The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #471 Sept. 29, 2009
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. The #1 Press Release Writing Mistake
2. Get Retweeted These 9 Ways
3. Business Week Lets You Share Content
4. How to Get Pro Bono PR
5. Help This Hound
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blog…
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1. The #1 Press Release Writing Mistake
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When a consulting client asks me to critique a press release, one
of the first questions I ask is, “What keywords are you using to
pull traffic?”
Silence.
It isn’t a trick question. But it stumps nine out of 10 people.
Most press release writers fail to use the right keywords, or any
keywords, in their online releases, which renders the releases
impotent.
People who know a little about keywords go overboard and stuff
too many into their releases, making it all too obvious that
they’re trying to trick the search engines.
Keywords are like magnets. Let’s say somebody wants to buy boots
online. The buyer types “patent leather boots” into the Google
search box.
Google goes looking for that phrase. It sifts through billions of
pieces of content. Within a second or two, it delivers a long
list of articles, videos, blog posts and press releases that have
the same keywords. If you sell patent leather boots and have
written a press release about them, but you haven’t used the
correct keywords within your release, it won’t be on Google’s
list.
But if you HAVE used keywords correctly, your release could end
up on the first page of Google, bringing a rush of traffic to the
release, and eventually to your sales page.
Too many people spend too much time sweating the right headline,
a clever news hook, or a killer quote. But all those are useless
without keywords. What good is a press release if nobody can find
it?
Janet Thaeler, an online press release specialist and search
engine optimization expert, will explain the often confusing
topic of keywords during a teleseminar I’m hosting at 3 p.m.
Eastern Time on Wednesday. Oct. 21. It will include links to two
videos that you’ll get before the call so you can watch her
search for keywords. You’ll also get a template for a press
release and a handy cheat sheet that explains, step by step, how
to research and use keywords. You can refer to it every time you
write a release.
Everyone who registers and emails me one keyword-related question
will be eligible to win a free press release written by Janet and
distributed through PR Web. Full details are on the sign-up page
at http://budurl.com/7ttk
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2. Get Retweeted These 9 Ways
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One of the measures of your influence on Twitter is the number of
times your followers retweet your tweets.
Viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella, an avid Twitterer and
author of The Social Media Marketing Book, spent nine months
analyzing roughly 5 million tweets and 40 million retweets.
Based on his scientific research, he offers these nine tips for
getting retweeted:
–Link, but don’t use Tiny URLs.
–Ask your followers to retweet your posts. “Please” and
“retweet” were his third and fourth “most retweetable” words.
–Avoid idle chit-chat like what you’re eating for lunch. Do NOT
answer Twitter’s question, “What are you doing?”
–Don’t be stupid. Use words instead of abbreviations and
emoticons. 🙁
–Use punctuation, especially colons, periods, exclamation
points, commas and hyphens. But don’t use semicolons.
–Break news.
–Use proper nouns correctly.
–Bottle your emotions. Nobody cares about your problems at work.
They don’t like swear words either.
–Tweet at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Give Dan your email address and get his entire report at
http://budurl.com/cnp7
Do what Dan does. Capture email addresses by giving away
something for free, and then keep in touch with people on your
list regularly, just like I do when I send you this newsletter
weekly. See “Special Report #51: 55 Free Things You Can Offer to
Generate Publicity or Capture People’s Email Addresses.” Only
$10. Read more at http://budurl.com/qnu4
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3. Business Week Lets You Share Content
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During my teleseminar yesterday for members of The Publicity
Hound Mentor Program, Susan Joyce, one of my proteges, mentioned
the benefit of sharing articles on Business Exchange, Business
Week’s content-sharing site at http://bx.businessweek.com/
Susan, a job search expert, shares information at her website at
http://www.job-hunt.org/ and says she started seeing significant
traffic when she also started sharing a few of her own articles
at Business Exchange.
The site allows users to create business topics, collect content
from the Web, and connect with other business focused users
around these topics. This is a great way to find business people
in your target audience.
On Business Exchange you can:
–Search for information on any topic. Users can find a
collection of organized information on thousands of diverse
topics.
–After you register, collaborate with other users.
–Be the first one to share your expertise and perspective on
topics that aren’t yet on the site.
–Create your own network by adding users.
I’m betting Business Week editors periodically review this site
and pluck out story ideas for the magazine. Read the Frequently
Asked Questions Page at http://bx.businessweek.com/about/faqs/
Find out if you’re a good candidate for my mentor program at
http://publicityhound.com/mentorprogram/intro.html
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4. How to Get Pro Bono PR
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This week, seven Publicity Hounds have tips for Vicki Young of
Dallas, Texas, on how to get free PR help for Captain Hope’s
Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to helping homeless children in North
Texas.
From Ted Fuller:
“Contact or visit area senior centers and service clubs for
retired PR types. Also, drop in on Toastmaster clubs with a two-
minute pitch.”
From Terri Benincasa:
“Dallas, like many states, most likely has foundations or even
tax-funded boards (ours in Tampa is called The Children’s Board),
that provide ROI grants designed to provide non-profits with
technical assistance seed money for activities known to bring a
return on investment. This includes funding for marketing/PR
campaigns, grant-writing/grant-writers, etc.”
From Janine Libbey:
“Contact local PR firms and ask them if they can provide some
services at no charge. Most professional service companies do pro
bono work but you need to make them aware of your needs!”
Read all the responses to this week’s “Help This Hound” question
at http://budurl.com/vfe6
Send your own “Help this Hound” question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound
and include your city, state or province. I need questions!
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5. Help This Hound
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Joel Kweskin of Charlotte, NC, asks this week?s “Help This Hound”
question:
?What should I do when I send out press releases to, among
others, the local newspaper and they simply don?t publish them?
I?m talking legitimate and even entertaining news items.
?Do you just keep throwing the proverbial stuff against the wall
until something sticks? Or, is there a tactic for following up
to better give the release a better chance to be picked up??
The Publicity Hound says:
This is a great question, and one that?s perplexed many Hounds.
If journalists are consistently ignoring your releases, you need
to solicit feedback from other trusted sources who can tell you
whether THEY think the releases are newsy?or interesting. Do you
know somebody who used to work in the media? Or somebody who does
marketing or PR? Have you tried coming up with an angle or news
hook and pitching it, along with contact information for other
sources, to the media?
Let?s see what other ideas my Hounds have for writing better
releases, and following up once you send them. Post your comments
to my blog at http://budurl.com/85lh
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Meryl K. Evans for this wonderful video
that solves the mystery of why the dog owners frequently returned
home to find a wet patio:
http://stevebass.posterous.com/home-alone-in-the-pool
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…
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Did this PR pro err by chastising a reporter publicly?
http://budurl.com/3665
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Joan Stewart
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