The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Publicity Hound Ruth Furman, a PR specialist and a speaker at this weekend’s World Tea Expo in Las Vegas will be among panelists who will discuss ways tea retailers can generate publicity.

She asked if I could provide some tips for her handout, and I thought I’d share them here.

These tips are written specifically for those who sell tea. But there’s no reason you can’t tweak them for your own retail business, regardless of whether you’re selling dog beds or industrial widgets.

Retailers, remember that the days are long gone when we concentrated only on pitching story ideas to traditional media outlets. The Internet provides opportunities galore for spreading the word about any product or service.

1. If you’re not Twittering about tea, start right now! Remember that many people searching for tea information on Twitter will be using Twitter’s search engine. Use a hash tag (example: #herbaltea) when tweeting. Learn more about how to use Twitter hashtags for promotion and publicity. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.
2. The topic of gardening is hot right now because of the bad economy. How can tea-lovers create their own tea garden, filled with herbs and other tea ingredients?
3. What’s the Number One flavor of herbal tea? Survey tea lovers at your website and on the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Write the results in a press release that you post online and distribute to the media.
4. What’s the correct way to make the perfect cup of tea? Create a short video of from two to three minutes, include a link to your website, and upload to the video-sharing sites.
5. Listen to the teleseminar I hosted recently with David Mathison, author of the book Be the Media. He offers tips galore on how to use social networking to promote and to build an email list.
6. Create your profile on Facebook. Then promote your retail tea business by creating Facebook Pages. Click the “Ads and Pages” icon in the lower left corner. You can create a Page for each product, and then invite your Facebook friends and others to become “Fans” of your pages. Remember that your Profile has Friends. Your Pages have Fans.
7. Create a tea-lover’s group on Facebook. Email them each week with a “tea lover’s tip of the week.”
8. Upload photos of tea and tea-related products, tools and ingredients to the photo-sharing sites like Flickr and PhotoBucket.
9. Create a profile on LinkedIn and start answering questions regularly on tea. It will help promote your expertise. (See “How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically & Powerfully.”)
10. Subscribe to “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week” and receive the ezine every Tuesday. It’s loaded with tips on how to generate free publicity.
11. Sign up for the free email tutorial “89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases” at  so you can learn how to write and distribute press releases.

If you’re a retailer and you have your own publicity tips, feel free to share it here.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Facebook, Holidays, LinkedIn, Photos & Graphics, Press Releases/News Releases, Social media marketing, Twitter, Video, YouTube
posted On: 4/27/2009: 10:38 pm: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments

If you want publicity in traditional media for a food-related story, don’t miss these tips from Nancy Wall Hopkins, deputy editor of food and entertaining at Better Homes and Gardens.

Brian Pittman of Bulldog Reporter interviewed her. Here’s a quick summary, but please read the entire article. After each one of Nancy’s tips, I’ve also given you some of my own ideas on other ways to pitch, or ways to sweeten your pitch. These ideas also work well when pitching bloggers and in social media.

Nancy’s tip:

People are cooking more these days because of the bad economy. (I assume that means they’re eating out less.) 

My tip:

Pitch stories on how to save on grocery bills.  Restaurants, what are you doing to respond to this? Any special marketing promotions that have worked well? Are you altering menus, changing your hours or adding cooking classes to draw the crowds? (See “Publicity Tips for Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies.“)    

Nancy’s tip:

Consumers are using more cents-off coupons.

My tip:

Professional organizers, suggest ways for us to organize all those coupons and actually use them.  Consumer experts, are using coupons usually better than buying the store’s generic brand? 

Nancy’s tip:

People are still entertaining an average of twice a month but it’s casual and low-key.

My tip:

Pitch your local “grub club” or dinner group to the food columnist at your local newspaper. It might also make a fun feature story for your local TV station. If an upcoming dinner is tied to the holidays or a religious celebration, that’s a nice little extra.

Nancy’s tip:

Consumers are still very interested in health and prevention.

My tip:

This is a chance for health departments and others to pitch story ideas like how to wash produce and  avoid food poisoning. What about all those food allergies we’re hearing so much about?

Nancy’s tip:

PR people, leave the office for good old-fashioned face-to-face, desk-side meetings with journalists. This goes against advice that Steve Mullen of the Social Media PR blog wrote in his post 10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics. 

