Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these, follow me on Twitter.

Top 10 worst self-publishing mistakes. http://t.co/qhU2TBz7

10 tips for building relationships with journalists through Twitter. http://ow.ly/a1FR0

Authors: 12 steps to a successful blog tour. http://ow.ly/a2zQI 

8 ways to spring clean your LinkedIn profile. http://t.co/5mNwFy5A

7 Proven Strategies Designed To Help PR Pros Work With The Media. http://ow.ly/a4IeW

15 Tips For Getting Your Guest Posts Accepted Almost Every Time. http://t.co/BPhBtOHJ

Want a good laugh? Worst Book Covers & Titles. Hysterical.  http://ow.ly/a5kAS

Lots of great publicity tips here for pitching summertime angles to the media. http://ow.ly/a5E9F

4 reasons why businesses should stop ignoring LinkedIn’s Company Pages. http://t.co/ShBpEN1y

Pinterest now third most popular social network, behind Facebook & Twitter. http://t.co/2nbz8zxm

It’s been around for two years. But in the last few months, interest in Pinterest, the social media site that lets you “pin” images onto a virtual corkboard, is off the charts.

Before you start groaning because it’s one more thing to learn, check out these stats that prove the site, which appeals mostly to women, is more than just frivolous photos of bride’s dresses and cupcakes:

• From December 2011 to January 2012, unique visitors to Pinterest.com increased by 155 percent.
     
• More than one in four users make more than $100,000 a year.
     
• The site registered more than 7 million unique visitors in December, up from 1.6 million in September.
   
• It’s pulling more traffic to company websites and blogs than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined, according to one study.
   
• Research shows that many people are spending more time “pinning” than they are connecting with their friends on the almighty Facebook.

Why do Publicity Hounds need to know about Pinterest?

• By putting the “Pin It” button on your pages, all of your pins will include a link back to the source such as your website or blog, a great way to revive interest in old content.
   
• You can connect Pinterest to your Twitter and Facebook accounts, which means you don’t need a huge number of followers on Pinterest initially to start picking up steam.
   
• You can create boards around topics that tie into your products and services, being careful not to overtly promote.
   
• Users admit that Pinterest is absolutely addictive. That’s because unlike other social media sites, it’s filled with millions of colorful, capitivating photos and a clean design that pulls you in.
   
• I’ve see far more excitement and chatter about Pinterest than I have for Google+, which suddenly seems like a dinosaur.

How-to Webinar March 15

And I’ve gotten so many questions, including “How do I get an invitation for Pinterest?,” that I’m hosting a 90-minute webinar at 3 p.m. Easten Time on Thursday, March 15, on “How to Use Pinterest to Generate Clicks, Traffic, Links, Leads and Sales.” This is for beginners as well as pinners who have been on the site for awhile.

Register here, even if the time is inconvenient because I’ll be recording it and making the downloads available.

For an invitation to join Pinterest, go here and click on the red button “Request an Invite.”

If you’ve done something really cool on Pinterest that ties into your business or hobby, explain the Comments section, email me. I might feature your board in my webinar.

A reporter at a national publication is examining what happens when a person who is emotionally available and expressive pairs up with someone who is not. She is looking for people to interview.

Are you an emotional “giver”—someone who is comfortable expressing your love, affection and feelings? Are you married to or dating someone who is more emotionally reserved? (Maybe he or she is comfortable with receiving affection but has a hard time expressing it.) How do you become comfortable with this dynamic and make the relationship work? Have you had to work through your differences? How?

If you have interesting stories to tell about this topic, please write as soon as possible to aceb5@aol.com and send details of your anecdote and contact information. Anyone quoted will need to be willing to use their name.

Deadline for contacting the reporter is noon Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Lists are everywhere these days—on TV, on Facebook, on Twitter and in your local newspapers and national magazines.

And for good reasons. Readers love lists. The end of the year is the ideal time to create your own—either by yourself or with help from your friends, followers and fans.

Nicole Nichols, a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, compiled this list of The 50 Best Workout Songs of the Year.

But your list doesn’t have to be the “best of.” It can be the “worst of” such as the 10 Worst Media Disasters of 2011 from Brad Phillips, aka @MrMediaTraining on Twitter. Also consider lists that highlight the funniest, best, zaniest, most thought-provoking or irreverent.

These lists are also perfect fodder for guest blog posts.

What year-end lists have you compiled for yourself or your PR clients? And what kind of publicity have you generated so far?

The Internet makes it possible, even for sole proprietors, to compete against their big competitors because there are so many different ways online to promote expertise.

One of them is by answering questions in your specialty area.

Yes, it’s time-consuming.  But it’s a free way to market yourself. 

Here are the five best places where you should be answering questions to make a fabulous impression and get sales leads:

1.  At Your Blog

Your are blogging, aren’t you? If not, start.

A blog is your main platform from which you can share your knowledge, answer questions, stimulate interesting conversation, and promote.

