Tips, Tricks & Tools for Free Publicity
Carrollyn Cox of Virginia Beach writes:
“I need help with distribution of video/TV public service announcements I just produced for Optimist International (at very little cost, I might add).
“I know how to personally approach local media, the public access channels and the local cable company. But we need an inexpensive way to distribute continent-wide. Is there such an animal? Do any of your Hounds know how to do this?”
EzineArticles.com announces that it has added three new categories to help cover the exploding Social Media trend:
Internet & Online Businesses: Social-Networking
Social Networking is fueled by sites such as MySpace, LinkedIN, Ryze and savvy web 2.0 netpreneurs that are helping their own web audience discover new ways to network with each other online.
Internet & Online Businesses: Social-Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking or human filtered search as some call it, is about bringing together large groups of people online to share bookmarks or links of interest for like minded people to find. An example might be Del.icio.us, Last.fm, Furl.net, Technorati or Stumbleupon.
Internet & Online Businesses: Social-Media
Social Media or SMO (Social Media Optimization) as it’s known in some circles is really about the strategies to setup social media components into your website, communication or online marketing campaign strategy toolbox. Think Blogs, Tags, Comment systems and all of the underlying technology that supports SMO.
If you’re an expert in any of these areas, start writing. Then submit your articles to this giant articles directory.
Cheryl Beck Pickett of Detroit, Michigan writes:
“Samaritan House provides food and other pantry items for families in need and has been around for about 13 years. They serve a handful of small towns within our county which have populations of 3,000 to 5,000 people each. Their primary support and donations come from local churches.
“There are two free weeklies, which are typical small-town papers, one countywide daily and then the Detroit News/Free Press as far as available press opportunities.
“My friend mentioned recently that they have trouble getting any coverage at all from the primary weekly. They are mostly trying to promote fundraisers/special events and most of their response would come from readers of these weeklies.
“Resistance is from the editor’s desk as one of the reporters/associate editors already tries her best to get stories in for them. One of my thoughts is that there is a mentality of ‘if we do it for one, we have to do it for all of them’ and of course there are lots of charities.
“As a puppy Publicity Hound, I’m stumped. Any advice for getting this editor to budge as well as other avenues they could pursue instead would be appreciated.” You can learn more about Samaritan House at its website.
About 280,000 marketers—the majority of them client-side—pay to get Advertising Age every week. Plus, hundreds of thousands more look at the website.
Check out Marketing Sherpa’s exclusive interview with Editor Jonah Bloom for advice on how to build a relationship with his reporting staff that might result in valuable coverage. Includes useful email addresses, phone numbers and one really big no-no. You can read this article for free until Feb. 26.
I just posted a comment there on other ways to get the writers’ and columnists’ attention—by commenting on their work and by checking to see if they blog. If they do, post comments to their blogs. See “How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion.”
Here’s a great example of how a blogger piggybacks her entire blog onto a popular TV show.
Julie Elgar, an attorney at the law firm of Ford & Harrison in Atlanta, Georgia, counsels companies on avoiding lawsuits and shows managers how to comply with various state and federal employment laws.
“When I’m home, I like to relax in front of the TV. NBC’s hit show The Office is a draw—not just because it’s funny, which it is, but also because it is fascinating to consider how many zeros a company would have to add to the settlement check if the antics of the foks at Dundler Mifflin appeared in a real lawsuit.”
So at her “That’s What She Said” blog, she comments on each episode and even includes a “litigation value” amount at the top of each blog item.
If I worked as a reporter and needed information on employment law, I’d keep Julie’s name, email address and phone number nearby. Her blog demonstrates that she’s an expert in employment law and can discuss it in a fun way, using examples from a popular TV show. (Thanks to Publicity Hound Lisa Solomon of The Billable Hour Co. for letting me know about Julie.)
What popular TV program can you blog about?
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The Publicity Hound
