Issue #765 Nov. 12, 2013
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- Top 50 New Product Review Blogs
- Don’t Lag Behind on This One
- YouTube Training Video #3
- Hound Video of the Week
This Week in the Hound House:
I make all-natural dog treats for Bogie’s friends at Christmas. But with so many dogs allergic to this, that and the other thing, I’m always afraid one of them will have a seizure. That’s why I was delighted to find “Cookies for Canines: 9 Homemade Dog Treat Recipes”. It includes recipes for vegetarians, gluten-free dogs and even a recipe from Spago Executive Pastry Chef Sherry Yard.
1. Top 50 New Product Review Blogs
When you launch a product, don’t forget about all those product review blogs that welcome pitches.
Some bloggers might not have large audiences, but they have incredibly loyal fans who hang on the bloggers’ every word and follow their recommendations.
Cision, which sells a media database, just released its list of the Top 50 Product Review Blogs.
Some blogs have a specific focus, like smartphone apps, frugality, technology, gadgets and bikes. Others are general purpose. You’ll even find a few Holiday Gift Guides that will require you to pitch NOW.
If you’re pitching these bloggers, don’t do it blindly. Follow these three steps:
–Study the blog and make sure your product is a good fit.
–Look for the “Contact” button because that might be the preferred place they want you to pitch. If you don’t see it, do a Google search. Example: I Googled “how to pitch the mommyhood chronicles” and found a very detailed page that explains her Product & Review Policy and her policy for offering giveaways. Skipping this step can cost you a review.
–When telling bloggers about your product, explain why their readers would care.
Remember magazines, too, when you’re going after reviews. The video replay of my webinar on “How to Find Your Way into Glossy Magazines.” It includes tips for pitching products new and old, and the overlooked trick for learning exactly what’s on the minds of magazine editors and the issues they think are important.
2. Don’t Lag Behind on This One
It’s popping almost daily on TV commercials.
It’s on billboards.
And even on the outside of an airplane flown by Virgin America.
Two years ago, it was several feet long and appeared in the north endzone, just in front of the goal post, in the stadium at Mississippi State.
It’s the hashtag, the symbol # that’s used far beyond just social media. It has become a quick, cheap and easy way to pull traffic to your website, introduce yourself to people in your target market who don’t know you, and even sell products and services.
If you’re saying to yourself, “I’m not on Twitter, so this doesn’t interest me,” you’re missing the point.
The hashtag is fast becoming one of the powerful search and publicity tools on and off the Internet, not just on Twitter. It’s a way to build your reputation quickly, expand your reach, and find people who need what you’re selling.
Hashtags help you sell books, promote events, find journalists who cover your area of expertise, and gain new followers.
If you missed my webinar last week on “How to Use Hashtags, the New Search Tool,” you can still access the video replay and the big package of bonuses.
One of the bonuses tells exactly where to register your hashtag so you get first dibs on it.
3. YouTube Training Video #3
Tails are awaggin’ over Jeff Johnson’s series of free YouTube training videos I’m sharing here.
He just releases the third one today: “The 7 Simple Steps That are Guaranteed to Bring You Free Traffic and Free Leads from YouTube.”
How I wish I had known this eight years ago when I started on YouTube! I could have saved myself months of frustration.
You will learn:
–The 3 quickest and easiest ways to jumpstart your video traffic without an email list.
–How to leverage the power of the “X-Ray Factor” to easily grab free list-building traffic from YouTube.
–How to find the traffic-pulling keywords on YouTube that will help you rank high.
–The quickest and easiest way to create videos that send you both free traffic and free leads.
See for yourself. It’s free.
I took Jeff’s YouTube course last winter, and I’ve got more than three dozen videos on YouTube that are pulling traffic and leads like nobody’s business. That’s why I’m promoting his materials as an affiliate who earns a commission if you buy anything from him. I love his tips.
If you missed downloading the Free Cheat Sheets that Jeff offered a few weeks ago, not to worry. You can access those, too.
4. Hound Video of the Week
Thanks to Publicity Hounds Nancy Juetten and Shannon Cherry for this video on 28 dogs who are having a worse day than you.
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