The Publicity Hound’s
\nTips of the Week
\nIssue #478 Nov. 11, 2009<\/p>\n
Publisher: Joan Stewart<\/p>\n
==========================================<\/p>\n
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”<\/p>\n
===================================<\/p>\n
In This Issue
\n===================================<\/p>\n
1. How to Follow Up<\/p>\n
2. Predict Top Trends of 2010<\/p>\n
3. Gary V’s 5 Commandments<\/p>\n
4. How to Promote a Floral Shop<\/p>\n
5. Help This Hound<\/p>\n
6. Hound Joke of the Week<\/p>\n
7. And at My Blog…<\/p>\n
====================================
\n1. How to Follow Up
\n====================================<\/p>\n
When you pitch a story idea to a journalist or blogger and hear
\nnothing, what do you do? Figure they’re not interested and move
\non?<\/p>\n
If so, it could be a missed opportunity. I’ve heard of cases in
\nwhich journalists won’t cover a story until a year or two after
\nsomeone pitched it.<\/p>\n
If you’re following up with a phone call, don’t just call and ask
\n“are you covering the story?” That makes you sound desperate.<\/p>\n
Instead, have a reason to follow up. Here are five things to
\noffer when you call:<\/p>\n
–Additional sources for the story.<\/p>\n
–Graphics or photos.<\/p>\n
–A sidebar, like a quiz.<\/p>\n
–A Top 10 list (see Item 2 below).<\/p>\n
–A video that a newspaper reporter can refer to in a story, or
\nthat any media outlet can post at its website.<\/p>\n
You can also score points by asking this question: “Is there
\nanything else you need or any other way I can help?”
\nChicago publicist Rickey Gold used the tips she learned during
\nthe teleseminar on “Fail-proof Ways to Follow Up After Sending a
\nNews Release or a Story Idea” and landed a product review for her
\nclient in a magazine eight months after her original pitch. Read
\nmore about the tips she followed at
\nhttp:\/\/budurl.com\/7zsx<\/p>\n
===================================
\n2. Predict Top Trends of 2010
\n===================================<\/p>\n
Any Publicity Hound in any industry can do this. Predict the top
\ntrends for next year.<\/p>\n
Every year, about this time, media everywhere are on the lookout
\nfor predictions about what the new year will bring. Ditto for
\nbloggers. I found a great example at the RunningRestaurants.com
\nwebsite last week where a chef\/owner offered his top predictions
\nfor restaurant trends next year. Take a look:
\nhttp:\/\/budurl.com\/elqx<\/p>\n
These make great tip lists, blog posts, guest blog posts, notes
\nfor your Facebook fan page and even videos. You can send these
\nlists to multiple media outlets.<\/p>\n
If you work at a company, you can ask five or six experts to
\npredict one top trend for next year and combine them all into one
\nlist. Provide head shots of your experts.<\/p>\n
“Special Report #16: How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the
\nMedia’s Attention” offers dozens of other ideas and suggestions
\non how to use tip sheets, one of the most powerful tools in your
\npublicity toolkit. Read more at http:\/\/budurl.com\/6j5h<\/p>\n
===================================
\n3. Gary V’s 5 Commandments
\n===================================<\/p>\n
The friend that listens is better than the friend that talks.<\/p>\n
So says Gary Vaynerchuk, aka Gary V, one of the hottest stars in
\nthe social media world. The thirtysomething son of Russian
\nimmigrants hosts weekday podcasts about wine at
\nTV.WineLibrary.com.<\/p>\n
His brash style and unpretentious approach to wine appreciation
\nhave attracted an average 40,000 viewers to each podcast, more
\nthan 85,000 followers on Twitter, and more than $60 million a
\nyear in sales at the Wine Library, the New Jersey wine store he
\nco-owns with his father.<\/p>\n
Here are Gary V’s 5 commandments for social media, as listed in
\nthe Wall Street Journal:<\/p>\n
–Treat it like a cocktail party. Don’t pitch as soon as you meet
\nsomeone.<\/p>\n
–Don’t draw lines in the sand and call sites like Twitter
\n“stupid” just because you don’t know how to use them.<\/p>\n
–Humanize yourself and your brand with personal information, but
\nonly 2 percent of the time.<\/p>\n
–Understand the authenticity and the incredible power of social
\nmedia sites and the voices of consumers to make or break
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
–Interacting with potential clients and becoming part of the
\ncommunity is a real job. Listen before you talk.<\/p>\n
Read the entire interview with him at http:\/\/budurl.com\/lmru
\nLearn more about the teleseminar I hosted with blogger and social
\nmedia consultant BL Ochman on “How to do Social Networking, Run a
\nBusiness & Still Have a Life” at http:\/\/budurl.com\/wmv2<\/p>\n
===================================
\n4. How to Promote a Floral Shop
\n===================================<\/p>\n
This week, 13 Publicity Hounds have tips for Cheryl Muskus of Oak
\nCreek, WI, owner of The CarmelRose, a floral shop. She needs
\nideas for events and other pitches she can use with the local
\nmedia to promote her shop.<\/p>\n
From C.M. Mayo:<\/p>\n
“One of the things that has always really perplexed me is that
\nwhen I order flowers over the phone, I never know what the
\ndelivered arrangement actually looks like. So if you would offer
\nto send your customers a .jpg photo via email of their
\nbouquet-?the actual one that just went out the door to Aunt
\nBess?-I would think that would be a big plus. And then, you’d
\nhave their emails for future promotional offers, a big plus for
\nyou.”<\/p>\n
From Debra Arrato:<\/p>\n
“Start branding your business. How about a new tag line like,
\n‘CarmelRose ? we SEND what?s in your heart.’ Use the tagline on
\neverything. Join your local Chamber of Commerce and then join a
\nleads group within the Chamber. It?s worth every penny. The leads
\ngroups usually meet once a week or twice a month and they only
\nallow one person in each industry\/business.”<\/p>\n
From Linda Swisher:<\/p>\n
“Partnerships for weddings\/proms: bridal and tux shops,
\nphotographers, limo companies, reception venues, bakeries,
\nsalons\/spas, gift shops, caterers, wedding planners, stationers.
