Valentine’s Day Story Ideas

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #592 Jan. 31, 2012
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. Valentine’s Day Story Ideas

2. See You in San Francisco

3. Follow Journalists on Facebok

4. Promoting Calendars for Vets

5. Media Lead

6. Hound Video of the Week

7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site

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1. Valentine’s Day Story Ideas
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Nobody beats Publicity Hound Shawne Duperon when it comes to
pitching story ideas for Valentine’s Day.

These are particularly good if you want to get on your local TV
news:

–If you have Valentine’s-related fun products, send one to the
morning show anchor. “They may showcase it live on the set,” she
says.

–Relationship experts and psychologists: Any stats on the number
of people using website dating services? They’re staggering.

–What about tips on how to search for the love of your life on
one of those sites, so you don’t waste time?

–Give tips on how to write the perfect love profile.

–What about data on the state of marriage as an institution?
Ministers, are you seeing more or fewer couples renewing their
vows?

–How do birds (or any other animal) mate? What is their love
dance?

–And what about job trends for 2012 that are for hopeless
romantics?

Subscribe to Shawne’s free ezine at http://shawnetv.com/

Check out the teleseminar I hosted with Shawne on “116 ‘WOW!’
Story Ideas from January Through June at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/JanIdeas.htm

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2. See You in San Francisco
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If you’re attending the Independent Book Publishers Association’s
annual Publishing University March 9-10 in San Francisco, you can
see me present three times on Saturday. I’ll be on these panels:

–Advanced Techniques for Creating Websites/Blogs That SELL at 9
a.m.

–Using Facebook and Twitter to Jump-start Sales at 1:45 p.m.

–Getting Attention: Promoting Your Titles to Bloggers and Online
Communities at 3:15 p.m.

While I’m in San Francisco, I’d like to host a public workshop on
publicity or social media a day or two before the IBPA event. If
your company or nonprofit is interested in partnering with me, or
you want to book me for your next event, email
JStewart@PublicityHound.com and let’s talk.

I’m back on the speaking circuit!

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3. Follow Journalists on Facebook
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Thousands of journalists are flocking to Facebook’s “subscribe”
feature which means you can now see their scoops, stories and
squibs right in your Facebook news feed.

The VentureBeat blog has a good explanation of this:

“Before the subscribe button, Facebook supplied purely reciprocal
profiles. Meaning, if you wanted to follow someone’s updates, you
had to be a friends with them, and they, in turn, had to be
friends with you. Social networks like Twitter and Google+,
however, do not require a symmetrical relationship to add
someone’s updates to your stream of social consciousness. There
was little commitment involved, so people flocked to those sites
for news and quick information, while Facebook remained a source
of personal news.

“The subscribe button changed this, allowing people to see
analysis, links to posts and other content outside of their day-
to-day updates on friends’ activity.”

So far, more than 1,000 reporters, editors and freelancers are
using the subscribe button, including more than 90 people from
the Washington Post and more than 50 from The New York Times.

Then find out 33 ways you can attract fans to your Facebook page,
courtesy of Mari Smith who appeared on a webinar with me:
http://publicityhound.com/facebookpages.htm

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4. Promoting Calendars for Vets
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This week, seven Publicity Hounds have tips for Gina Elise of
Redlands, CA, founder of Pin-ups for Vets, which supports
hospitalized veterans and deployed service members. She needs
ideas on how to promote her group’s pin-up calendars.

From Sophie Wajsman:

“Perhaps she could organise an old-fashioned bathing beauty
competition where contestants are asked to dress in the style of
the 40s – bathers, shoes, hair and make-up. This event could be
used to launch the latest calendar, and major media outlets could
be invited to the event. It would provide an opportunity for
great black and white shots or even footage for TV.”

From Karen Zapp:

“There are hundreds of veteran groups on LinkedIn. But don’t
limit yourself to those centered on Iraq and Afghanistan. This is
because there are tens of thousands of vets willing to help those
serving now who didn’t happen to serve in these conflicts. Just
search for ‘veterans’ in LinkedIn Groups and you’ll get a long
list.

“Join some groups and post a clever discussion with a link to a
unique landing page with a photo and story of one veteran’s
response to receiving the calendar. Then, explain how donors can
help more vets with their donation.

“Hopefully you have a Facebook page and can do something similar.
You might consider running an ad on Facebook. They are rather
simple to create and you can control the budget similar to Google
Adwords.”

From Reece Franklin:

“I am very involved with many senior networking groups in
southern California, like Access to Seniors and Networking for
Seniors. Give me a shout and I will direct you to the presidents
and right people so you can begin to attend the free meetings,
meet the movers and shakers, and get them to know you and your
group. About 40 to 60 people attend each meeting. You don’t have
time to go to all, but after 13 years in the senior marketing
biz, I know which ones are good, and which are not.”

The Publicity Hound says:
My tail wags when I see responses like those! Read them all at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10243

Send your own question to mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com and
include your city and state.

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5. Media Lead
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A reporter at a national publication is exploring the phenomenon
of how smart people sometimes feel dumb in intimate social
settings and needs sources to interview.

Have you ever clammed up in a business meeting, at a cocktail or
dinner party, on jury duty, or at some other small social event—-
even though you know you’re as smart (or smarter) than anyone
else in the room? And is this a departure from your usual
personality?

If you have funny or interesting stories to tell about this
topic, please respond as soon as possible to aceb5@aol.com with
details of your anecdote and contact information. Anyone quoted
must be willing to use to use their name.

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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Christine Buffaloe of Serenity Virtual
Assistant Services for this video of eight commercials that show
how the Subaru is “dog tested and approved.” Save this one for
when you’re having a really bad day. You’ll howl!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5wpWGnu3Ms

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 & Mobile Site…
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Doing business locally? Share your blog at Patch.com
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10262

Dog Tweets: Write clever headlines using this clever trick
http://publicityhound.net/?p=10254

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