Issue #863 Oct. 25, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- The Value of Google+ Hangouts
- Book Reviewers on LinkedIn
- Keep Visitors on Your Website
- Hound Video of the Week
This Weekend in the Hound House:
Everything is so late ripening because of the cool summer that I’m still harvesting tomatoes and sweet red peppers. I’m eager to see if I’ll be plucking fresh tomatoes off the vine in November. My pots of red geraniums look gorgeous. Will they last until Christmas?
1. The Value of Google+ Hangouts
If you haven’t started using Google Hangouts yet, the video replay of a Hangout I attended this week will convince you that you need to start now.
Social media strategist BL Ochman, who has been a guest expert on several of my webinars, moderated a fascinating panel of experts who explained how they use Google Hangouts as part of their digital strategy. The panel included the social media managers of NASA and the New York Times.
Admittedly, their projects are more grandiose than the ones you and I might produce. But I was pleased to hear them talk about the mistakes they made along the way. Here are a half dozen take-aways from my notes:
–Don’t let the technology intimidate you.
–Making mistakes is part of the learning process. You’ll find the audience very forgiving because they understand it’s new technology. And if your content rocks, they’ll love you anyway.
–Make sure you have a good-quality headset/mic or a lavalier microphone. They don’t have to be expensive.
–Don’t rely on wi-fi during the program.
–Consider hosting Hangouts for events that are difficult for journalists and others to travel to. NASA, for example, hosted a press conference in the desert via a Hangout.
–Present content that has a shelf life. Most of your viewers will not attend live. They’ll watch the replay on your YouTube channel. Hangouts, by the way, are a quick and easy way to create more videos for YouTube.
The webinar was sponsored by PRSA New York and produced for the first annual Communications Week New York. Reserve an hour this week to watch “Why You Need to Add Google+ Hangouts to Your Digital communications Strategy.”
2. Book Reviewers on LinkedIn
Looking for people to review your book?
Go to LinkedIn and click on the word “Advanced” near the top of the screen, to the right of the blue magnifying glass.
Under “Keywords,” type “book reviewer.”
I found more than 3,800 reviewers.
You can drill down further and include other keywords that reviewers have in their profiles.
You’ll find dozens more tips on how to find people to review your books on the video replay of the paid webinar I hosted on “Where to Find Millions of Readers Online to Review, Recommend and Buy Your Books.” It includes tips on where to find bloggers who review books for the Wall Street Journal, how to use a huge directory of freelance journalists who review books, and the best feature on Amazon for finding reviewers. You can buy the replay here.
3. Keep Visitors on Your Website
If you generate publicity and do it right, you can see new traffic arriving at your website.
But don’t encourage visitors to leave your site by including extraneous links on your homepage such as:
–Links to your webmaster’s website. Unless the webmaster is paying you for the link, remove it.
–A link to the platform or software you used to build your site.
–Trade associations where you’re a member. One website I saw this week, for a giant brand, had links to three of its trade associations. When I clicked through, I found links to that company’s competitors!
–Any link that allows visitors to see “recommended websites.” Google will penalize your for trading links.
4. Hound Video of the Week
An oldie but goodie worth another look: The Dancing Merengue Dog.
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