\nPartnerships for funerals: funeral homes, cemeteries, funeral
\nluncheon venues.<\/p>\n
“Partnerships for decor or entertaining: interior designers,
\nlocal furniture stores, adult classes through park districts or
\ncolleges, real estate stagers, model home builders, gift basket
\nshops, bakeries or specialty\/imported food shops.”<\/p>\n
The Publicity Hound says:<\/p>\n
This question generated fabulous responses from my Hounds. Read
\nthem all at http:\/\/budurl.com\/s64s<\/p>\n
Artist John Unger also received many wonderful responses to his
\n“Help This Hound” question two weeks ago on how to defend a
\nlawsuit filed against him by someone who is copying his artwork
\nand selling it. He chose the comment by former journalist Bonnie
\nBoots as the best one, and he’ll thank her with a beautiful
\nshovel mask, which he has created. Bonnie suggested that John
\npitch his story to specific craft magazines. You can read all the
\ncomments at http:\/\/budurl.com\/4eeu<\/p>\n
Email your own “Help this Hound” question to ================================= Mary Ann Puckett from Oklahoma City, OK writes:<\/p>\n “I am the author of a self-published book, ‘Take Him Home and “It is a narrative of my son Stephen’s life from birth to age 23. “Autism is now the Number One childhood disability, and diagnosis “Can your Hounds help me promote my book to parents and The Publicity Hound says:<\/p>\n Using social media sites, there are dozens of ways to find people ================================== In order to keep a true perspective of your importance, you Dog Jokes & Quotes Ebook: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes, BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50 ================================== Learn how to teach, sell and create products with teleseminars -================================================<\/p>\n Joan Stewart The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week Issue #478 Nov. 11, 2009 Publisher: Joan Stewart ========================================== “Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity” =================================== In This Issue =================================== 1. How to Follow Up 2. Predict Top Trends of 2010 3. Gary V’s 5 Commandments 4. How to Promote a Floral Shop 5. Help This Hound\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":2,"wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2,16,36,19,13,9,27,14,59,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tips-of-the-week","7":"tag-blogging","8":"tag-facebook","9":"tag-pitching-the-media","10":"tag-pitching-to-reporters","11":"tag-press-releases","12":"tag-publicity-for-niche-markets","13":"tag-social-media","14":"tag-social-networking","15":"tag-video","16":"tag-video-blogging","17":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nmailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com<\/a>
\nand include your city and state or province.<\/p>\n
\n5. Help This Hound
\n=================================<\/p>\n
\nLove Him\/A Story of Autism and How to Cope with It’, which is
\ncurrently on eBay and Amazon.com. I published the book in 2005
\nand have received orders from around the world.<\/p>\n
\nHe is now 28 years old and has made great progress due to
\ntherapies and medical interventions I share in the book.<\/p>\n
\nof this disorder is increasing rapidly. I am looking for ways to
\nget my information to parents and caregivers. The book is
\nendorsed by medical doctors, the Department of Human Services and
\nhas received 100 percent positive responses from buyers on eBay.<\/p>\n
\ncaregivers who need it?”<\/p>\n
\nin niche audiences, like parents of autistic children. Let’s see
\nif my Hounds can help you find them, and spread the word about
\nyour book online and offline. Hounds, post your best comments to
\nmy blog at http:\/\/budurl.com\/tvxv<\/p>\n
\n6. Hound Joke of the Week
\n==================================<\/p>\n
\nshould have a dog that will worship you and a cat that will
\nignore you.<\/p>\n
\nperfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
\ngood laughs.<\/p>\n
\nbest websites for dog humor.
\nhttp:\/\/publicityhound.com\/dogjokebook\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\n7. And at My Blog…
\n==================================<\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/budurl.com\/gph7<\/p>\n
\na.k.a. The Publicity Hound<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"