The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #578 Oct. 25, 2011
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 Twitter Reputation Score
2. A Nonprofit’s Ideal Donor
3. Cool Tool for Getting onto CNN
4. Don’t Solicit Reviews on Yelp
5. For Authors, Speakers, Experts
6. Hound Video of the Week
7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site…
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1. Your Twitter Reputation Score
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If you’re on Twitter, Twitter has assigned you a “reputation
score.”
It has a system in place to gauge who you follow and, in turn,
who they follow and who follows them. It uses that information to
suggest the “Who to Follow” avatars in the right-hand column of
your profile.
So far, your score is still a secret. So why am I mentioning it?
Because I’m betting that Twitter will make it public very soon–
simply because other sites are starting to score and grade us.
For example:
–If you’re on Klout.com, you have a score, from 0 to 100,
largely determined by how often you tweet.
–Influencer Exchange, the new subscription-based software
program that I’ve been promoting, assigns a score to influencers
in thousands of niches, depending on who’s discussing the
influencer in traditional media or social media and how important
those people are. You can read more about this, and find out how
to sign up for a free 14-day trial, at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9613
–On Quora, the question and answer site, users “vote up” or
“vote down” your answers. The answers with the most votes show up
on top.
–On review sites like Yelp, consumers assign you from one to
five stars.
–Facebook doesn’t assign you a score–yet. But how often you
interact with your friends, and those who have Liked your pages,
determines how often the information you share shows up in their
news feeds.
–On Yelp and other review sites, consumers assign scores of from
one to five stars for restaurants, hair salons and even the local
furnace repair company.
–Google, perhaps the world’s ultimate “grader,” has been using
its secret algorithm to reward or penalize our websites in
organic search results.
I can’t help but envision the day when we all have one overall
“reputation score” that’s seared onto the flesh on our hips with
a hot branding iron.
The score could eventually determine if you’re the top candidates
for a job, or get a lucrative consulting contract, or a reporter
from the New York Times calls you for an interview because you
have a higher score than the other people who the reporter
researched.
Not tweeting yet? Don’t miss the boat. See “Twitter for
Beginners: A Step-by-Step, Can’t-Fail System for Experts and
Influencers (and Those Who Want to Be)” at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/twitterforbeginners.htm
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2. A Nonprofit’s Ideal Donor
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When Sandy Rees worked as marketing director for the Knoxville
Second Harvest food bank in Tennessee, her most successful
strategy was creating a profile of the ideal donor, and then
marketing to that niche.
The food bank did its research and discovered that the vast
majority of donors were women over age 50, who attended church
regularly.
“We needed to be speaking in front of every woman’s group in
every church in town,” she said. “We did. We knocked their socks
off with the presentation and we had a special call to action at
the end. It worked like a charm.”
Rees says nonprofits that don’t take the time to research, study
and market to their ideal donors are leaving money on the table.
They’re also missing numerous publicity opportunities because if
you don’t know your donors’ profile, you can’t target the media
that are reaching them.
She will team up with me this Thursday, Oct. 27, to present her
best tips for nonprofit PR during the webinar “Failproof
Publicity Tips for Cash-strapped Nonprofits to Raise Money,
Recruit Volunteers & Promote a Worthy Cause.”
We’ll share dozens of tips, tricks and tools that will help you
save time and money communicating your story to the masses–and
achieve the results you need.
Read more about what we’ll be discussing, and register at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/nonprofitpublicity.htm
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3. Cool Tool for Getting onto CNN
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Want to position yourself in front of the producers at CNN?
Share your news story with the world at the iReport Assignment
Desk. (PR people: Work this into your client’s media plan.)
“The most compelling iReports from these assignments often end up
on CNN television and CNN.com,” the website says.
Find out how you can participate by reading the frequently asked
questions at http://www.cnn.com/help/i-report.html
This site was one of many tools I shared during the webinar “60
Ideas in 60 Minutes: Free (or Practically Free) Tips, Tricks,
Tools & Tutorials for Publicity & Social Media.” If you missed
it, you can access the replay and the entire list of all 60 ideas
at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-
tapes/60ideas.htm
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4. Don’t Solicit Reviews on Yelp
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A few favorable reviews on a site like Yelp.com can have
customers lining up at your doorstep. Here are the three most
important things business owners need to know about Yelp:
–Use it. It’s powerful.
–You shouldn’t solicit favorable reviews from customers or
you’re violating the Terms of Service. And no swinging a deal
with another business to “write a good review about me and I’ll
write a good one about you.”
–You should respond to bad reviews publicly and privately. Don’t
waste time trying to convince Yelp to remove them.
My friend, a small business owner, won’t create a profile on Yelp
because she’s afraid of a bad review. Big mistake. Find out why
by reading the blog post I wrote on “11 ways for small business
to use Yelp, respond to bad reviews” at
http://publicityhound.net/?p=7464
Yelp is one of more than 50 places I recommend to promote your
live and virtual events to reach your target market and pull
sell-out crowds. Learn more about the other places at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/marketing-tapes/promotevents.htm
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5. For Authors, Speakers, Experts
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One of the biggest mistakes authors make is overlooking the 22
streams of revenue that go far beyond just selling books.
Speakers often fail to realize they, too, have talents–such as
the ability to guide CEOs and company presidents through
corporate consulting–that transcend the speakers’ circuit.
And experts? They can earn money as an expert witness in trials.
If you’re ready to make a quantum leap in your career as an
author, speaker, consultant or expert in your field, and share
your message with a lot more people while also developing new
income streams from what you know, join Steve Harrison for a free
telephone seminar today at your choice of two times: 2 p.m.
Eastern or 7 p.m. Eastern. He’ll sharing strategies which can
propel you to a whole new level of income and influence.
Even though the call is free, I promote his products and services
as an affiliate. Register at
https://m164.infusionsoft.com/go/Thrive/A10011NO/
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6. Hound Video of the Week
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Thanks to Dan Poynter of Santa Barbara, CA, for this video of a
dog puppet playing catch with a toddler. The puppet almost looks
real!
http://www.flixxy.com/dog-puppeteer.htm
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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5 website gems for nonprofit PR, fundraising, marketing
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9625
How long before we’re branded, like cattle,
with a “reputation score”?
http://publicityhound.net/?p=9640
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Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
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