Katie Schwartz Chattanooga, TN, asks:

“What are some ways to reach education reporters, or parents of students about to enter college?

“I have written an ebook called Portable Parent for parents and college students, with advice the students need on life skills such as time and money management, as well as much more.  Parents download it, add their input and upload it to the students’ computers so the advice is ready when they are.  Instant info, with a parent’s input, 24/7.  How can I publicize this?”

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If you have a dog or cat, I’m betting that, at least once, you’ve looked it in the eyes and said “I love you.”

That’s because a clever survey by Iams, the pet food company, showed that 91 percent of customers it contacted several years ago admitted whispering those three little words to their furry friends.

The company wisely publicized the survey results to coincide with Valentine’s Day.  Hundreds of newspapers, magazines and TV and radio stations picked up the story.

Surveys on topics that are fun, edgy, heart-warming, controversial, timely or compelling can generate mountains of publicity.  They can also do something else.

They can tell you EXACTLY what products and services your customers want and EXACTLY how much they’d be willing to pay for them.

Surveys have been the best-kept secret among Publicity Hounds and successful entrepreneurs–the cute little trick that has boosted PR campaigns and let top marketers create products to order, get proof to convert prospects and keep customers buying, and find the ticking time bombs in our businesses before they explode.

Let the Survey Expert Help You

My business partner, Jeanne Hurlbert, PhD, is one of the world’s foremost survey experts.  She’s so good at surveys that she’s helped people like The Tony Robbins Companies, Ali Brown, and Joe Polish.  She also created my own customer profile survey last spring, and I’m using the results as a roadmap to guide my business.

She and Mike Koenigs are hosting a webinar called “Your Cash-Generating Crystal Ball: How to Use Simple Surveys to Read Your Prospects’ and Customers’ Minds, Build Lists, Create Products, and Make Money.”  It will be at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 4.

They’ll show you how to jumpstart your business by putting your publicity, and your profits, on steroids.

And if you don’t HAVE a business yet, the news is just as good: They’ll help you start one, create products that generate revenue, and build your email list, in as little as 2 weeks.

You will learn:

Sign up here now.

P. S. When you sign up, you get 2 special reports—and one is about how a survey transformed my business.  On the call, Jeanne and Mike are giving away two things to five lucky winners: a cool new product that will be sold for at least $97 and another helpful special report.

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How has my free ezine, “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” changed your life or your business?

That’s the question you should answer if you want to win $500 in products or consulting services from me.

Why $500? Because I’m doing this to promote Issue 500 of my newsletter, which I’ll publish on April 13.

Last week, I asked you for help on how to promote the 500th issue, and got several excellent suggestions. This promotion combines two ideas submitted by Publicity Hounds Diana Ennen and Kathy Slattengren.

The rules

• Answer this question in 200 words or fewer: What new publicity tactics do you use as a result of reading my publicity tips and what results did you experience from them? (You may link to a newspaper article/TV show clip). PR pros can discuss ideas they used for their clients.
• The 10 best entries I receive will be put to a vote by Publicity Hound readers (people will only be able to vote once).  The more helpful the tips in the entries, the better chance they will have at making the ballot. Blatant commercials that just promote you or your business won’t make the cut.
• The winner gets a choice of $500 in products or consulting services, or both.
• All entries become property of The Publicity Hound and can be used as testimonials at my website or blog.

And a Free Ebook of Ideas…

Now, I’ll sweeten the deal. All entries that adhere to the rules will be compiled into a free ebook that I’ll offer to all my readers, and I’ll encourage them to pass it along to their friends, followers and connections on the social media sites.

That’s a TON of publicity for you, with a link to your website or blog, if you participate and share a great entry.  Again, don’t enter if all you can offer is a free commercial or I won’t approve your comment or include you in the ebook. I want a success story and an explanation of how the tip worked for you.

Have at it, Hounds. Post your comments below. Next week, I’ll explain how to vote.

Twice this week, people who want to create ebooks but are afraid that the content will be plagiarized, or that their customers will give the ebooks to their friends, asked me how I prevent that from happening to my own ebooks.

I don’t worry about it. Period.

With one slight exception. When you turn a document into a PDF, the security settings allow you to prohibit people from cutting and pasting the text. I always do this to prevent someone from stealing my content and turning it into an article with their byline. They can retype what I’ve written, of course, but preventing cutting and pasting makes plagiarizing more difficult.

But if people are able to download the ebook and save it to their hard drive, there’s nothing I can do to prevent them from passing it along to their friends. Let’s say somebody passes along my ebook, How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound, shown here.

Lots of reasons not to fret

• Throughout the ebook, I include links to sales pages where I sell related products. If somebody who has received it for free clicks on one of those links and buys a product, I win.
• Ditto for links to other people’s products and services that I sell for a commission. If somebody who has not bought the book clicks on a link and buys a product from a vendor who pays me a commission, I win.
• My ebooks include a list of “Recommended Resources” at the end of each book. Many of these resources are products and services I sell for a commission. I only include products and services from vendors I know, and that I can stand behind 100 percent.
• My ebooks also include a list of places where readers can find lots of free content, like my free “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week” ebooks. Every December, I give away a free ebook filled with the best two dozen tips from that year’s ezines. I encourage people to regift the book to their friends. Every item includes links to my own products, or to products and services I sell for a commission. I’ve even written about 12 ways you can use my free ebooks.
• The person who gets an ebook that somebody else bought might not know me. Because my ebooks are content-rich, the reader might think, “This is pretty good stuff. I wonder what else she has at her website?”

When creating your ebook, think of all the ways you can use that book to sell other things. Build in links to your website, links to product pages, links back to your blog, affiliate links, and links to places where a reader can find more free content by opting in with their name and email address.

I always include references to my free ezine, “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” and tell people how to subscribe. If somebody who gets the ebook for free subscribes to my ezine, I now have their email address. Again, I win.

Authors and publishers, particularly those who publish printed books and other materials, have taken me to task for this attitude, but that’s OK. Let them spend time worrying about how to protect their content. I’d rather spend my time creating more helpful content that my readers might pass along to someone who doesn’t know me.

Am I wrong?

If you publish ebooks, how do you deal with this “problem”? Do you think I’m wrong?

By the way, if you’re looking for content for your blog, pay attention to questions that people are asking you. This blog post originated because two people asked me the same question. If you want more ideas on how to find blog content, see “Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging,” a teleseminar I hosted a few weeks ago with blogging expert Patsi Krakoff.

One of the handouts includes 101 ways to find content for your blog. Here’s a list of 9 easy places to find content for your blog, from those handouts.

Have you claimed your copy of “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2009″ yet?

It not, grab it here. You’ll find the 26 tips that generated the most response from readers of my ezine last year. 

I give away this ebook each year, and my readers eagerly look forward to it. Many of them regift the book to their own friends and followers. And the big attaction is that anyone can access the ebook. You don’t have to opt in with your name and email address. 

What will you learn in this book? Plenty.

For example, I explain how to create your own day, week or month of the year. You’ll learn about lots of tricks and tools for participating at the social media sites. Read about 10 dead or dying PR tactics. 

And for Publicity Hounds who are looking to connect with journalists, I’ve given you several resources.  The book will help you, regardless of what business or nonprofit you’re in. 

Use the ebook one of these 12 ways:

1. Create a Facebook note, and excerpt the entire tip. Use the photo along with the text, and you’ve got a nice little item that your followers and fans will love. Christine Buffaloe discussed Facebook notes when she was my guest during a teleseminar on “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.” 
        
2. No time for a Note? Write about it and share the link (http://tinyurl.com/bestof2009tips) in a Facebook status update.
       
3. Write about it in a LinkedIn status update.
        
4. Blog about the book, and include your own success story that ties into one of the tips. 
        
5. Offer the ebook as a bonus along with other products and services you’re selling.
       
6. Give it to your clients and customers.
       
7. Mention it at your weekly staff meetings.
       
8. Add it to the Free Articles page at your website.
       
9. Give it away to the winner of a contest you’re sponsoring.  
         
10. Offer the ebook as a freebie to help you capture names and email addresses at your website. 
       
11. Create a video that discusses the ebook and upload it to your website or to YouTube, then share that with your social media friends and followers.
       
12. Include the link  (http://tinyurl.com/bestof2009tips) in a book you’re writing, or in handouts you’re using for a speaking engagement.

What about you? Have you thought of any other clever ways to use the ebook? If so, share them here. I’d love to hear them.

Ted Fuller of Lafayette, Calif., writes:

“Thanks to you and Paulette Ensign, the Tips Booklet Queen, I have completed my first two booklets.

“‘The Best Ideas Yet About Aging Successfully is 16 pages, and ‘Tips for Writing a Great Memoir is 12 pages.  Now comes the grind of contacting book and gift store distributors, retirement home companies, and other organizations serving seniors.

“Any suggestions on how one gets these charming publications publicized so the purchasing departments seek me out with their orders?”

If you’re not using teleseminars in your business, you’re missing a fabulous opportunity to amass a loyal following of people who want to hear what you have to say.

With a lousy economy that leaves people reluctant to pay for hotels and airfare, teleseminars are an easy, inexpensive alternative to live events.  

They’re also a handy way to create products very quickly. I’ve hosted dozens of teleseminars on a wide variety of publicity-related topics, and then turned them into CDs, MP3s and electronic transcripts. I host two private  teleseminars each month for people in The Publicity Hound Mentor Program.

