The Publicity Hound’s
\nTips of the Week
\nIssue #588 Jan. 3, 2012
\nPublisher: Joan Stewart<\/p>\n
==========================================<\/p>\n
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”<\/p>\n
===================================<\/p>\n
In This Issue
\n===================================<\/p>\n
1. Missing the Publicity Target<\/p>\n
2. Embarrassing Online Pressrooms<\/p>\n
3. Make Your Bio Fun<\/p>\n
4. Twitter Resolutions<\/p>\n
5. Promoting a Book Giveaway<\/p>\n
6. Hound Joke of the Week<\/p>\n
7. And at My Blog & Mobile Site<\/p>\n
=====================================
\n1. Missing the Publicity Target
\n=====================================<\/p>\n
Here are the top three problems Publicity Hounds are facing, in
\norder, based on the 298 people who completed my survey in
\nDecember:<\/p>\n
–Leveraging the power of social media, including blogs.<\/p>\n
–Generating online publicity.<\/p>\n
–Generating publicity in traditional media.<\/p>\n
No surprises there.<\/p>\n
But I was shocked to see the number of people who mentioned in
\ntheir comments that they either don’t know how to find their
\ntarget audience or, once they’ve found it, they don’t know how to
\ncreate a compelling message that brings results. Dozens of
\nPublicity Hounds also complained that they’re overwhelmed with
\nall the work and don’t understand how to focus their energies on
\nthe things that really matter.<\/p>\n
Here’s a sample:<\/p>\n
–“Social Media: What a time suck!”<\/p>\n
–“Engaging with the right audience and finding ways to measure
\nsuccess.”<\/p>\n
–“Creating a list of all the places that would be appropriate
\nfor my client’s publicity. How to go about creating that list.”<\/p>\n
–“How do I get momentum and people wanting to follow me and like
\nmy Facebook page and download my promo video?”<\/p>\n
I also found a disturbing number of comments from Publicity
\nHounds who were frustrated that their press releases aren’t
\nresulting in major publicity.<\/p>\n
Hint: Press releases seldom generate major publicity, so don’t
\nwaste your time. You need to create targeted pitches for targeted
\nmedia outlets. Use press releases primarily to pull traffic to
\nyour website or blog, or as back-up information for journalists
\nwho have already responded to your pitches.<\/p>\n
So where do we go from here?<\/p>\n
I’ve studied the results and I have some ideas on how to help you
\nsimplify your life, save time, and reach the right audiences with
\nthe right message. I’m creating a video right now that addresses
\nsome of your major concerns, and it will be ready next week.<\/p>\n
Stay tuned, and hang in there!<\/p>\n
=====================================
\n2. Embarrassing Online Pressrooms
\n=====================================<\/p>\n
If your online pressroom looks anything like mine did yesterday,
\nit\u2019s time to drag out the dust mask, the Shop-Vac\u00ae and maybe even
\na garbage dumpster.<\/p>\n
I found so much outdated information and ancient publicity photos
\nin the pressroom at my website that I almost didn’t recognize
\nmyself! And then it dawned on me that the current photo at my
\nblog is several years old and needs to be replaced.<\/p>\n
If you go to your pressroom right now, I bet you’ll find lots of
\nembarrassing things like:<\/p>\n
–Old photos that look nothing like the way you look now.<\/p>\n
–Old phone numbers, email addresses and even fax numbers that
\nhave been disconnected.<\/p>\n
–An absence of links to social media profiles.<\/p>\n
–No references to things like your blog or ezine. Remember that
\nmany of your website visitors aren’t necessarily entering your
\nsite from your homepage but from dozens of internal pages.<\/p>\n
–Old logos, taglines and other marketing materials that are out
\nof date.<\/p>\n
–Dusty bios, with no references to recent awards, major media
\nhits, new books you’ve written or other bragging rights.<\/p>\n
Read my entire blog post on this topic at
\nhttp:\/\/publicityhound.net\/?p=10025 and then update your
\npressroom.<\/p>\n
======================================
\n3. Make Your Bio Fun
\n======================================<\/p>\n
What’s the most memorable sentence in your bio, the one thing
\npeople comment on most often?<\/p>\n
If you don’t have one, it’s time for a rewrite. Also consider
\nrewriting the one- or two-sentence author blurb that’s at the end
\nof articles you write.<\/p>\n
Here are a few fun blurbs that caught my eye recently:<\/p>\n
–Jason Whitlock writes about the sports world from absolutely
\nevery angle, including angles other writers can’t imagine or
\nmuster the courage to address. His columns are humorous, thought-
\nprovoking, agenda free, honest and unpredictable. (He writes for
\nFOXSports.com.)<\/p>\n
–Naomi Dunford is the woman Brian Clark lovingly refers to as a
\nmarketing genius and Tourette’s survivor. She is the author of
\nIttyBiz and co-author of How To Launch The **** Out Of Your
\nEbook. Her alleged potty-mouth is prominent in the former and
\nvirtually non-existent in the latter.<\/p>\n
–Michelle Pierce is the editor-in-chief (and word ninja) for
\nAqua Vita Creative, and she is very picky about spelling,
\ngrammar, and punctuation. She would like to remind the entire
\nInternet that there is no “a” in “definitely.”<\/p>\n
Want lots more examples, including complete bios that really
\ncommand attention? See “Special Report #46: Tips for Rewriting
\nYour Boring Bio” at
