2008 September

Colleges hungry for experts who speak on 17 topics

9/18/2008 By Joan Leave a Comment

These are gloomy times for many Publicity Hounds who are corporate speakers and rely primarily on speaking fees and back-of-the-room product sales.

Some companies, faced with huge expenses they can’t control such as the skyrocketing cost of gasoline, are slashing training budgets. Corporate speakers, competing with thousands of other speakers for gigs, are finding that the pot of money available to pay them has shrunk.

4 ways to tweak your topic

If I relied on most of my revenue from speaking, which I don’t, one of the first things I’d do is figure out a way to tweak my topic for the college market. Unlike private companies, colleges and universities have several sources of money, such as student activity fees, that are recession-proof. That means the college speaking market doesn’t go south when the economy does.

Here are four examples of how you can tweak your topic for colleges:

1. A speaker who trains corporate executives on leadership can take the fundamental points of the presentation and teach college stuents how to be leaders, whether it’s within their fraternities or sororities, or student government, or within a special-interest group on campus.

2. An expert on corporate recruiting and retention can teach college fraternities and sororities how to recruit and retain members. Greeks, by the way, have their own budgets for hiring speakers, yet another recession-proof pot of money.

3. Speakers who specialize in motivating corporate audiences as convention keynoters can take their message to college campuses, where motivational speakers are in high demand.

4. Diversity trainers who target corporate America should start thinking about how they can teach college faculty, staff and students about diversity. At a four-year collge, a kid from the inner-city and a farm kid from Kansas can suddenly find themselves roommates, with all kinds of potential problems.

Where to learn more about speaking at colleges

Leadership, fraternity and sorority issues, motivational and inspirational messages, and diversity are among the 17 categories of topics that are in demand at colleges, universities, two-year colleges and tech schools. James Malinchak, ”King of the College Speaking Circuit,” reviewed them all during a teleseminar I conducted with him today. You can listen here.

It’s a preview for his College Speaking Success Boot Camp Dec. 4-7 in Los Angeles, and attendees can save $750 if they register by Sept. 30.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Authors & Publishers, Special Events

Tomato Pie: A great way to get rid of all those tomatoes

9/16/2008 By Joan 6 Comments

I’ve gotten so many requests for this recipe that I’m offering it here.

My sister makes the low-cal version with low-fat cheese and mayo. This pie also makes great leftovers. And it’s a quick dish to take to a potluck. (Make two–they’ll love it!)

You can use any kind of tomatoes. I like Romas because they aren’t as watery. I’ll bet orange and yellow tomatoes would be fabulous, too.

The Publicity Hound’s Tomato Pie

1 regular or deep-dish piecrust in tin (In frozen food section)
6 or 7 tomatoes, sliced, with skins on or off (Iprefer skin removed)
1/2 cup fresh basil
oregano
salt and pepper
onion powder
dill
1 cup mayo
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Let pie crust defrost for about 15 minutes. Prick bottom of crust with a fork. Bake in oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Remove from oven. Place one layer of tomatoes on bottom of crust. Sprinkle with onion powder, oregano, and salt and pepper. Cover with a layer of fresh basil.

Repeat until you’ve used all the tomatoes, and make sure tomatoes (not basil) are on the top. I usually end up with 3 layers in a deep-dish pie crust, or 2 to 3 layers in a regular crust.

Mix the mayo and shredded cheese in a bowl and spread on top of the pie, like icing. Sprinkle dill on top.

Bake in 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool for about 20-30 minutes before eating so it isn’t runny.

(While you’re waiting for it to cool, click on the Topics arrow on the right side of this blog, choose a topic of interrest, and see what I’ve written about it.)

Filed Under: Recipes (My favorites)

How to promote a website for alternative energy research?

9/16/2008 By Joan 6 Comments

Mike Michaud of Bonham Fannin County, Texas writes:

I would like to get some ideas on how to promote a site that is all about pooling our financial contributions to fund alternative energy research, development and production. There are many promising technologies that are languishing due to government ineptness, red tape, corporate greed, banking failure and investor panic.

We as a nation of individuals need to go around this roadblock and fund our own future energy development.

