Issue #980 Dec. 26, 2015
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- Sizzling Author Resource Boxes
- LinkedIn Cheat Sheet
- Best Free Media Contact List
- Hound Video of the Week
This Weekend in the Hound House:
I’m back home today, after four days with my family in Columbus, Ohio. If the warm weather holds, I’ll be able to do something I’ve never done the last weekend of the year: rake leaves and clean out the garden shed.
1. Sizzling Author Resource Boxes
What better time than the new year to add some sizzle to your author bio box, also known as the author resource box? So many I read are more potent than Ambien.
Tell readers about your pet. Or your vices.
Use one-word sentences. Or incomplete sentences.
Look at your Twitter bio for inspiration. Tell us what’s on your bucket list.
You’ll love the example I write about in the article “9 Ways to Make Your Author Resource Box Sizzle.”
2. LinkedIn Cheat Sheet
LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth has created a handy cheat sheet that will help you stay on track each week, connect with more people on the world’s largest business networking site, and get more business.
You can print it and keep it close by as a reminder to stay in front of people who one day might do business with you.
Wayne suggests the 6/3/1 Rule. Post six status updates that include helpful content from others. Post three that include tips from you or your company. Post one that promotes a product or service. He recommends using an automation tool like Hootsuite or Buffer.
You can grab the sheet at Wayne Breitbach’s blog.
3. Best Free Media Contact List
Michelle Tennant of Wasabi Publicity tipped me off to USNPL, the giant free database of newspapers, TV and radio contacts in the U.S.
The site lets you search for contact info for U.S. newspapers, TV stations and radio stations by state. Once you get a list of media, you can go directly to the media outlet’s website, or click on links to their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.
USNPL does a pretty good job of keeping up to date with the myriad of changes in the media industry. That’s because it lets media outlets edit the contact information.
I created a three-minute video demonstrating how the site works. It’s embedded in the blog post I wrote on “7 Ways to Use the Best Free Media Database for Publicity.”
This tip was excerpted from “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2015,” my holiday gift to you. Have you claimed your copy yet? You can find it at The Publicity Hound blog.
Give it to a friend who needs publicity, a PR student, a worthy nonprofit that can’t afford a publicist, or your assistant.
4. Hound Video of the Week
Thanks to Heather Elliott of Ottowa, Canada, a member of The Publicity Hound Mentor Program for this fun video of dogs playing in the first snowfall of the year. (Remember snow?)
[Tweet “#PublicityTips from @PublicityHound– Sizzling Author Resource Boxes #Authormarketing”]
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