My tip:

When you visit, ask the Number One most important question you can ever ask: “How can I help you?”

Nancy’s tip:

Give exclusives.

My tip: 

Be careful because this can backfire, particularly if it’s a breaking-news story. The writer might be excited about the story and love the exclusive. If her editor isn’t nearly as interested and buries it way inside the magazine, you’ve blown a publicity opportunity.

Nancy’s tip:

Report on trends. Remember that magazines are restricting travel for some journalists so they rely on expert sources to keep them informed about trends and what’s happening at shows like the Fancy Food Show. 

My tip:

Report on trends even when the story doesn’t directly affect you. This positions you as a golden source. 

Nancy’s best take-away tip:

“It’s all about the relationship. The best PR people talk to me before pitching me to see what’s new with me and to ask me what’s going on.  They then tailor ideas to me that no one else is getting.  That’s how you build trust with us.”

My tip: Never forget it.

Posted In: Blogs, Business Promotion, Holidays, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, PR Consultants/Publicists, Photos & Graphics, Pitching the Media, Publicity for Niche Markets, Social media marketing, TV Publicity
posted On: 3/25/2009: 3:05 pm: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments

Colleen Schmid of Heathrow, Fla.  Writes:

“I’ve recently started a new business teaching families how to start going green in their homes.  I go through their homes and, room by room, show them what things they can be doing to save on power and water bills as well as removing toxins.  I will also begin showing small businesses how to do the same.

“Earth Day is on April 22, and I’m trying to come up with a big idea to get media attention for my business.  It’s so critical that we all become aware of what we’re are doing to harm our environment, waste precious resources and pollute.  It’s also important to show people how living green saves them money and takes care of our Earth.

“Can your Hounds thing of some powerful ways for me t otie my business into Earth Day for some publicity?”  Her website is at Green-Irene.com.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Holidays
posted On: 3/3/2009: 3:39 pm: By Joan
Comments: 7 Comments

Shannon Hein of Fort Collins, Colorado writes:

“I am helping a friend promote Branchies, a product she invented that lets people hang heavy objects on their Christmas trees.

“They attach easily to the trunk of your Christmas tree and support very heavy and bulky ornaments. They are a great way to transform your tree using themes you�ve never been able to create before. For example, you can decorate your tree with your favorite football helmets if you want!

“Of course, Christmas is over, but we want to get a jump on promoting this next year. What ideas do your Hounds have for promoting Branchies? We’re on the web at www.branchies.com

Posted In: Business Promotion, Holidays, Publicity for Niche Markets
posted On: 12/30/2008: 11:36 am: By Joan
Comments: 5 Comments

If you’re angling for some free publicity this holiday season on radio or TV talk shows, here’s a tip that I included under the headline “…And Build the Relationship” in Tuesday’s issue of my ezine, “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week.” It generated reponse from several readers.

Contact radio and TV talk show hosts and guest bookers, even big radio shows in the top 20 radio markets, whose programs you want to get onto, and offer to fill in during the holidays if another guest cancels. This tactic works year-round, but it’s particularly effective during the holidays, when guests are in short supply.

Too many people are Christmas shopping, preparing for the holidays, or away on holiday vacation, and TV and radio talk show hosts find it hard enough to find guests. When somebody cancels because of the flu, snowstorms, or another commitment, hosts go into panic mode. 

Gina McNew of the Diva Success Network says she knows what it’s like to have guests cancel:

“I have had two guests contact me in the last couple of days apologizing that they can’t make their radio interviews that have been on the book for months.  I am scrambling like crazy to find replacements!  Hope your Hounds take your tips to heart!

Email Gina if you’d be willing to fill in at the last minute.  

The Rev. Thomas Harrison, who works as a “secret shopper” for churches and who I wrote about in the item “Back Door to the Wall Street Journal” in the October 13 issue of my ezine, reiterated the importance of being a fill-in guest:

“When I ran a TV station and we had guest programs, there was one guest I know I could call as late at 10 p.m. for a 7 a.m. program the next day. He was always available, and thus a favorite of ours.”

Offering to fill in at the last minute is just one of many ways to be a valuable news source the media love.

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Holidays, How to Interview, Pitching the Media, Radio Publicity, TV Publicity
posted On: 12/3/2008: 11:39 pm: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments