The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #459 July 14, 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. When in Doubt, Tweet It
2. Use Value in Your Pitches
3. Who’s Using Your YouTube Videos?
4. How to Look Like a Weasel
5. The Benefits of Petting Animals
6. Help This Hound
7. Hound Video of the Week
8. And at My Blog…
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1. When in Doubt, Tweet It
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Do you ever send helpful tips on the social media sites and
wonder if anybody’s reading them?
I’m trying to make sure that about half my tweets include advice
that people would find useful.
Last week, for example, I tweeted about Oprah’s top 25 money-
saving tips and also included the link on my Facebook page.
One of my Facebook friends, Jennifer Melnick Carota, of
Pittsburgh, Pa., replied:
“Joan…you are a lifesaver! Just got a call from our local news
network requesting a last-minute money-saving segment with me
tomorrow…so many fresh ideas that I look forward to sharing,
thanks to you.”
Jennifer calls herself The Gift Therapist. At her website, she passes
along helpful tips to her audience on how to buy inexpensive gifts for
almost any occasion.
When she taped the segment for the “Project Economy” feature in
the studios at WTAE-TV, the ABC station in Pittsburgh, on Friday,
she took the list of tips with her.
“What we didn’t use, I turned over to the reporter in case he
wanted me to do a follow-up segment,” she said. “I told him,
‘Here’s my gift to you. If you need anything else, please call
me.'”
Not only did I earn Jennifer’s loyalty with that one little tweet
that took less than 60 seconds to post, but I helped her help the
reporter, who will be more inclined to call her again. She said
he’s already considering a “Christmas in July” segment with her
that explains how shoppers can get good deals by buying now.
I called Jennifer after I saw her reply and invited her to test-
drive a new learning tool I’m creating. If she likes it, she’ll
give me a testimonial. So that little tweet turned into a win-
win.
Lesson: In social media, give before you receive. If you’re ever
on the fence about sharing helpful information, when in doubt,
tweet it.
That’s the Number One message from Warren Whitlock who was my
guest last summer during a teleseminar on “How to Use Twitter to
Amass an Army of Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts–and
Promote.”
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2. Use Value in Your Pitches
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When you pitch yourself to journalists and clients, how do you
describe yourself?
Do you tell them about the tasks you perform? Or do you explain
how you add value?
Publicity Hound Cheryl Antier, a freelance writer who lives on
the French Riviera, says there’s a huge difference. Before she
knew any better, she would tell potential clients about all the
things she could do for them, from writing copy for their
websites to creating their marketing brochures.
Business was good, not great, and she closed about 40 percent of
the projects she pursued. Last year, she immersed herself in
Formula Five, the course that teaches a five-pronged formula to
growing a business. She immediately started applying what she
learned when trying to attract clients.
As a result, she landed a freelance job writing for What Boat, an
international yachting magazine published in the UK.
Earlier this year, while on assignment in Greece, she ran into
the editor of the magazine and knew immediately she wanted to
write for him. Formula Five had taught her how to discuss value,
so she pitched him right on the spot, without preparing or
rehearsing the pitch.
“They write about a lot of technical topics, like sophisticated
radar devices you can use on your boat,” she said. “I told the
editor I thought readers might appreciate a story that explained
what they could do for fun in the Greek Islands, from chartering
a yacht to visiting shipwrecks from the 5th Century B.C.
“I told him I would immerse readers in the story, make them feel
like they were actually there, and open their eyes to all the
possible ways they could have fun while on their boats.”
Value. Value. Value.
Cheryl not only sold the story, but the editor invited her to
write a monthly article for his magazine.
Communicating value also works with her consulting clients, and
it can work with yours, too, whether you’re a nonprofit, sell PR
services, own a bricks-and-mortar store or work for somebody
else. A few weeks after she returned to France from Greece, she
met with a potential client in the insurance industry who needed
help with his website and other marketing materials.
Instead of going through the typical client interview and then
submitting a proposal, she instead communicated value by
discussing how she would work with his graphic designer, results
he would see from her work, and ways he could work with her on a
long-term basis.
“I told him that I’d like the opportunity to look at how he was
currently doing his marketing, as well as keeping in touch with
past clients. I told him that from looking at his website, I
could see five ways he could start getting his current customers
to buy new or more comprehensive policies–within the first 30
days.
He immediately asked her, “Where should I send the check?”
She’s booked solid with writing assignments until October, and
she’s on track to almost double her goal of $150,000 in revenues
this year. Today, 85 percent of new business comes from
referrals. Here’s the kicker.