\nhttps:\/\/publicityhound.com\/publicity-products\/reports.html<\/p>\n
=====================================
\n4. Twitter Resolutions
\n=====================================<\/p>\n
Here are three things to consider doing differently on Twitter
\nthis year so that you tweet smarter and more efficiently:<\/p>\n
–Rewrite your best tweets and post them at different times
\nthroughout the day. Don’t let your followers miss a terrific
\narticle or video you’re linking to, just because they weren’t
\nreading their feed at the exact time your tweet showed up.<\/p>\n
–Don’t tweet identical information you’re also sharing on
\nFacebook and Twitter. You can share the same article, but rewrite
\nit for each of the three sites. These sites are all very
\ndifferent, and people who follow you on all three sites don’t
\nwant to keep seeing duplicate content.<\/p>\n
–Every few weeks, go to your Twitter profile and click on
\n“Listed” in the upper right corner. You’ll see the names of all
\nthe lists that others have created and where you appear. It’s a
\nfascinating glimpse into how others view you. Let’s say you’re a
\nbook marketing expert, but you don’t see any lists named “book
\nmarketing” or “book marketers.” That tells you something is
\nwrong, and you need to start sharing more content on your topic.<\/p>\n
Read two more resolutions at my blog at
\nhttp:\/\/publicityhound.net\/?p=10039<\/p>\n
======================================
\n5. Promoting a Book Giveaway
\n======================================<\/p>\n
This week, five Publicity Hounds have tips for Anne Roos of South
\nLake Tahoe, CA, an author looking for ideas for a “giveaway”
\ncontest for her two books, “The Musician\u2019s Guide to Brides: How
\nto Make Money Playing Weddings” and “The Brides Guide to
\nMusicians: Live Wedding Music Made Easy and Affordable.”<\/p>\n
From Marcia Yudkin:<\/p>\n
“You’ll get the biggest bang for your giveaway copies if you
\ncontact popular blogs for 1) Musicians (the type who do wedding
\ngigs) and 2) Brides. Offer each blog one or two free copies to
\ngive away. Let them decide how best to run the giveaway as
\nthey\u2019re likely to know their audience quite well.<\/p>\n
“Give them each a short one-paragraph description of the book
\nthey can use in the giveaway.”<\/p>\n
From Maria Mar:<\/p>\n
“How about doing a blog book tour? If you have a book to publish,
\nthis is the best route. But you can adapt this to other goals and
\noffers. Network with other bloggers who already do contests for
\nyour market and topic. Offer them a prize for a contest. Find one
\nblogger for each of the books you have available or offer several
\nbooks to a handful of bloggers with high traffic. Everyone wins.”<\/p>\n
From Shawn Hansen:<\/p>\n
“Are you a member of a writing group? If not, get involved! These
\norganizations are great ways to network as well as to find out
\nwhere and when local signing events are happening. Give a book or
\ntwo away in drawings that require folks to fill out their name
\nand email address. Instant mailing list! If you don\u2019t know where
\nto begin, look into the California Writers Club, Sacramento
\nBranch. It’s a bit far from Tahoe, but I live about 20 minutes
\nwest of you, and I am an active member of that organization.”<\/p>\n
The Publicity Hound says:<\/p>\n
Read all the responses to this “Help This Hound” question at
\nhttp:\/\/publicityhound.net\/?p=9991<\/p>\n
Send your own question to: ==================================== “You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give Dog Jokes & Quotes Ebook: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes, BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50 ====================================== Have an online pressroom you can be proud of–update it! 5 Twitter resolutions that will help you tweet smarter Nice year-end gift for clients, and more tweets <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week Issue #588 Jan. 3, 2012 Publisher: Joan Stewart ========================================== “Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity” =================================== In This Issue =================================== 1. Missing the Publicity Target 2. Embarrassing Online Pressrooms 3. Make Your Bio Fun 4. Twitter Resolutions 5. Promoting a Book Giveaway 6. Hound Joke of the\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":[36,19,45,23,9,5,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tips-of-the-week","7":"tag-pitching-the-media","8":"tag-pitching-to-reporters","9":"tag-pr","10":"tag-press-release-distribution-services","11":"tag-publicity-for-niche-markets","12":"tag-publicity-tips","13":"tag-twitter","14":"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\/867","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=867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com<\/a> and
\ninclude your city and state.<\/p>\n
\n6. Hound Joke of the Week
\n=====================================<\/p>\n
\nyou a look that says, ‘My God, you’re right! I never would’ve
\nthought of that!'” — Dave Barry<\/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 & Mobile Site…
\n======================================<\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/publicityhound.net\/?p=10025<\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/publicityhound.net\/?p=10039<\/p>\n
\n(Top tweets from last week)
\nhttp:\/\/publicityhound.net\/?p=10015<\/p>\n