The Publicity Hound’s
\nTips of the Week
\nIssue #448 April 28, 2009<\/p>\n
==========================================<\/p>\n
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”<\/p>\n
================================
\nIn This Issue
\n================================<\/p>\n
1. Bloggers, What if You’re Sued?<\/p>\n
2. Gardening Story Ideas<\/p>\n
3. ZooLoo’s Intern Contest<\/p>\n
4. Sneak into Inflight Magazines<\/p>\n
5. Promoting a Concierge Service<\/p>\n
6. Help This Hound<\/p>\n
7. Hound Joke of the Week<\/p>\n
8. And at My Blog…<\/p>\n
=================================
\n1. Bloggers, What if You’re Sued?
\n=================================<\/p>\n
If you woke up tomorrow and discovered that someone who you wrote
\nabout in your blog had sued you for libel, what would you do?<\/p>\n
Regardless of how many blogging books, online courses, tutorials
\nand other materials you’ve devoured on blogging, I’m betting you
\nwouldn’t know what to do next.<\/p>\n
I’m also betting that you don’t know exactly what constitutes
\nlibel, defamation and invasion of privacy.<\/p>\n
Do you know what you can and can’t write about that celebrity you
\nloath? What about your busy-body neighbor next door? Is she
\nimmune from public criticism?<\/p>\n
What if you’re researching material for a blog post and you cut
\nand paste a few paragraphs from somebody else’s blog into your
\nown blog but fail to rewrite it? Is that copyright infringement?<\/p>\n
There’s nothing like a big fat lawsuit dumped right in your lap
\nto make all those other blog topics we’re always sweating–like
\nTypepad vs. WordPress, or moderated vs. unmoderated comments–
\nseem so absolutely irrelevant.<\/p>\n
When the former headmistress at Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls
\nin South Africa sued me in October last year, I was lucky enough
\nto find the Media Bloggers Association, a membership-based
\norganization that helped me when I didn’t know where else to
\nturn.<\/p>\n
It was founded in 2004 by dozens of leading bloggers as a “mutual
\ndefense pact” for bloggers facing legal threats. The MBA
\npromotes, protects and educates its members and supports the
\ndevelopment of “blogging” or “citizen journalism” as a distinct
\nform of media.<\/p>\n
I blogged about the lawsuit, how the MBA helped me<\/a>, and what you ================================= At my local garden club meeting last week, somebody announced That reminded me that gardening stories are in demand in every Here are ideas for your media pitches, blog, articles and videos:<\/p>\n –Are local farmer’s facing tough economic times? Will more –People who have never gardened before want to know the basics. –Is organic all it’s cracked up to be? Why is organic food so –Restaurants, are you specializing in food grown locally?<\/p>\n –Are neighborhoods creating Victory Gardens? What about rooftop –Artists, how about demonstrating how to make inexpensive garden –My compost pile is a mess. Will somebody please explain how to –Parents, are you teaching the kids how to garden?<\/p>\n –Are more people going to be canning pickles, applesauce, beets –What are the most in-demand gardening supplies and accessories?<\/p>\n If you don’t have a gardening idea, but you still want publicity ================================ If you’re hiring a summer intern, take a cue from Zooloo.com, an It’s looking for a marketing intern to help promote a new product ZooLoo’s PR strategy incorporates many social networking tools To apply for the job, candidates had to create videos explaining Very clever.<\/p>\n If you’re hiring an intern or anybody else for a job that entails Then, once they’re hired, get them up to speed very quickly on ================================= Landing a full feature story in one of the inflight magazines can If you can’t convince them to write about you, there are other –Submit a press release and photo for their new product section, –Submit a press release and photo for the magazine’s calendar –Write a letter to the editor, particularly if you’ve had great –Establish a relationship with a freelancer who writes for the “Special Report #29: Fly High with Publicity in In-Flight ================================== This week, six Publicity Hounds have tips for Shametra L. Thomas From Molly Cook:<\/p>\n “A business like this will rely more than many others on From Mary Shafer:<\/p>\n “Your target customer is the home decision-maker, most likely a From LisaMarie Dias:<\/p>\n “Collect email addresses from events, networking, etc. and then The Publicity Hound says:<\/p>\n Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question<\/a><\/p>\n Send your own Help this Hound question to me<\/a> and include your city and state.<\/p>\n ============================== Terri Jay of Washoe Valley, Nev. writes:<\/p>\n “I am a psychic messenger for humans and pets. My main focus “I am able to communicate with people who have Alzheimer’s, “Some people want pet readings. As soon as they start talking “I have virtually no advertising budget, but I do have an agent “Can your Hounds help me with ideas?”<\/p>\n The Publicity Hound says:<\/p>\n By teaming with some joint venture partners,<\/a> you can really ============================= Thanks to Lois Carter Fay, who found this joke in the newsletter, A guy walks into a bar with a small dog. The bartender says, “Get The guy says, “But this isn’t just any dog…this dog can play The bartender replies, “Well, if he can play that piano, you both So the guy sits the dog at the piano, and the dog starts playing Suddenly a bigger dog runs in, grabs the small dog by the scruff The guy replies, “Oh, that was his mother. She wants him to be a ================================ 11 publicity tips for retails who sell tea–or anything else<\/a><\/p>\n Bloggers, ask the right question: ‘What if I’m sued tomorrow?’<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week Issue #448 April 28, 2009 ========================================== “Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity” ================================ In This Issue ================================ 1. Bloggers, What if You’re Sued? 2. Gardening Story Ideas 3. ZooLoo’s Intern Contest 4. Sneak into Inflight Magazines 5. Promoting a Concierge Service 6. Help This Hound 7. 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":8,"wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[40,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-89","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tips-of-the-week","7":"tag-publicity-contests","8":"tag-publicity-for-niche-markets","9":"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\/89","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=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ncan learn from my mistakes.<\/p>\n
\n2. Gardening Story Ideas
\n=================================<\/p>\n
\nthat the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was looking for members to
\nquote in a story on sustainable gardening.<\/p>\n
\nstate and country as people try to trim their grocery bills. The
\nMilwaukee paper has an entire section at its website devoted to
\ngardening stories. So if you can’t make it into your newspaper or
\nonto TV, offer content for media websites.<\/p>\n
\nbackyard gardeners be selling produce at these markets to make
\nsome extra money?<\/p>\n
\nIt’s a great opportunity for horticulturists and garden centers
\nto offer tips on how to minimize weeds, fertilize and keep the
\ncritters from eating at your backyard salad bar.<\/p>\n
\nexpensive?<\/p>\n
\ngardens in bustling metropolitan areas?<\/p>\n
\nart like scarecrows, metal doo-dads for the herb garden and
\nwhimsical garden angels?<\/p>\n
\nkeep it from looking so gross?<\/p>\n
\nand other fruits and veggies like I do?<\/p>\n
\nduring the next few months, you have opportunities galore.
