The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Cathy Berger of Roslyn, New York, writes:

I keep having to cancel events because I don’t have enough paid registrations.

I have a live, hands-on “dress better” fashion company full of classes.  Most are $36 for 90 minutes of instruction, and attendees can take individual courses whenever they are held, but they must be physically near to New York City or Long Island/Nassau County.  You can learn more about it here.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Special Events
posted On: 7/27/2010: 11:01 am: By Joan
Comments: 6 Comments

You win an industry award and you’re so tickled that you can hardly wait to call a press conference.

Problem is, you’re only one that’s excited.  Your publicist, in fact, is reluctant, because she thinks a press conference sounds, well, so old-fashioned.

That’s what happened this week to a publicist who’s one my readers. Her client, whose organization got high ratings, told her to arrange a press conference to announce the good news. She turned to me for advice.
     
    
No one will come

Here’s my response:

“I suggest you NOT hold a press conference because I can virtually guarantee you that if you do, nobody from the media will show up, and you will look bad in the client’s eyes.  (“How come you couldn’t get anyone from the media to show up?”)

“If somebody from the media DOES show up, they will be angry when they find out your client wasted their time and that they could have gotten the same information in a press release, especially if they battled rush-hour traffic to get there on time. And they could blackball you.

“Clients have huge egos, especially when they have good news to share.  You must explain to the client why useless press conferences about topics like this can damage their reputation with the media forever.”
     
    
Better ways to spread the word

I suggested that she convince her client to:

—Write a press release and distribute it through PR Web.  Dan Janal has a fabulous deal where where the client’s press release is guaranteed to make it onto more than 50 big websites like Forbes, Reuters, etc. I wrote about this in my publicity tips newsletter a few weeks ago.  The client will be much happier about achieving this kind of exposure vs. spending all the time coordinating a press conference and then delivering the news in an empty room.

—Create a video (two and a half minutes) explaining what the company did to achieve the high rating. Feature clients talking about what they like about the service they received. Upload it to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.  It will pull traffic to their website.

—Tweet about this and put this on their Facebook Fan Page.

—Take photos that illustrate why the company got the high rating and upload them to Flickr.

—Also do a special mailing to their email list sharing the good news.

—There are many creative alternatives to boring press conferences, like events that are open to the public, or even publicity stunts that are done well. A new florist association, for example, delivered 50,000 roses and carnations to new moms in area hospitals, generating fabulous media attention and word-of-mouth publicity.

The next time you or your PR is tempted to call a press conference, consider the disadvantages. Then think of a better way to spread the good news.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Facebook, PR Consultants/Publicists, Press Releases/News Releases, Social media marketing, Twitter, Video
posted On: 7/13/2010: 12:47 am: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

If you use email to market, here are three mistakes that can get your business closed down–fast:
     
    
1. Buy or rent a list.

Because the people on the list have not given you permission to email them, they might complain to your Internet service provider or email management company that you’re spamming.  And that can close down your business, pronto.  Besides, you have no guarantee that the email addresses are current.
    

2. Automatically add people in your address book to a newsletter list. 

If you have an email newsletter, you can’t mail it to people unless they have specifically subscribed to it. Even if they gave you their name and email address for something like a free White Paper, you cannot assume they want the newsletter. 
    

3. Automatically add to your list the names and email addresses of people whose ezines you subscribe to. 

This happens to me all the time, and I’m not shy about telling my own readers to unsubscribe me.
     
    
How to do it right

You don’t have to use those tactics to build a list.  Instead, you should be doing 7 things to direct people to your website or blog. 

Millionaire entrepreneur Ali Brown knows them all, and she’ll be sharing them during a free telseminar at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 14.  You can register here.
     
    
What you’ll learn

You will learn:

- -How to create slow and steady flows of prospects as well as fast gushes of list growth (and why you need both)

- -3 of the latest list-building methods that are relatively NEW and that you should try

- -Which list-building methods are now outdated (cross these off your to-do-list!)

- -Which software/applications Ali recommends to automatically manage your list. I use AWeber and love it!

- -The MOST important thing you have to keep in mind when growing your list

- -How to get your list growing now… even if you don’t have a website yet

- -Details about Ali’s BRAND NEW four-part telecourse on list building that she will be personally teaching this summer!  I’m promoting it as a compensated affliate.

