The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

If you’re pitching inflight magazines, here’s a new one to add to your list.

US Airways is the new magazine that arises from the merger of US Airways and America West. It replaces Attache which ended an 8-year run in November.

The Navigator, the new ezine being published by Bacon’s, the media resource guide company, says the new publication will be more focused on lifestyle, fashion, pop culture and travel. It will also weigh in at 200 pages.

You can get complete contact info and pitching tips here.

My “Special Report #29: Fly High with Publicity in In-Flight Magazines” includes contact information for 36 inflight magazines, and lots of pitching tips.

Posted In: Magazine Publicity
posted On: 12/23/2005: 1:15 pm: By Joan
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I grumble all the time about media mutts who deliver pitches that have nothing to do whatsoever with the media outlet they’re pitching it to.

For a perfect example of what I’m talking about, check out this poorly written pitch I received this week from Travel Features Inc., complete with errors:

“Kindly find a 900 word travel article on visit to Gir National Park and Sanctuary alongwith high resolution photographs in jpg format clicked with Olympus 5 mega-pixels digital camera, about trekking on foot through Gir, with close-up photographs of the shy spotted deer, one lion with lioness and cubs for publishing in your travel magazine.”

Why did they send this to me? Probably because I publish a newsletter and my name is one of several thousand listed in a media directory they used.

I don’t care about shy spotted dear or lion families. The only animal I care about is a Hound–the two-legged kind.

If you pitch a story idea and you haven’t held the magazine in your hands, or visited the media outlet’s website, or watched the TV show, or listened to the radio show, you’re setting yourself up to fail. Your pitch will scream, “I have no idea who you are, but I’m bothering you anyway.”

Smart Hounds research media outlets before they pitch so the journalist on the receiving end thinks “They know who I am, what I cover and what I need. I’ll read this one.”

That’s one of hundreds of tips I share on “Get Free Publicity in Print,” a recording of an interview I did with George McKenzie. He picked my brain and got me to share dozens of ways to build strong relationships with the media. It’s my very favorite interview and it’s also available as an electronic transcript you download and be reading in a few minutes.

Posted In: Pitching the Media
posted On: 12/21/2005: 2:29 pm: By Joan
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When members of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania traveled by bus to Albany, Ohio earlier this month to meet with Abercrombie & Fitch and complain about the retailer’s controversial T-shirts, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette rode along with them.

The women were upset over sleazy T-shirt slogans such as “Who needs brains when you have these?” Fenton Communications, the PR firm that worked with them, did something I wish more Publicity Hounds would do: get a reporter involved in the story. They invited a newspaper reporter to ride along with the girls. You can read the entire story here.

It doesn’t sound as though the reporter attended the meeting. But the story included lots of quotes from the women and girls, and photos of them on the bus and entering the Abercrombie headquarters. If they had called the reporter AFTER the visit, I’ll bet they would have gotten a much smaller article. And certainly no photos.

The next time you’re planning a protest or any other event, don’t contact reporters after the fact. Invite them to participate. Not all media have the time to do this. But reporters who accept your invitation will become more excited about the story. And excited reporters seldom write dull stories. “Special Report #42: Tips for Letting Reporters Experience Your Story, Not Just Write About It,” will even show you how to get reporters involved in a product or service you offer. http://tinyurl.com/4s59p

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media
posted On: 12/20/2005: 11:33 am: By Joan
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Thanks to Publicity Hound George Hopkin of the United Arab Emerates for alerting us to two new free press release distribution services: USPRwire and UKPRwire.

Both services complement the existing international service ClickPress at which was launched in March this year and is now used and visited by PR professionals and journalists every day.

Before your press release goes out the door, follow the 10-point checklist that publicity expert Marcia Yudkin has created. It will help you find errors, make your press release search-engine friendly and catch the attention of busy editors and reporters. “The Do-it-Yourself Press Release Makeover: How to Turn a So-so Release into a Wildly Successful One” is available as a CD or electronic transcript.

Posted In: Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: : 11:30 am: By Joan
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I can hear the engines revving right now. It’s the sound of Publicity Hounds starting a pitch-fest that lasts from now through the new year.

Savvy Hounds know that this week and next are the very best times to pitch newspapers, TV stations, radio stations, bloggers, ezine publishers and other media that have short deadlines.

That’s because sources are difficult to find. Many schools are in recess for Christmas break. Sometimes entire factories close down during the holidays. Most other people are buying Christmas trees, planning the big dinner this weekend, doing last-minute shopping or preparing to leave on vacation.

When I worked as a reporter, and my editor assigned me a story the week before or after Christmas and told me to round up three experts on a particular topic, guess who the experts happened to be? Anybody who answered the telephone.

Here are some last-minute tips that will increase your chances of a media placement:

—If you’ve been dying to get onto a radio talk show, call the producer and offer to fill in if another guest cancels.

—Call your best media contacts and invite them to call on you in a pinch during the holidays if they need story ideas, background, commentary, etc.

—Think of logical stories the media are doing this week, then ask yourself how to sneek your way into them. Those stories include the possibility for a white Christmas, travel problems, last-minute gifts, goofy gifts, unusual gifts, regifting, returning gifts, watching your weight during the holidays, gifts and greetings being sent to our troops overseas, getting through the holidays if you have the flu, anything being done to make the holidays happier for hurricane victims, shipping packages, unusual Christmas services in your church, Hanukkah traditions, etc.

—Many TV stations have local morning news shows. This time of year, they usually welcome guests who can do in-studio demonstrations on how to wrap gifts creatively, shovel snow safely, make holiday appetizers quickly and assemble a gift basket creatively.

—If you pitched a story earlier in the year and nobody bit, try retooling the pitch and tying it to the holidays.

—Don’t forget about me. If you have your own success story for generating publicity during the holidays or any other time of the year, email me and you might see yourself mentioned here or in The Publicity Hound, my subscription newsletter that’s published 6 times a year. I’m putting the finishing touches on the January/February issue right now. You can subscribe here.

A subscription would make a great gift for the Hound on your list. So would a Publicity Hound gift certificate. Call me at 262-284-7451 or email me for details.

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media, Radio Publicity, TV Publicity
posted On: : 11:22 am: By Joan
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