The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

It happened again this week.

Two Publicity Hounds called and asked for my recommendation for a publicist. They expected me to rattle off a list of my top three choices, including contacting information.

As I stated in my ebook “How to Hire the Perfect Publicist,” I rarely if ever do that because I don’t know whether the most important element of hiring a publicist is there. That is, great chemistry between you and your publicist.

I was hanging around at Bill Stoller’s message board today and found an interesting response to a question on how to hire a publicist for a music company.

Pierce Mattie of Billboard magazine responded with a helpful comment:

“The best thing for you to do is to shop the music artists that your record label competes with that get good press. Then find out who their PR firm or publicists are and approach them. The best thing when shopping for a PR firm is to go brand to media, media to publicist. Find the recording labels in the music industry that get the best press, then source their PR contacts. I would also suggest you call Billboard Magazine, Spin and Rolling Stone and ask them who they get the best press materials from and who they love working with.”

I love that suggestion. If you try doing the same thing, don’t be surprised if busy journalists won’t take the time to talk to you. Multiple deadlines loom almost daily. But if you do find somebody eager to talk, pay attention. When I worked in the news business, I always knew who the best two or three PR people in town.

Tip: After chemistry, the second most important quality to look for in a publicist is a track record of successes. And don’t forget to ask for references.

Posted In: PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media
posted On: 12/30/2005: 12:27 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

If you’re looking for a group with interests similar to yours and near your own community, or you want to target a group of people with a particular interest, consider Meetup.com.

Formed in New York three years ago, the group has spawned smaller groups in 1,432 cities worldwide, including more than 1,200 in the United States. Pick a topic and you’ll probably find a group that’s meeting to discuss it. There’s the Human Rights Meetup in Falworth, Texas; the Knitting Meetup in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and the Chihuahua Meetup in New York City, New York.

What do these groups have to do with publicity?

—If you’re in a Meetup group, let your local media know. Reporters love stories like this one because your group is the local angle to the national story. Be sure to check out the group’s press kit where you’ll find lots of statistics about Meetup.com that you can weave into your pitch.

—If you’re pitching a story and you want to offer journalists contacts for other people who they can interview, you can check the Meetup website and perhaps steer them to a Meetup group.

–Several Meetup.com groups are comprised of people who are advocating a certain cause or issue. There’s no reason why members of those groups can’t write letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines. Just be sure one person signs her name to the letter, then identifies herself as being a member of the Meetup.com group. Never write one letter and ask multiple people to sign it.

If you can’t convince a journalist to cover your story, there’s always the editorial page of your local, regional or national newspapers. “How to Use Newspaper & Magazine Editorial Pages” shows you how to write compelling letters to the editor and op-ed columns, and how to ask for a meeting with the powerful newspaper editorial board, made up of editors who decide what position the newspaper will take in their editorials. It’s available as a CD or electronic transcript that you can download and be reading within minutes.

Posted In: Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media, The Local Angle
posted On: 12/29/2005: 12:39 pm: By Joan
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The next time you’re reading a newspaper or magazine article, notice how many times the reporter mentions statistics high in the story.

You should do the same when you pitch. That’s because statistics help validate a story.

I found the following statistics in just one section of the Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal:

—In November, video game sales were down 18 percent from a year ago.

—A story about designer dogs said that most of the country’s 73 million pet dogs are still purebreds or mutts from the local pound. “Wallace Havens, whose Puppy Haven Kennel outside Madison, Wis. sells 2,500 puppies a year, says requests for $600 designer dogs grew by 10 percent over last year while demand for Puggles (a cross between a Pug and a Beagle), has tripled.”

-l-An article about charitable giving in a year of disasters said charitable giving in the U.S. totaled about $248 billion in 2004, a 5 percent increase over 2003.

-l-An article about the ski season stated that despite a deluge of snow in recent weeks on the East Coast and in the Rockies, the ski-resort industry needs all the help it can get because visitor traffic in the U.S. has grown just 13 percent since the 1981-82 season, according to the National Ski Areas Association.

If you have a pitch, but no statistics, you can get them from a variety of places, including Google searches, trade associations, research papers, and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Using statistics is just one of 19 “rules of the road” for Publicity Hounds, suggested by a panel of journalists that met in New York in October. They included reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Family Circle and NY1, New York’s cable station. The tips are included in the January/February issue of The Publicity Hound subscription newsletter ($10). The issue, available only as a PDF, also includes articles on why you should banish the words publicity and PR from your vocabulary and concentrate instead on storytelling, an example of a pitch from a storyteller, how a PR practitioner can manage client expectations, how to write the perfect author resource box at the end of an article, a book that offers numerous case studies on marketing to Hispanics, how to attend free monthly teleseminars featuring publicity tips, what network news program wants your “good news” stories, how to look like an expert on TV, and January/February story ideas.

Or subscribe to the newsletter, published six times a year.

Posted In: Pitching the Media
posted On: 12/27/2005: 12:20 pm: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

This is the time of year to be pitching year-end lists.

Thanks to Publicity Hound Scott Hansen of Carnation, Washington, for alerting us to the “2005 Most Unbelievable Workplace Events” issued by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc. They’re designed to make you ask, “What in the world was that company thinking?” The list includes:

—A German company that initiated a strict whine-free policy. Whiners and other boat rockers are under a “two whines and you’re out” rule. At least two people already have been fired because of it.

—A Michigan woman was fired from her part-time receptionist job for failing to show up for work the day after seeing her husband off to war as a National Guardsman.

—Two Spanish-speaking hair stylists in Chicago claim in a federal lawsuit that the company they worked for strictly banned the use of Spanish, even when employees were on their breaks. A sign at the company read, “Speaking a language other than English is not only disrespectful, it’s prohibited.”

I love the list, but it would have been stronger if the outplacement firm had identified the companies.

What lists can you pitch to the media this week? Think wild and whacky, the “most” or “least,” the funniest, the most unusual, the scariest, etc.

Editors love lists because they’re short and fill odd-size holes on a page. They can also be trimmed easily. If you submit a “Top 10″ list and the editor only has room for six items, he can trim the list and call it the “Top 6.” lists are one of the nine kinds of briefs I explain on “Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes: How to Write Them and Why Editors Love Them.”

Posted In: Business Promotion, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: : 8:37 am: By Joan
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Publicity Hound Tim Martin of Corona, California writes:

“I am working with Rex Bowlby, the author of the book ‘Why Would I Want the Toy, When I Can Have the Box?…101 Ways to Make the Most of Your Children, Children, with the Least from Your Wallet.’ It provides a treasure chest full of ideas on teaching and bonding with your kids using everyday items–such as a pile of dirt or a big cardboard box–that will stimulate their imaginations.

“But the book hasn’t gotten the exposure it needs. Are there any Hounds with unique ideas on how to spread the word around about this book? Maybe even a way to move a truckload of copies at a time through a huge church or family organization, perhaps as a fund raiser? (I’ve heard of people finding ways to sell tens of thousands of copies at a time.) This author isn’t in it for the money. He’s in it to make a difference. You can read more about the book at his website.

Posted In: Authors & Publishers
posted On: : 3:14 am: By Joan
Comments: 3 Comments