Whether you’re just starting a list for your new business, Or you’re experienced online and need a “list building checkup” to step up your list, you’ll learn how to discover new opportunities, win new qualified prospects, and build a list that will help grow your business successfully.

Sign up now here to reserve your space on this complimentary call: http://bit.ly/9xLbo9

Posted In: Blogs, Business Promotion
posted On: 7/12/2010: 8:23 am: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments

Fast Company magazine wants to include your photo in the November 2010 issue, as part of a neat project it calls the “2010 Most Influential People.”

This is a terrific chance to generate publicity from a magazine with a circulation of more than 538,000, as well as knowing how influential you really are.

If you’re patient and willing to wait a few minutes for the site to load,  go here now to get a unique URL which you can then share with your followers via email, at your website and blog, and on the social media sites.

It took me only a minute to sign up, insert my short bio and upload my photo.

After you’ve registered, you can track how your influence has grown and where you stand at any time on the site.  You’ll also get a welcome message from Fast Company telling you that your photo will be in the November issue.

Let’s see how many Publicity Hounds we can get into the magazine!

Posted In: Business Promotion, Magazine Publicity, Photos & Graphics
posted On: 7/6/2010: 8:24 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

The free media leads services that connect journalists with sources can be a valuable tool in your publicity campaign, but only if you know the right way to answer a query and  convince the journalist to call you.

Otherwise, these services—PitchRate.com, Help a Reporter (HARO) and Reporter Connection—can be a huge time suck, particularly if you’re subscribing to all three.

When I wrote yesterday about how to find journalists online and wow ‘em with your pitch, I got an interesting comment from Shelley Hunter:

“I finally unsubscribed from one of the media leads services because I found myself taking the easy way out.  Rather than spending a few minutes each day mining for PR gold, I just waited for the leads to come to me.  I combed through the requests and answered those that fit my criteria.  But like you said, competition is stiff and only once did I get a call back.  At last, it occurred to me that I could have spent all those minutes (that added up to hours) establishing actual connections on my own.  It feels like a slower way to go, but one good connection could lead to others.”

I replied and told her that a lot of the return on investment of time depends on your area of expertise, and how many other competitors are within that niche. Broad topics like small business success, for example, can result in hundreds of responses, and you can be sure journalists won’t be reading all of them closely.

So what’s a frustrated, time-strapped  Publicity Hound to do?
     
    
Media leads services or your own research?

The smart ones will do both. They’ll use these free services AND pan for gold, using the tips I provided in the blog post mentioned above.

Here are guidelines to follow when answering a journalist’s query:

• Keep your response short. Absolutely no longer than one screen of type.  One-half screen of type is preferred.
• Briefly expain what makes you an expert on this topic.
• If you can offer the journalist other sources, say so, but don’t name them or provide contact information unless the journalist asks. And make sure those other sources would agree to be interviewed.
• Can you provide an image to accompany the story? Mention if you have a bar chart, pie chart, map, cartoon or other graphic, but don’t attach it to the email response. If the journalist wants it, he will ask.
• NEVER tell the journalist to “visit my website to learn more about me.”
• If you have a contrarian viewpoint on an issue, say so up front. The media love controversy, and your response will stand out from among all the others.
• Keep your response on topic. If you can’t help the journalist with the topic she’s writing about, don’t offer your expertise on another topic and NEVER respond to a query only to pitch another story idea. Do this, and the reporter will blacklist you.
• If you’re lucky enough to have a virtual assistant, delegate the task of sifting through all these leads.

One alternative to these free services, which can be like drinking from a firehose, is Dan Janal’s PRLeads. For a monthly fee, Dan will send you only the queries that tie into your area of experitse. 
       
      
Share your own experiences
     
What kinds of responses have you gotten from journalists using any of these services?  What media outlets covered your story as a result of responding to a journalist’s query? What tips do you have to share on how to answer a query? Or is your time better spent building strong relationships with journalists one on one?

Weigh in here.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media, Publicity Resources, Publicity for Niche Markets, Radio Publicity, TV Publicity
posted On: 6/23/2010: 10:19 am: By Joan
Comments: 3 Comments