I’m setting up a website to provide more information and set it up to accept funds. The address is http://www.americanfuelfreedom.com. It isn’t set up yet. I’m just looking for ideas on how to promote this in a non-partisan way. This cuts across all lines.

(If you have a question you’d like included in my newsletter, The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week, you can email it.)

Filed Under: Nonprofits, Publicity on the Internet

Twitter Handbook: The bible for newbie, veteran Tweeple

9/15/2008 By Joan 4 Comments

The more addicted you become to Twitter, one of the fastest and easiest-to-use publicity tools, the more time-consuming and confusing it can become.

Answering the question “What are you doing?” within 140 characters is the easy part.

The hard part is figuring out the Twitter culture and etiquette, understanding the Twitter lingo (Tweeple means people who use Twitter), and knowing which of the hundreds of applications and other Twitter-related websites are worth your time.

Deborah Micek, who goes by @CoachDeb on Twitter, has teamed up with Warren Whitlock, aka @WarrenWhitlock, to write the Twitter Handbook, a 169-page ebook. On a five-star system, I give it five stars and an enthusiastic recommendation for Publicity Hounds everywhere, regardless of what you’re promoting. You can claim your free copy here. (If you don’t receive it immediately, be patient. You’ll get it within the next week.)

I wish this had been available when I started Twittering less than a year ago. It would have saved me from sending my Twitter followers embarrassing questions like “What’s a Tweetdeck?” and “Somebody just asked me a question. How do I reply?”

What you’ll learn

The book assumes you know nothing about Twitter, which is great for newbies. But longtime Tweeple will find it just as valuable. Deb and Warren provide thousands of tips on how to navigate the Twittersphere and adopt specific strategies that will help you meet your business goals, whether you’re a sole proprietor or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. (Yes, CEOs should Twitter, too.)

Especially helpful are their recommendations on what to do first.

For example, instead of trying to amass a huge army of followers, you’d be better off spending time just posting. Then, when people start following you on Twitter, they might be curious enough to see what you’ve been writing about and whether it’s worth coming back for more.

My only suggestion is that I wished the authors would have created bookmarks within the PDF document. I read the book quickly without taking notes. Backtracking and trying to find certain sections so I can follow through on tips I remembered reading was time-consuming. I suggest you keep a “to do” list while reading it, and note the page number where a particular tip is located. Don’t try using the fancy applications until you’ve tackled the basics, like knowing where to find replies to your messages, how to reply to people you are following, and how to read your direct messages.

5 cool Twitter tips

Here are five tips from the handbook:

1. Still confused about who’s twittering and what they’re writing about? See tweets from all over the world and in real time on Twittervision, an interactive map.

2. How well do you Twitter? Check your Twitter Grade, within seconds. I was astounded to see that my score is 93/100 because, well, there’s still so much about Twitter that I didn’t know until I read the Twitter Handbook. And I still feel like a Twitter nerd.

3. Deb and Warren are only two of millions who Twitter. Even though they did extensive research via Twitter before writing, they want lots more input on how other Tweeple use it. You can read 101 More Reasons to Tweet.

4. TwitterFone, a free service, lets you update your Twitter feed using your voice from any mobile or cell phone. You call it, speak your tweet, and hang up. A short while later, your tweet will be posted on Twitter.

5. Create a “Twitter badge” and put it on your websites, blogs and other social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook, letting people know you Twitter and sharing with them your most recent tweet. Once you’re logged into Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/badges and choose the type, color, shape and size of your badge. It will automatically create a code for you depending on where you want it to be seen. Put that code on your website, blog, etc.

If you’ve gotten this far and you’re still saying to yourself, “I don’t get it. Why is everybody wasting all this time?” check out my “Special Report #52: How to Use Twitter for Business to Network, Promote, Sell, Recruit & Profit.” It will give you lots of examples of how companies and nonprofits large and small are using Twitter to amass loyal followers, solidify their brand, and make the cash register ring.

Then dive into the Twitter Handbook, keep it nearby, and commit to following at least one recommendation each week. Soon, that tweeting sound you hear will turn into ka-ching, ka-ching.

Follow me on Twitter.

Filed Under: Blogs, Business Promotion, Publicity on the Internet, Publicity Resources, Social media marketing, Social networking, Twitter