2006 July

Find a photographer at Look Better Online

7/19/2006 By Joan Leave a Comment

Suzanne Falter-Barns, the expert at building your platform, passes along this great tip for anyone who needs a good-quality photo, but doesn’t want to resort to using the photographer at the local department store, or the camera in cousin Louie’s cellphone.

Check out Look Better Online, a website that’s a directory of professional photographers in 6,000 cities in the U.S. and Canada who can take your professional photo for an online dating wesite. But hey, check them out if you need a professional business photo or a photo for your online media room.

Just put your zip code into the search box and they’ll give you a list of photographers near you. (The nearest one to me is 23 miles away.) I also like their list of pre-shoot tips, many of which apply to anyone who needs a professional business photo.

Check their before and after photos for this woman who posted it to an online dating site.

Filed Under: Media Kits, Photos & Graphics

Watches for lawyers: A clever product that needs publicity ideas

7/18/2006 By Joan 7 Comments

Lisa Solomon of Ardsley, New York writes:

“My husband and I, both attorneys, are partners in The Billable Hour Company. We make watches and clocks especially for lawyers, with dials divided into six-minute increments–the same way many lawyers bill.

“Our product is a lighthearted take on the concept of the billable hour and it’s the perfect gift for a lawyer, law student, or any professional who bills by the hour. What’s the best way to pitch our products to get the media interested? Should we just send a press release and a photo? Or do we have to try to tie our product into a specific topic?”

Filed Under: Business Promotion, Photos & Graphics, Press Releases/News Releases

A bra that deflects bullets? Details, please

7/17/2006 By Joan Leave a Comment

Reporters are taught from Day One to always get pertinent details. Like the name of the cat that died in a housefire. Or the height of the basketball star who hit his head on the top of a doorway and had a concussion.

This amusing post by the Poynter Institute titled “Get the name of that bra” reminds us of the importance of providing details in virtually anything we write for the media. That includes press releases, your bio, your online presskit, how-to articles, letters to the editor, even photo captions that you’re submitting.

It’s much easier for a journalist to take out details than it is for them to call you on the phone, wait for you to return the call, then finally get the little detail they need to complete a story.

Filed Under: Media Kits, Photos & Graphics, Press Releases/News Releases, Writing Articles

Article directories abound: Post to sites with a Google page ranking of 4 or higher

7/17/2006 By Joan Leave a Comment

Rik Feeney of GymnasticsTrainingTips.com asks this question about posting article online:

“What experience do you have with article submission sites? Are they worth the time and effort? I recently received info from this site and it intrigued me, but then I thought to myself, “What would Joan Stewart do?”

The Publicity Hound says: There are lots of programs on the market like this one, which let you submit articles to article directories.

You should definitely be posting your articles to article directories so the search engines can find them. However, there are hundreds and maybe even thousands of directories online. It’s best to spend your time only with directories that have a Google page ranking of 4 or higher. If you don’t have a Google page rank toolbar, you can download it for free here.

I use Article Submitter Pro. It still takes time to manually submit your articles to directories and I don’t know of any one program that lets you do it rapidly. If somebody knows of one, post a comment.

Sharron Senter, who I interviewed a few years ago on “How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website,” says it’s very important to carefully read the guidelines for each article directory site, then post accordingly.

Filed Under: Publicity on the Internet, Writing Articles

Publicity photos will look better if you follow these tips

7/11/2006 By Joan Leave a Comment

If you’re taking your own photos and submitting them to the media, increase your chances of getting them printed by following tips from Gregg McLachlan at the Newscollege website. They include:

—No “execution-at-dawn” photos.

—No photos of people smiling when the subject matter is serious.

—The best photographers do more than move their finger on the shutter. They move their feet. So walk around the photo subject. And don’t always shoot a photo at eye-level.

As I explained in my ebook “How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your Publicity Campaign,” today’s digital cameras make it easy for almost anyone to learn to take good-quality photos that can be used by the media.

Remember, it’s your job to make the media’s job easy, and that includes submitting photos.

Filed Under: Photos & Graphics