The Publicity Hound’s
\nTips of the Week
\nIssue #443 March 24, 2009<\/p>\n
Publisher: Joan Stewart<\/p>\n
==========================================<\/p>\n
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”<\/p>\n
================================
\nIn This Issue
\n================================<\/p>\n
1. No Bio? No Thanks<\/p>\n
2. Meet Mr. Tweet<\/p>\n
3. 10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics<\/p>\n
4. Top Search Term: Craigslist<\/p>\n
5. Where to Find Pro Bono PR Interns<\/p>\n
6. Help This Hound<\/p>\n
7. Hound Joke of the Week<\/p>\n
8. And at My Blog…<\/p>\n
=================================
\n1. No Bio? No Thanks
\n=================================<\/p>\n
Almost two-thirds of the people who use Twitter don’t have a bio
\nor a link listed on their profile, the 160-character description
\njust under their avatar.<\/p>\n
So what’s the big deal?<\/p>\n
Does having a bio and website link in your Twitter profile really
\nmake a difference in the number of followers you have?<\/p>\n
Absolutely.<\/p>\n
The Hubspot Internet Marketing Blog has crunched the numbers and
\nsays that users with a bio have over eight times more followers,
\non average, than users without a bio. Users with a link have over
\n7.5 times as many followers as users without.<\/p>\n
Power users (Twitter users with high Twitter grades) are even
\nless likely to follow you if you don’t have a bio and link.
\nUsers with a bio have over 15.5 times more power followers than
\nthose without a bio. Users with a link have over 22 times more
\npower followers than without.<\/p>\n
I didn’t see anything about the quality of the profiles, but I’m
\nbetting that the typical Twitter user who reads somebody else’s
\nbio and sees nothing remotely interesting is gone in a flash
\nwithout ever clicking “Follow.”<\/p>\n
What a shame. Another potential follower–maybe even a customer–
\nlost forever. It doesn’t have to be that way.<\/p>\n
Social networking expert Nancy Marmolejo says your bio should
\ncommunicate immediately what you do, who your target audience is,
\nand how you can help people. Mix in some fun and people will
\npractically be begging to be part of your tribe.<\/p>\n
During a teleseminar last month, Nancy gave tips galore on how to
\ncustomize your bios for different social networking sites so you
\nturn visitors into clicks and clicks into customers. “Can Your
\nSocial Networking Profile Pass the 10-Second Test?” is available
\nas a CD, MP3 or electronic transcript that you can read as soon
\nas your order is approved.<\/p>\n
=================================
\n2. Meet Mr.Tweet
\n=================================<\/p>\n
Here’s a way to build followers quickly on Twitter without
\nresorting to those obnoxious black-hat tricks that some of the
\nslimy Internet marketers are using–and even selling.<\/p>\n
He’s your personal networking agent who helps you expand your
\nnetwork. To do that, he helps you regularly:<\/p>\n
–Find relevant followers by recommending you to them.<\/p>\n
–Discover great people relevant to your current needs.<\/p>\n
–Improve your Twitter usage via useful statistics.<\/p>\n
Just go to the website and click on the blue bar that says
\n“Follow Mr. Tweet.” Since I started using him last week, I’ve
\ngained several hundred followers.<\/p>\n
Now then, if you want to know the tactics that underhanded
\nTwitterers are using to add thousands of followers every day,
\nread blogger Chris Cree’s step-by-step instructions–and his
\nwarning.<\/p>\n
I wouldn’t stoop that low and prefer, instead, the five steps of
\nTwitter success: Follow. Reply. Retweet. Share. Repeat.<\/p>\n
Warren Whitlock says that retweeting other people’s tweets is
\none of the best ways to encourage them to retweet yours–
\nespecially if you’re planning to introduce a new product or
\nservice or you’re launching a book, and you want the world to
\nknow.<\/p>\n
The power of retweeting was one of dozens of tips he shared
\nduring the teleseminar on “How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of
\nFollowers, Customers & Valuable Contacts–and Promote.” It’s
\navailable as electronic transcripts and your choice of CDs or
\nMP3s.<\/p>\n
===========================================
\n3. 10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics
\n===========================================<\/p>\n
If you work in PR, you might be discouraged to learn that you’re
\nspending the better part of your day on what Steve Mullen
\nidentifies as “10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics.”<\/p>\n
He’s a social media PR blogger who stirred up a controversy
\nrecently with his list:<\/p>\n
–Newspaper-based media relations strategy<\/p>\n
–Deskside reporter meetings<\/p>\n
–Media packets<\/p>\n
–Video news releases<\/p>\n
–Audio news releases<\/p>\n
–Media Map<\/p>\n
–Blast faxing<\/p>\n
–Mailed newsletters<\/p>\n
–Bacon’s Media Guides<\/p>\n
–Mailed reporter pitches<\/p>\n
You can read his reasons.<\/p>\n
I agree with most of his choices except for mailed newsletters.
\nWith postage skyrocketing, fewer businesses are using them.<\/p>\n
That means top-quality newsletters packed with helpful content
\ncan really attract attention.<\/p>\n
My vote for the one PR tactic I wish would make the list but it
\nrefuses to go away: those ubiquitous ground-breaking, ribbon-
\ncutting, check-passing photos. Will somebody please slay these
\nugly dinosaurs?<\/p>\n
No self-respecting Publicity Hound would even THINK of resorting
\nto them, particularly those who hear PR guy Dan Collins’ ideas
\nfor cool media events and clever publicity stunts that attract
\nfar more attention the cliche photos.<\/p>\n
“Fun Alternatives to Boring Ground-breakings, Ribbon-cuttings &
\nCheck-passings” is available as a CD or electronic transcript
\nthat you can be reading as soon as your order is approved.<\/p>\n
=======================================
\n4. Top Search Term: Craigslist
\n=======================================<\/p>\n
For the first time in three years, searches for “Craigslist,” the
\nworld’s largest classified ad bulletin board, surpassed
\n“MySpace.”<\/p>\n
Hitwise Intelligence says “Craigslist” searches increased 105
\npercent for the week ending March 14, compared with the same week
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
The economic downturn, it says, is responsible.<\/p>\n
That’s easy to understand. People are hunting for jobs, used
\ncars, gently used furniture and who knows what else.<\/p>\n
All those extra eyeballs means this is the ideal time to use
\nCraigslist as part of your publicity campaign.<\/p>\n
The Community category is my favorite for publicity. Its sub-
\ncategories include activities, artists, groups, pets, events,
\nmusicians, local news, politics, volunteers and classes.<\/p>\n
The Services category includes “Small Biz Ads” and “Gigs” which
\nare idea for people looking for clients and customers.<\/p>\n
But remember, you can only post to the Craigslist closest to
\nwhere you live. And you can’t post the same message to more than
\none category, or Craig can throw you off the list.<\/p>\n
Nancy Mills, an expert on how to use Craigslist in all sorts of
\nclever and creative ways, says the writing style of a Craigslist
\npost should be very different than the standard press release.