\nShawne Duperon and I teamed up to present “116 WOW! Story Ideas
\nfrom January through June.” It’s available as a CD and comes with
\na downloadable handout that lists all 116 ideas. If you order by
\nmidnight tonight Eastern Time, we’ll send you the companion “103
\nSizzling Story Ideas from July through December,” a $39.95 value.<\/p>\n
\n3. ZooLoo’s Intern Contest
\n================================<\/p>\n
\nInternet marketing company in Scottsdale, Ariz.<\/p>\n
\nthat’s still a secret. The formal launch will be later this year.<\/p>\n
\nsuch as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Reddit,
\nTechnorati and Digg. And, of course, video.<\/p>\n
\nwhy they should be chosen.<\/p>\n
\ncreativity, why not incorporate videos as part of your
\napplication process?<\/p>\n
\npublicity and promotion. A series of teleseminars I sponsored on
\n“How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign” is
\nperfect for newbie interns, or a great refresher course for
\nsomebody returning to PR. The course is available as a series of
\nCDs, MP3s or electronic transcripts.<\/p>\n
\n4. Sneak into Inflight Magazines
\n=================================<\/p>\n
\nbe next to impossible unless you know exactly what the magazine
\nis looking for.<\/p>\n
\nways to sneak into these high-circulation publications:<\/p>\n
\nparticularly if the product is related to business or travel.
\nPublicity Hound Jason Claybrook, of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics,
\nwrote to tell me that a pair of compact binoculars his company
\nsells ended up in Delta Sky’s “Splurge of the Month” section
\nseveral years ago, thanks to my tips. The publicity resulted in
\n“tremendous feedback from travelers all around the world.”<\/p>\n
\nsection.<\/p>\n
\nservice on a recent flight. Clever Publicity Hounds can always
\nfigure out a way to weave into their letter a mention of whatever
\nproduct or service they sell.<\/p>\n
\nmagazine. Pitch your story to her, and let her pitch it to the
\neditor. Freelancers often write for more than one publication and
\nmight use you as a source multiple times.<\/p>\n
\nMagazines” includes pitching tips, contact information and more
\ninsider tips for 49 magazines published by domestic and
\ninternational airlines.<\/p>\n
\n5. Promoting a Concierge Service
\n==================================<\/p>\n
\nof Dallas, Texas on how to promote her new concierge service,<\/a>
\nThe Savvy DFW, in Dallas\/Fort Worth, Texas.<\/p>\n
\npersonal, one-on-one contact. Visit your likeliest
\ncustomers\/clients personally, take small gifts along with
\nbusiness cards and brochures, and get acquainted with as many
\npotential users of your service as possible.”<\/p>\n
\nwoman. So look for her where businesswomen congregate:
\nnetworking groups like Le Tip, Chamber of Commerce mixers,
\nbusiness card exchanges and businesswomen’s organizations. Send
\npress releases to their newsletters and websites.”<\/p>\n
\nstart an e-newsletter and flyer campaign to make sure everyone
\nknows what you are offering.”<\/p>\n
\n6. Help This Hound
\n==============================<\/p>\n
\nright now is to generate private reading clients and also to get
\nthe word out about what I do.<\/p>\n
\ndementia, autism, or those in a coma. These communication
\ndisorders affect millions of people.<\/p>\n
\nabout their pet, I can feel the pet through them. Pet
\ncommunication covers everything from health to behavior to
\ngrieving to performance (especially with horses).<\/p>\n
\nin L.A. who is pitching a TV show idea. I’d like to find ways to
\nreach out to people and let them know this is possible right
\naway, until I get the TV show going. I’m doing fairly well, have
\na show at the Pioneer Underground in Downtown Reno on some
\nSaturdays, but would really like to become more well known
\nbecause it would help move the TV show pitching along.<\/p>\n
\nexpand your reach, Terry. I can hardly wait to see the fun ideas
\nmy Hounds post to my blog.<\/p>\n
\n7. Hound Joke of the Week
\n=============================<\/p>\n
\n“Ah, there you are!” published by Dick Cook in Norfolk, Va.:<\/p>\n
\nout of here with that dog!”<\/p>\n
\nthe piano!”<\/p>\n
\ncan stay…and have a drink on the house!”<\/p>\n
\nragtime, a little swing, some Gershwin. The bartender is amazed
\nand patrons are enjoying the music.<\/p>\n
\nof the neck, and drags him out. The bartender asks the guy, “What
\nwas that all about?”<\/p>\n
\ndoctor.”<\/p>\n
\n8. And at My Blog…
\n================================<\/p>\n