Traditional PR Fading Fast

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #526 Oct. 5, 2010

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. Traditional PR Fading Fast

2. 50+ Places to Promote Events

3. Twitter’s New Look

4. Seven Things Rich Authors Know

5. Carve a Pumpkin & Get on TV

6. Hound Joke of the Week

7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…

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1. Traditional PR Fading Fast
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If the increasing use of social media keeps building, social
media will overtake traditional media as a PR tool within two
years.

That’s one of the findings of a recent survey by
StevensGouldPincus, merger and management consultants to the
communications industry.

Currently, the total percentage of work devoted by communications
consulting firms to social media as opposed to traditional media
is 30 percent overall. Next year, the percentage will increase to
an average of 42 percent, with firms over $3 million in revenue
increasing to 46 percent.

“If this trend persists,” said managing partner Art Stevens,
“within the next two years, social media will replace traditional
media as PR/PA?s primary tool for reaching client audiences with
news and information. When you consider that traditional media
have been the bedrock of professional PR/PA practice for more
than 100 years, the implications are profound.”

You can read more about the survey and request a copy at
http://www.gspm.org/820_Social-Media-Will-Overtake-Traditional-Media-as-PR-Tool-in-Next-Two-Years

Do you agree with the findings?

Tell me in my own quick survey that will take you less than a
minute to complete at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5KQTX52 and,
if you wish, comment. I’ll report on the findings next week.

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2. 50+ Places to Promote Your Events
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When it’s time to promote a live or viral event, do you rely on
the same old websites to spread the word?

Posting on Craigslist, Facebook and LinkedIn is a no-brainer. But
if you aren’t doing much more than that, you could be missing the
smaller niche websites where you can target your ideal attendees
like a laser beam.

For example, did you know that more than 25,000 musicians have
used the free account at http://www.ArtistData.com to promote
more than 4.9 million shows, events and other news across
MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and other websites that reach their
niche audiences? You can submit information about a gig and it
will automatically post your music-related calendar listing to
more than 25 sites. That’s a lot of eyeballs reading about you.

But that’s just for musicians. Major websites and niche sites
abound for businesses, tourist attractions, authors, speakers,
experts, nonprofits, sports events and more.

Join me from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Oct. 19, for
the webinar “50+ Places Online to Promote Your Live & Virtual
Events to Reach Your Target Market and Pull Sell-out Crowds.” The
first 20 people who sign up get my handy checklist of all the
sites I mention during the webinar, plus a long list of offline
places to promote events.

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3. Twitter’s New Look
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If you’ve heard a lot of buzz about Twitter’s new look, and
you’re confused about what’s new, or if the new changes haven’t
taken effect yet on your profile, watch this helpful video. It’s
the best one I found that explains the new changes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9xh_N_pzNE

If you’re still stumped about how to profit from Twitter and
really build a following, stop tweeting a series of free
commercials. Instead, you should be promoting your expertise by
sharing helpful advice and promoting others. Warren Whitlock
explains how he does it in the two-part teleseminar recording
“How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of Followers, Customers &
Valuable Contacts–and Promote,” available as CDs, MP3s and
electronic transcripts.

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4. Seven Things Rich Authors Know
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Last week, I talked my cousin out of her hair-brained idea of
publishing a book of poetry.

She has $10,000, her life’s savings, to spend producing and
publicizing it.

If my cousin followed through on her plan, she’d be a dirt-poor
author. First, most poetry books are duds. Second, she isn’t
interested in producing any spin-off products or services from
the book.

Unfortunately, authors who publish really impressive books with
compelling content have the same attitude. They, too, belong in
the dirt-poor category.

Don’t end up with them.

Join Steve Harrison for a free teleseminar on Thursday, Oct. 7,
when he shows you “How to Achieve A Lot More Success As An Author
By Discovering The Seven Things Rich Authors Know That Poor
Authors Don’t.” Sign up for slots at 2 or 7 p.m. Eastern. Even
though the call is free, I promote it as a compensated affiliate
because I know too many authors whose dreams of selling their own
book are deflated by the cold, hard reality of the cut-throat
publishing business.

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5. Carve a Pumpkin & Get on TV
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If you want to make it onto the local TV news, here’s an idea for
companies and nonprofits everywhere.

Host a pumpkin-carving contest and ask your employees to
participate. Nothing new about that idea, but here’s the kicker
that just might bring the TV cameras to your doorstep.

Tell the TV station that someone from your company will carve the
TV station’s call letters into a pumpkin, so they can show it as
part of the news clip. You can also ask if someone at the station
will choose a winner during the actual competition, when
employees can carve whatever they wish into their pumpkins.

This is a schmaltzy idea, but TV producer Shawne Duperon says it
works and, right now, the timing is perfect. Shawne was my guest
during the teleseminar on “How to Get onto the Local TV News
Tomorrow,” available as a CD or electronic transcript. Read more
about the other smart, sneaky and clever ways to find your way
onto your local TV news at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/getinthenews.htm

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6. Hound Joke of the Week
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“I like driving around with my two dogs, especially on the
freeways. I make them wear little hats so I can use the car-pool
lanes.”

–Monica Piper

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 Blogs & Mobile Site…
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Great fodder for retweeting:

How to work with a PR firm: 15 do’s and 8 don’ts
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7109

Free, colorful data charts for your website, blog
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7097

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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound

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