Your Press Release on Steroids

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #506 May 26, 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. Your Press Release on Steroids

2. Newbies: Free Social Media Webinar

3. Use Blog Sub-heads

4. Advertise in This Ezine

5. Help This Hound

6. Hound Joke of the Week

7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site…

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1. Your Press Release on Steroids
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In the old days, sending a press release was always a crap shoot.

You wrote it, sent it, or distributed it through one of the
online press release distribution services, and then you waited.

You never knew who might pick it up and reprint it.

Today, if you distribute it through PR Newswire, you are
virtually guaranteed that the release will show up on more than
50 influential, high-traffic websites including Forbes.com,
Hoover.com, Reuters.com, and dozens of sites for local business
journals.

The big payoff isn’t that people will necessarily see the
releases. It’s that all those inbound links from all those
influential sites means that Google will view your own site as
more authoritative. The more inbound links to your site from
high-traffic site, the higher the page rank Google grants to your
own website.

That’s referred to as “Google juice.”

When my friend Dan Janal told me about his little experiment
recently using one of his own press releases, I couldn’t believe
it. But it works, and he wrote a special report about it. Give
him your name and email address and he’ll give you the report.

Go to http://www.prleadsplus.com/publicityhoundpr/ If you are
buying distribution from a major press release distribution
service, you might want to check out Dan’s pricing. He buys in
bulk so he might be able to offer the same quality service with
better prices.

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2. Newbies: Free Social Media Webinar
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Too embarrassed to admit you still don’t understand social media?

Or frustrated that you’ve been tinkering with Twitter and
Facebook for several months and don’t know what all the fuss is
about? If so, you’re not alone.

Jeanne Hurlbert, my business partner and co-creator of Social
Media Rx, our social media assessment tool, hear from people
almost every day who complain that they can’t get any traction on
these sites, or they don’t know where to begin. (See the Help
This Hound question below.)

If you have social media questions, join us for a free webinar at
2 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 27. We’re devoting the
entire session to a Q&A. If we can’t get to your questions during
the call, we’ll answer them personally by email afterward.
Promise.

Register here:
http://www.siteproweb.com/mysocialmediasolution-q-a-webinar

Facebook Update: Last week, I explained why I’m not joining other
Facebook users who are bailing out of the site because of its
goofy privacy policy. Over the weekend, Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg admitted the company has made mistakes and said he’ll
announce a new privacy policy this week. Stay tuned.

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3. Use Blog Sub-heads
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When you write a long blog post, do you break it up with sub-
heads so readers can quickly scan the post, darting from sub-head
to sub-head to find what they’re looking for?

BL Ochman does. Here’s a perfect example of how she made a post
on the Facebook privacy policy mess I mentioned above very easy
to read by using nine sub-heads:
http://tinyurl.com/blogsubheads

They break up the gray. They state her opinion. They flag readers
to what’s coming next.

BL is a prolific blogger, frequent Twitterer and she does it all
while juggling a full-time PR job. She was my guest during the
teleseminar “How to do Social Networking, Run a Business & Still
Have a Life.” Learn more about it at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/socialnetworking.htm

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4. Advertise in This Ezine
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I’ve been publishing a free weekly ezine for almost 10 years and
never accepted ads because they always seemed more appropriate
for HTML newsletters.

But when I offered you the option of an HTML format several weeks
ago, Publicity Hounds started asking if they could buy ads.

If you offer a product or service for people who self-promote, or
for the PR community, go to my blog and read more about how to
get your message in front of my readers:
http://publicityhound.net/the-publicity-hounds-tips-of-the-week-
now-accepts-ads/

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5. Help This Hound
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Cindy Tollen of El Paso, Texas writes:

“I am a one woman shop at http://www.sudznbubbles.com/ and I sell
custom and novelty glycerin soap products, bath salts, body
butter and lip balm—some of it around a food theme. You can buy
a soap that looks like a piece of luscious peach pie, a cupcake
or a cherry tart, for example.

“I need tips on how to market my products with a limited budget
and little time. I sold my products in stores until the recession
hit, now I sell mostly online or at trade shows. I need to know
the best tool for marketing.

“I have a Facebook Fan Page but few fans. I blog, but can’t
remember the last time I wrote something. I’m on Twitter but I
don’t know what to tweet about.

“Can your Hounds offer some smart marketing tips, tools or
strategies that will help translate into sales? My target market
is upscale women over 30.”

The Publicity Hound says:

Cindy, you have such a fun product that I can hardly wait to see
all the clever ideas my Hounds post to my blog at
http://publicityhound.net/creator-of-novelty-soaps-needs-social-
media-marketing-advice/

In the meantime, take advantage of the free webinar I’m hosting
on Thursday with my business partner, Jeanne Hurlbert. We’ll
answer all your questions about social media, including what to
talk about, and how to drive lots of women in your target
audience to your Facebook Fan Page.

Register here:
http://www.siteproweb.com/mysocialmediasolution-q-a-webinar

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6. Hound Video Joke of the Week
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Thanks to Christine Buffaloe, my virtual assistant from Serenity
Virtual Assistant Services, for this video of “Breakfast at
Ginger’s.” Watch as Ginger, a lab, peels a banana:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaAVZ2yXDBo

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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Consider retweeting:

Oprah looks for the next big TV star–Is it you?
http://publicityhound.net/oprah-looks-for-the-next-big-tv-star-
is-it-you/

How freelancers can use Twitter to find journalists, sources
http://publicityhound.net/how-freelancers-can-use-twitter-to-
find-journalists-sources

‘The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week’ now accepts ads
http://publicityhound.net/the-publicity-hounds-tips-of-the-week-
now-accepts-ads/

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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound