Issue #889 Feb. 3, 2015
Publisher: Joan Stewart<\/p>\n
\nThis Week in the Hound House:<\/strong><\/p>\n
I thought I’d finally located a product that will help me find my keys, purse, phone and the remote control. It’s SticknFind, Bluetooth-powered ultra small location stickers you attach to whatever you don’t want to lose. I was just about to pay $49.99 for the stickers, then found dozens of awful reviews on Indiegogo, the crowdfunding site that raised more than $900,000 to launch the product two years ago. Know of a product similar to this one? Or have you tried this one with good results? Email me at JStewart@PublicityHound.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
1. How to Collect Amazon Reviews<\/h3>\n
If you’re selling anything on Amazon, one of the best ways to encourage Amazon to promote your product is to collect mountains of reviews.<\/p>\n
If you’re selling a book, you need more than 100 reviews–25 of them within the first week–before Amazon starts putting free ads for you on high-traffic sites. All your reviews don’t need to be five stars.<\/p>\n
Impossible?<\/p>\n
Not if you know how to ask for reviews from Amazon’s reviewers and others.<\/p>\n
My best suggestion: Personalize your request. If it looks like the old “spray and pray” trick where you send the same query to 100 reviewers, and then pray someone responds, you’ll get zilch.<\/p>\n
But let the reviewers know you know the kinds of products they like to test, and you’ll command attention.<\/p>\n
This takes time. But it works.<\/p>\n
I’ve written five fill-in-the-blank requests for book and product reviews. You’ll get them all when you buy the video replay of a webinar I hosted on\u00a0“How to Ask for Book and Product Reviews from Bloggers, Journalists and Consumers.”<\/a> Learn 12 things you can do to prompt them to say “yes.”<\/p>\n
2. Needed: Authors Who Blog<\/h3>\n
I still need a few fiction and nonfiction authors who blog and would like to beta test a few blog templates I’ve created for different types of posts.<\/p>\n
The templates are almost ready for you. I’ll ask you to write a blog post using each template. You’ll tell me if they were easy or difficult to use, and if I can improve them.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re under no obligation to publish the posts at your blog. To thank you, I\u2019ll give you a $30 coupon good for products at my website.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re interested,\u00a0email me<\/a> and put \u201cBeta Tester\u201d in the subject line. Tell me if you write primarily fiction or nonfiction, and include a link to your blog.<\/p>\n
3. TV Guest Bookers Tell All<\/h3>\n
If a major news story breaks today, and you’re the perfect expert who can appear on “ABC World News Tonight,” would you know who to call to be considered as a guest?<\/p>\n
If you know who to call, do you know what they’re looking for?<\/p>\n
Do you know exactly what to do and say to stand heads above all the other so-called experts who are contacting the big shows?<\/p>\n
Join Steve Harrison on a\u00a0free 90-minute telephone seminar<\/a> at 2 or 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Feb. 5. He\u2019ll interview a group of his producer friends who tell you EXACTLY what they want:<\/p>\n
\u2013-Mariann Sabol, \u201cLive with Kelly\u201d<\/p>\n
-\u2013Tommy Crudup, \u201cRachael Ray\u201d<\/p>\n
-\u2013Dan Fitzpatrick, \u201cThe Wendy Williams Show\u201d<\/p>\n
-\u2013Stacy Rollins, Telepictures Productions<\/p>\n
\u2026and others to be announced. Together, they\u2019ll share publicity tips that 9 out of 10 other Publicity Hounds don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
The call is free except for your normal long-distance charges. Register here.<\/a><\/p>\n
You\u2019ll receive all the details back within five minutes. I\u2019m promoting this free call as one of Steve\u2019s affiliates, and I earn a commission if you buy anything from him down the road.<\/p>\n
4. Hound Video of the Week<\/h3>\n
If the snow’s too deep in your neck of the woods and your dog can’t get enough exercise, buy a small wind-up toy and watch what happens. This pup ran miles chasing after a plastic frog in the kitchen.<\/a><\/p>\n[Tweet “RT @Publicityhound #Publicity Tips of the Week\u2013How to Collect #Amazon #Book #Reviews”]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week<\/h2>\n
– Issue #889 Feb. 3, 2015<\/h3>\n
\n
- How to Collect Amazon Reviews<\/li>\n
- Needed: Authors Who Blog<\/li>\n
- TV Guest Bookers Tell All<\/li>\n
- Hound Video of the Week<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n