The Publicity Hound’s Blog

December 2005

Monthly Archive

How to promote a new charity that accepts and distributes donated items

Publicity Hound Leah Ingram writes:

“Wouldn’t it be great if there was a website that acted as a clearinghouse of information for anyone who wanted to donate anything of value to any group that would gladly accept their donations? Thus my new website/philanthropic venture WheretoDonate.org was born.

“If I sent a press release to my local newspapers, they’ll pick it up for sure. But my goal is to get this website to grow on a national level, so that I have resources for residents of all 50 states. What would be the best way to go about getting the word out on a bigger scale? And since I’ll need good causes to find me so I can gather their information, how do I entice them to fill out the form which is available for download on the site?

“Finally, I was considering sending out with my release a digital picture of me, surrounded by all my unable-to-donate goods, just to make the point that if one person (me!) has this much stuff sitting around that could possibly benefit a good cause, imagine how many other folks are like me, too?

“Can your Hounds give me ideas on how to get the word out?”

Posted In: Nonprofits
posted On: 12/20/2005: 12:18 am: By Joan
Comments: 6 Comments

How to promote an event for teens

Publicity Hound Anthony Ingram writes:

I work as a volunteer Hound on a team for a church, and we have an upcoming teen event in February.

Our goal is to attract more than 700 teens to an event that will feature vendors in areas such as formalwear, hair salons, nail salons, florists, limo companies, etc., all of which have to do with Valentine’s Day and the spring prom. We plan to do a fashion show, send flyers, create a website, send text messages on cell phones, have a cool band—the whole 9 yards—but we could still be missing lots of good ideas that would be obvious to everyone else not so close to the event as we are.

What can some other well-seasoned Hounds suggest to attract teens, get them to preregister, and make this event a huge success?

Posted In: Special Events
posted On: 12/13/2005: 6:51 pm: By Joan
Comments: 11 Comments

How to get better publicity photos for your event

What do you when a photographer comes to your event, shoots photos, and you’re disappointed with what ends up in the paper? That’s what a Publicity Hound wanted to know when she emailed me with this dilemma:

“What should one realistically expect when a photographer shows up to shoot a networking/luncheon/cocktail-party? My publicity chairperson is livid about how the local business journal covered our event.

“We asked if the photographer would take pictures of the chartering officers (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer). The photographer said only three people in a photo, otherwise it gets too crowded. OK, we grouped into 3’s.

The result? The newspaper treated it like a luncheon-type event. No photos of the officers. Just a photo of people eating and a crummy description of the organization, despite the fact that a press release was sent ahead of time.

“Should we state our displeasure on the coverage or let it be?” she asks.

The Publicity Hound says:

Let it be. Complaining will get you nowhere. More importantly, let this also be a valuable lesson to you to never expect photographers to take boring photos and turn them into prize-winning images.

Here’s what I would have done. Rather than invite the business journal photographer to the luncheon, I would have pitched a story about trends your group is seeing in your industry, preferably with statistics that tie into the trend. Then mention the chartering ceremony in the interview, and offer up a few ideas for photos that show people on the job, actually doing something. Not your officers, but members of the organization.

Regardless of whether that story is published, I’d submit head shots of the new officers to as many smaller publications as possible, such as the weekly newspapers where they live, along with a short article about their role in the group. As I state in my ebook “How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your Publicity Campaign,” weeklies love articles like this. In fact, why not go a step further and have each them write a how-to article loaded with tips for people in your industry?

Don’t forget women’s publications in your area, smaller business magazines, and smaller regional magazines.

Also, never boss around a photographer who is at your event. They don’t tell you how to do your job. So you shouldn’t tell them how to do theirs. (See my free article “How to work with newspaper photographers.”)

For too many people, publicity photos are an afterthought.

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Photos & Graphics
posted On: 12/8/2005: 5:08 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Review a product before giving a testimonial

I just finished a teleseminar this afternoon for members of The Publicity Hound Mentor Program.

The topic? How to get and give powerful testimonials.

Giving testimonials can be as powerful as getting them, and even though authors, speakers and others solicit me regularly for testimonials, I’m very careful about offering kind words only for people and products that I strongly endorse.

Why? Because if my name is associated with lousy speakers or crummy products, that reflects poorly on me. And my sterling reputation is my most valuable marketing tool.

Minutes after I ended the teleseminar, I plucked from my mailbox the monthly newsletter of the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN), of which I’m a member.

There on Page 1, was an article by my good friend and business associate, Marcia Yudkin. She mentioned the same thing in her article titled “7 keys to getting book blurbs.”

She writes:

“I find it highly insulting and foolhardy when someone asks me to endorse a book I have not read or on the basis of seeing one-twentieth of the contents. Remember that the other person’s credibility is on the line. For some of us, our credibility is everything.”

Right on, Marcia.

I know of one very famous author who will put his stamp of approval on just about anything—even if he hasn’t read it, seen it, or held it in his hands. The guy has never met a book he didn’t like and hands out testimonials like penny candy. He does it, of course, for the publicity. But in my eyes, his testimonials don’t mean diddly.

I don’t want to be like him. Rather, I want to put my reputation behind every testimonial I give, and be associated only with top-quality people and products that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to endorse to my loyal audience.