Encourage people to send you questions, which can be the basis for blog posts. Sometimes I’ll use a question someone has emailed to me, and turn it into a blog post.

     
    
2. On Twitter

Many of us are so use to sharing links to helpful information that we think people want to know about, that we seldom take the time to ask them what they need.

Go ahead. Ask your Twitter followers what’s bugging them. You’ll receive lots of clues that you can then use to create content such as articles, information products, blog posts and tips lists (“The 10 Best Ways to…”)—after you answer their question on Twitter.

The big payoff will come when you provide an answer that saves somebody thousands of dollars or hours of time, and they rave to their thousands of fans and followers about how great you are.

For example, when I tweeted that my Facebook fan page had disappeared, Dave Kerpen of Likeable Media responded, asked me to make him an administrator, logged in to my account, found a problem in the settings, fixed it, and my page was alive again! I blogged about the nightmare and the happy ending. And then I continued to sing his praises on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and in my ezine, The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week.

Follow me on Twitter and ask me a question.
     
     
    

3. On Facebook

If you’re willing to spend the time, you can use your Facebook page as a town square where people hungry for content—and answers—can get them.  No one does a better job of doing this than Mari  Smith, arguably the world’s Number One Facebook expert. Almost daily, she receives doezens of questions and answers them on her page.

I receive quite a few email questions on a wide variety of social media and publicity topics. I encourage those people to post the questions to my Publicity Hound fan page, where I can answer them for the benefit of everyone who visits.  Some people don’t bother. But some do.

Follow me on Facebook and post a question on my wall.
     
     
    

    
    
    
4. On LinkedIn

There are two ways to answer questions: By using the Answers feature and within Groups you have joined.

To use the Answer feature, go to the menu bar and click on More > Answers and you’ll see questions that other LinkedIn users have asked. You can also use the search function to find questions that include certain keywords.

Within Groups, people ask questions frequently because they know that special interest Groups include other people who share their same expertise.

LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth, who was my guest on two recent webinars, says answering questions within Groups is better than simply using the Q&A feature. That’s because questions within groups usually focus on specific topics that people within those groups will find of value. Using the Q&A feature can be time-consuming because you have to hunt for questions within your area of expertise.

Connect with me on LinkedIn and tell me what you need to know. I’ll be glad to help.

    
5. On Quora

Quora  is the perfect home for experts because it’s quickly gaining considerable traffic and attention. (See 6 reasons to use Quora to promote your expertise.)

Many journalists are using this site to hunt for experts and sources. Even the New York Times is using Quora so three of its writers, all authors, can answer questions about their books and subject areas.

Readers who like your answer can “vote it up” within all the other answers. They can also f0llow you on quora so that whenever you answer a question, they don’t miss a thing.

Here’s a video from Mashable on how to ask and answer questions on Quora:

That’s my list. What about you? Where do you answer questions to promote your expertise?
 

Tools That Can Help You:

33 Ways to Attract Facebook Fans, Provide Sterling Content & Keep Them Coming Back for More, with Mari Smith

Your LinkedIn Power Formula Part 1: How to Make Killer Contacts, Pull Crowds to Events, be a Star in Your Industry & Track Down Leads Like a Bloodhound, with Wayne Breitbarth

Your LinkedIn Power Formula Part 2: Advanced Strategies for Writing a Killer Profile, Cashing in on Groups and Creating Company Pages, with Wayne Breitbarth

I thought I had caught all the out-of-date products when I went through my inventory a week ago, to prepare for my close-out sale that’s been under way for a week.

But I found two more that I want to offer:

11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook (only $5, reduced from $49.95)

Because I’m planning a webinar next week with Mari Smith on The Best Ways to Attract Facebook Fans, Provide Sterling Content and Keep Them Coming Back for More (Just Like the Celebrities Do), I’m offering this title that I created a few years ago with Christine Buffaloe of Serenity Virtual Assistant Services, who manages many Facebook accounts for her clients and teaches them how to use the site. We’ve updated the handouts twice and even though some of the material is out of date, there are still plenty of gems!

Fly High with Publicity in the Inflight Magazines ($19.95, regularly $97).

The giant database of contact information, updated in March 2010,  includes contact information, pitching tips and even links for journalists’ social media profiles, where applicable, for 56 inflight magazines. The downloadable, 70-page electronic document helps you understand the inflight magazine industry, the kinds of topics they love to feature, and the many opportunities for publicity that most people don’t know about.

Did you know, for example, that many editors are almost desperate for photos and short items about tourist events and other attractions that are planned in destination cities during most months? It’s true. Many PR people submit press releases about events but fail to include colorful, compelling photos.

Those two titles are among 22 in all. Peruse the list, and shop till you drop.

If you need local publicity, and you live in one of 19 states in the United States, or the District of Columbia, Patch.com is almost begging for your pitch.

A memo from Patch editor-in-chief Brian Farnham outlines a plan to increase traffic by increasing article production.

Patch currently requires every site to post a minimum of four times per day, but many are not. Hence, the memo.

