of a few readers who wrote about the recommendation I got to beat my Trumpet Honeysuckle with a broom handle to make it bloom. “You’ll kill it,” one Publicity Hound wrote. “Try hitting it with the bristles of the broom instead.” So noted. Almost everything in the garden has turned crispy brown, so I won’t do this until next summer. Stay tuned…
1. Set a Guinness Record
Kemp’s holds the Guinness World Record for the largest ice cream scoop: a 3,010-pound mountain of strawberry.
Colgate has the top spot for the “Most People Using Mouthwash Simultaneously” after 1,142 participants swished in Times Square.
OfficeMax broke the record for the world’s largest rubberband ball, at 4,590 pounds.
Those are all big brands. But if your publicity stunt has four critical elements, you too might be able to break a record and benefit from mountains of publicity. Guinness wants:
–Relevancy.
–Cause Marketing.
–Visuals.
–Simplicity.
Jamie Antoniou, a PR exec who works for Guinness, said you should never be afraid to go local with your publicity. “A single post by a prominent local blogger can generate pick-up globally,” she says. “And it’s a good idea to hire a local wire service to capture your event on film, and then have them do the syndication for you.”
Read more about how to get into the Guinness Book of World Records in the article.
If you can’t break a Guinness record, you have thousands of other ideas for publicity at your fingertips when you buy my package of 52 special reports. Take advantage of my half-price special and save $123.50 through midnight on Wednesday (tomorrow). This special is only for Hounds who read these email tips. Use the coupon code “reports” at checkout and click on “apply.”
2. How to Market Your Event
Whether it’s a woodworking class you’re teaching in your community or an international festival you’re hosting, you need attendees–not just great publicity–to make it a success.
Use every opportunity to promote your free or paid event for a product launch, a fund-raiser, to promote your expertise, to make money, or just for fun.
Attend a free Google+ Hangout on Air and learn from two special event experts who will explain “How to Market Your Event.” Hang out with Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBizMedia and former editor of Entrepreneur magazine, and web strategist Andy Crestodina. It’s from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Sept. 18, sponsored by ProfNet.
3. Cruise Deadline Extended
We’re extending the early-bird deadline for the “Publishing at Sea” cruise I’m co-hosting Jan. 18-25 in the Eastern Caribbean, but you must book by Thursday, Sept. 18—that’s this week—if you want to join us. Do it now because there’s a good chance the few remaining cabins will be gone by then.
Early birds save $300 off the regular price.
In addition to more than 10 workshops on publishing fiction or nonfiction, you will have one-on-one access to me and four other book publishing experts when we’re at sea. When we’re in port–in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Martin–you’re on your own to shop, swim, relax or enjoy the shore excursions.
Read more about the cruise and why you don’t want to miss the boat.
4. Hound Video of the Week
Thanks to Publicity Hound Tracey Bennett of Honolulu, Hawaii, for this short video of Grover the Pug going crazy inside his ball pit. I’d never heard of a ball pit until I saw this one.
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