\nShe explained why when she was my guest during a teleseminar on
\n“How to Use Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool.”<\/p>\n
========================================
\n5. Where to Find Pro Bono PR Interns
\n========================================<\/p>\n
This week, three Publicity Hounds have tips for Mitchell
\nTeplitsky of New York, NY, who is distributing a documentary film
\nhimself. He is looking for suggestions on where he can find
\ninterns or PR firms that do pro bono work.<\/p>\n
From Kathy Magrino:<\/p>\n
“Contact NY\/NJ colleges and universities to promote and advertise
\nthe internship opportunity.”<\/p>\n
From Bruce Jones:<\/p>\n
“I don’t know much about PR internships but I would make a
\ncomment on the existing promotional videos. They don’t say ‘buy
\nme.’ People need to be told what to do.<\/p>\n
“YouTube can be a very effective way to promote your products. At
\nthe end of the video, which maybe is a little too long, it should
\ntell people that to purchase or for more info.<\/p>\n
“The same thing on the other clips. Just having a web address
\nisn’t enough. I have also found that different video hosting
\nplatforms get very different results and audiences. Once the
\nvideo is done, put it up on 10 or more.”<\/p>\n
The Publicity Hound says:<\/p>\n
Bruce is right. But posting on more than just a few of these Read all the responses<\/a> to this week’s “Help This Hound” question.<\/p>\n ================================== Linda Formichelli of Concord, NH and Jennifer Lawler of “We’re both well-established writers who offer e-courses in our “We both have been offering our e-courses for a few years and “We both blog (Linda\u2019s blog has more followers than Jennifer\u2019s, The Publicity Hound says:<\/p>\n You can pretty much kiss traditional media good-bye because both Hounds with quick tips for Jennifer and Susan can post them to my<\/a> Here’s my idea:<\/p>\n If you aren’t Twittering yet, start today and link to tips at Courses like these are ideal to promote on LinkedIn, too, but you This has to be done very carefully, however. Scott Allen, one of He outlines the entire campaign in step-by-step detail and gives ================================= Cat’s motto: “No matter what you’ve done wrong, always try to ================================== 4 ways I censor myself in social media circles<\/a><\/p>\n Pitching Hispanic radio<\/a>? Tie your pitch to the geographic area<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week Issue #443 March 24, 2009 Publisher: Joan Stewart ========================================== “Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity” ================================ In This Issue ================================ 1. No Bio? No Thanks 2. Meet Mr. Tweet 3. 10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics 4. Top Search Term: Craigslist 5. Where to Find Pro Bono\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":0,"wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30,31,32,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-30","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tips-of-the-week","7":"tag-craigslist-publicity","8":"tag-social-media-pr","9":"tag-tips-for-boring-bios","10":"tag-twitter","11":"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\/30","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=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43296,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/43296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nvideo sites can eat up your life because uploading takes such a
\nlong time. Shave hundreds of hours off the task with Traffic<\/a>
\n Geyser<\/a>. With just one click, it uploads to dozens of sites. Learn
\nmore about it.<\/p>\n
\n6. Help This Hound
\n==================================<\/p>\n
\nLawrence, KS write:<\/p>\n
\nareas of specialty. Linda offers a class for magazine writers on
\nhow to break into magazines, starting April 13,and Jennifer
\noffers one for book authors on how to write a book proposal,
\nstarting May 4.<\/p>\n
\nhave happy customers who can give testimonials and describe how
\nour courses offer results. However, we’re finding it tougher and
\ntougher to get the word out about our e-courses.<\/p>\n
\nwhich she just started a few weeks ago). We both belong to
\nwriters’ groups and contribute to their online forums, but of
\ncourse if we’re too sales-y in our approach, our posts get
\ndeleted. We’re on LinkedIn and Facebook. What are we missing?”<\/p>\n
\nclasses are starting soon, and you’ll miss many of the deadlines.
\nThat leaves online publicity.<\/p>\n
\n blog.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nyour blogs or websites that tie into your courses. From the tips,
\nlink to the registration pages. Use the search box<\/a> to search for freelancers, writers,
\nauthors and anyone else who’s an ideal candidate for the courses.
\nFollow them, retweet their tweets, and then send them a direct
\nmessage asking that they retweet one of your tweets that promotes
\nthe tips.<\/p>\n
\nneed a long lead time so you can plant the seed, so to speak, by
\nasking a question about a topic that ties into your course, and
\nthen letting everyone who answers the question know about what
\nyou’re offering.<\/p>\n
\nthe foremost experts on LinkedIn, laid out an entire campaign he
\ndesigned for a friend on how she could promote something she was
\nsponsoring. His ideas started drawing immediate response within
\n48 hours.<\/p>\n
\nyou your own timeline on exactly what to do on LinkedIn, and
\nwhen, if you want to promote something. Read more about “How to
\nUse LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically & Powerfully”.<\/p>\n
\n7. Hound Joke of the Week
\n==================================<\/p>\n
\nmake it look like the dog did it.” — Unknown<\/p>\n
\n8. And at My Blog…
\n==================================<\/p>\n