Cheryl uses much of the information she learned in Formula Five
when working with her own consulting clients and with members of
the Writer’s Business Academy at where she teaches authors
and writers how to market themselves.
In other words, she teaches her clients the five-pronged
technique of growing their businesses, just like she has. You can
do the same with your clients, too, and add value to what you
already do.
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3. Who’s Using Your YouTube Videos?
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When you post a video to YouTube, you’re giving anyone permission
to cut and paste the coding and embed it on their own website or
blog.
Knowing who’s using your videos can help you in several ways.
It can lead you to possible joint venture partners. You can share
other information you have, like articles you’ve written. You
might offer to be a guest on their podcast, or write a guest post
at their blog, or ask them to write a guest post at your blog.
YouTube is now making it easy for you to learn who’s using your
videos with a new tool called Insights. You’ll find step-by-step
directions.
That’s just one of dozens of benefits of using online video to
promote yourself. Learn more at a free webinar on Thursday, July
16. Register for “How To Quickly Drive More Traffic and Sales to
Your Website Through Social Media Using Easy-To-Create Videos
That Cost Almost Nothing to Produce”
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4. How to Look Like a Weasel
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If you’re appearing at a press conference or media event you’re
hosting, or one you’ve been invited to by somebody else, don’t
expect the media to play nice and ask you questions only about
the topic at hand.
Bad news, controversy and other nasty topics you don’t want to
discuss are fair game. Refuse to answer a reporter’s questions
and you’ll look like a weasel.
That’s what happened to Wisconsin State Rep. Tom Nelson last
week when he appeared at a press conference to discuss autism, an
innocent topic that couldn’t possibly get him into trouble.
Problem was, he and another Democratic legislator had been
dodging reporters from the local TV station all week. The
reporters wanted them to comment about an investigation they did
into an unknown provision that was slipped into the state budget.
It gives special treatment to a local Indian tribe and the way it
gets its liquor license. The tribe is a huge campaign contributor
to the Democratic governor.
After the autism event, a reporter approached Nelson on camera
and asked him to explain his vote approving the budget. Watch the
short video (after a short ad) and judge for yourself if you
think Nelson looks like a weasel when he refused to answer
questions about anything other than autism.
That’s one of the disadvantages of press conferences. If you put
yourself out there for the media, you’d better be ready to answer
any and all questions, particularly if you’re a public official.
The media hate these staged events, by the way, but people
continue to have them.
The CD “Creative Alternatives to Boring News Conferences”
features PR pro Sandra Eggers who gives you dozens of ideas for
fun, interesting events that sidestep those horrid news
conferences.
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5. The Benefits of Petting Animals
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This week, six Publicity Hounds have advice on how Cathy Watson,
of Bostic, N.C., can promote the therapeutic benefits of petting
animals so she can bring traffic to her website and sell tickets
to her farm where people can pet animals.
From Patti Pokorchak:
“Have a party! Make it a charity fund-raiser for your favorite
animal shelter or other animal-related charity. Invite other
animal-related businesses to be part of this day–dog trainers,
groomers, pet food retailers, gourmet pet biscuit companies,
doggie shrinks, etc. Put on a fashion show. Go wild with
stretching the animal theme (paintings, sculptures, cakes).”
From Joni at Tangi Adopt A Rescue:
“Invite local artists and art teachers to a special ‘Draw the
Animals’ Day at your farm…Contact dog trainers and see if they
need a place to hold dog training classes or special events.
Consider learning, then starting, your own Clicker training
classes.”
From Lori Green LeRoy:
“Write a news release with tips about why petting animals is
therapeutic and invite unemployed people, people who have lost
their houses or cars, etc. (and the media) for a free pet therapy
session event to combat the recession blues.”
Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question.
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6. Help This Hound
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Cynthia Flash, of Bellevue, Wash. writes:
“I’m looking for a way to put a dollar value on web hits I get
for my PR clients.
“For example, if a client is mentioned in a blog, is that worth
anything in terms of dollar equivalents (like having an article
appear in a newspaper)? If an online-only newspaper does a story
about the client, how much is that worth? Certainly, increased
sales to the client is a great way to tell, but it’s difficult to
know if that’s directly a result of the web publicity.
“Are PR people putting dollar values on web placements or is that
only something reserved for traditional media?”
The Publicity Hound says:
Many other PR people are curious about this, too, so the answers
will be interesting. If you do PR and can help Cynthia, post your
comments to my blog.
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7. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Elaine Grassbaugh of Columbus, Ohio, for this video of
Bizkit, the Sleep-walking Dog.
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8. And at My Blog…
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