Patch covers California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

It loves news about new businesses, community events, local government, crime, items for the events calendar, columns from local residents and government officials, news tips, and the all-important and often overlooked photos and videos.

This is the perfect time to pitch Patch for another reason.  AOL Inc, which owns Patch, is launching 33 sites in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, key states that play an early role in the U.S. presidential election.

How to Pitch Patch

1. Build a relationship with Patch writers and editors. Spend time at the Patch site for your community, and identify who is responsible for your local news. The editor’s name and email address is under the logo at the top of the page.
2. Email the editor and ask questions. I’ve found Patch writers to be incredibly helpful and friendly.
3. Many Patch writers are former journalists. And all journalists love to report news first. Keep Patch in mind when hear a newsy item about something in your community.
4. Add Patch to your media database. Every time you write a press release, ask if the content is something that Patch would like.
5. Is your business doing something new? It’s much easier to get business stories onto Patch than it is to get your story told in your local business journal, which usually requires multiple sources.
6. Don’t forget about stand-alone photos with captions, and video. (See How to Use Photos & Graphics in a Publicity Campaign)

One of the other reasons Patch is such a super tool in a publicity campaign is because people can sign up for the Patch newsletter in their community, and receive email alerts.  I’ll often stop what I’m doing when I see the Port Washington/Saukville (Wisconsin) newsletter arrive in my Inbox.

What kind of publicity have you gotten from Patch? Do you have any pitching tips to add to my list?

No more excuses about why you aren’t blogging for your business.

If 10-year-old Tyler Duswalt can start and maintain a blog, so can you.

Tyler is author of The Short Book on How to Become a Blogging Expert—A 10-Year-Old’s Top 25 Easy Tips to Help You Start an Effective Blog (Craig Duswalt International, $9.95).

He published it last year, after his blog, CPCheats, became a go-to source for kids who wanted to cheat at Club Penguin. The online role-playing game, published by Disney Online Studios, involves a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities.  Players use cartoon penguin-avatars and play in a winter-set virtual world.

One of the criticisms of the game is that it allows players to cheat. Hence, Tyler’s blog which has had more than 85,000 views.

I learned about Tyler recently when I spoke at Author U in Denver and met his dad, Craig Duswalt, who also was on the program and taught authors about how to market like a rock star.

Craig says Tyler wrote the book himself. No professional editors. No book coaches. No picky proofreaders. Just sage advice from a 10-year old blogging expert who use phrases like “And that’s all I have to say about that” at the end of a chapter.

Here are some of the questions that people typically ask about blogging, and Tyler’s responses, excerpted from the book:

Q.  How many times should you post to your blog?

A.  ”As much as you can every week. Try to post at least once a day. I post about three times a day…But here is one thing not to do: do NOT Blog if you know you won’t have enough time to make posts. It’s useless.”

Q.  How can you get traffic to a blog?

A.  ”One way to get more hits is to Comment on other blogs and typing in your blog’s domain name at the end of your comment.”

Q.  What’s the very best way to get traffic?

A.  ”Contests! You can make a POST for a contest that will go on for a certain amount of time. I had one before. I used to play an online game called Club Penguin (Disney MMO game) and I bought a gift card for a membership. Then I had a contest where if you commented on my blog you would get entered in a drawing. Very fun. I got 1,000 hits in one day because of that contest.”

Q.  What does a blogger need to do so that the search engines can find a blog post?

A.  ”When finished with a post, and before publishing it, go to the area that says tags, and type in a few things that will get people to find you on the search eninges.”

Q.  How do you sell products on a blog?

A. “All you need to do is to set up a lnk to the website where you want to sell the thing that you are selling. For example, your post might look like this:

TITLE: Buy my product!

POST: Hello! I just bought a T-shirt and was wondering if you guys want to buy  it. If you want it, click the link: http://ebay.com/pinktshirt

Tyler also covers polls, how to post photos and audio, how to add pages,  copyright, video/picture galleries, widgets, blogrolls and more.

He doesn’t blog anymore because he doesn’t play Club Penguin. But his tips are perfect for anyone who wants a quick overview of what’s possible with a blog.

Yes, it’s a lot of work. But as Tyler explains in the Bonus Tip on the last page of his book:

“Have Fun With Your Blog! Well, this is the end of the book. I hope you enjoyed these easy tips, and I wish you luck on your blog.”

Convinced? Ready to start your own blog? See “Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging,” a grown-up’s guide to blogging. It comes with 23 pages of handouts that include 101 ways to find content for your blog, and tips for writing better and faster.

If you want to write a guest blog post at your favorite blog, and you’re writing the pitch,  don’t make the five mistakes this blogger made when he emailed me today.

Can you guess what they are?

Here’s the entire pitch:

OK, what did the blogger do wrong? But let’s be fair. What two things did he do right?

Comment below. I’ll return here a week from today and share my thoughts.

Whoever comes closest to identifying the five mistakes, and the two things he did right, wins a $100 coupon good for Publicity Hound products.

Go to it, Hounds!