Join Steve Harrison on Thursday, November 12, for a free telephone seminar with an author who rakes in over $3.4 million a year this way.

One of the fastest ways to sell more books and make more as an author is do telephone seminars based on your expertise.  To learn how, join Steve for a free 90-minute teleseminar with author Alex Mandossian and learn:

• Eight models for using teleseminars to sell books and make big buckeroos.
      
• How Alex sold over 3,023 books in a single teleseminar.
       
• Why you’re lucky to get 25 people at a traditional bookstore signing but Alex routinely gets 1,200+ on teleseminars with his ‘virtual book tour’ strategy.
      
• The case history of how Alex used teleseminars to help a first-time author hit the New York Times Best Seller List.

Register here.

The most successful authors, consultants, speakers and experts do one thing differently from most others.

They figure out creative ways to spin their expertise into multiple products and services. Many of the most successful authors, for example, never intend to rely on income solely from their book, even if it’s a best-seller.

That’s because they understand that, first, writing a best-seller is a long shot. But more importantly, even if they don’t write a best-seller, the book is better used as a “carrot” to pull in readers who are interested in a topic, and who can then buy more products and services related to the title of the book.

Here’s a short list of what those can include:

• Calendars
• Board games
• T-shirts and other clothing
• Consulting services
• Membership sites
• Subscription newsletters
• Special reports
• CDs and DVDs
• Joint ventures with other non-competing authors who target the same audience

Add it all up, and the revenue from those offerings can surpass  the revenue from a book. And many of those products and services have far less competition than a book has.

On Thursday, Oct. 22., Steve Harrison will host a free 90-minute teleseminar on “How to Thrive as an Author or Expert in Any Economy”  at 2 and 7 p.m. Eastern. You will learn:

• 22 super-lucrative income streams which most authors overlook — but are surprisingly easy to implement (and certainly MUCH easier to produce than writing another book).
     
• Some surprisingly simple ways to quickly and easily make another $5,000.000 to $15,000.00+/month from your book or expertise — even if you haven’t made any money so far as an author/expert.
     
• 3 ways to turn what you write into strong passive income month-after-month.

The call, which will last about 90 minutes, is the third preview call for Steve’s upcoming Quantum Leap Publicity & Marketing Program.  

If the time is inconvenient for you, recruit somebody to listen and take notes because Steve seldom offer the replays.  

Hugo Tschudin of River Vale, N.J. writes:

“My booklet, Wake Up to Abundant Energy: 113 Ways to Make it Easy to ‘Rise and Shine,’ takes the struggle out of getting up in the morning.

“I’d like to find licensees who could buy the booklets in bulk to give away to customers who request a catalog, visit a showroom, or download a report.  Or, a company can buy the booklets for their own employees who can wake up energized and work more efficiently.

“I have focused on companies most likely to help their customers and employees fight fatigue, such as mattress manufacturers, breakfast cereal companies and coffee shops.

“But I’m wondering if it would be more effective to focus on other lines of business, or just on very large employers?  How can I find licensees for this booklet?  Or how can I generate free publicity to let companies know about it?”

For sales people and business owners ONLY:

Answer this question in 10 seconds or less. If you sell a product or service, what’s the one thing that sets you apart from your competitors?

If your answer isn’t “a book,” you could be leaving money on the table.

If you own a business/professional practice, or certainly if you sell something high-ticket, you should really consider becoming a published author. Publishing a book establishes your credibility as an expert. It serves as a fancy brochure that puts to shame all those other boring, three-panel brochures your competitors are printing.

A book also gives potential clients and customers a chance to know, like and trust you—long before you ask for the order.   

To discover how to get a book out quickly—even if you have no writing skills and haven’t got a clue what you’d write about— join Steve Harrison for a free webinar (or telephone seminar) today, at either 2 or 7 p.m. Eastern Time. It’s called “How to Grow Your own Business by Having Your Own Book and Getting it Done Quickly.”

Here’s just some of what you’ll discover later today:

• How to quickly create a book that attracts clients.
    
• Why a book instantly gives you expert status in your market or industry.
    
• The secret to quickly getting your book done even if you think you have no time or no writing skills.
    
• How one professional more than doubled his closing percentage simply by giving prospects a copy of his book.
    
• Wondering what you’d write about?  You’ll see lots of examples of good books you can quickly model.
    
• How a book makes prospects and clients feel like they know you long before you ever meet.
    
• Why bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki jokes his book is a “brochure” because it brings him so much business.
    
• How having a book makes it easier to get publicity in newspapers and magazines plus radio/TV shows.
    
• Want to raise your fees?  How having your own book can help.
    
• Pros and cons of various publishing options.
    
• Critical mistakes to avoid if you want a book that actually brings in paying clients.

Many authors write books because they have something valuable to share with the world. But they invest years of their time writing it, and by the time it’s done, they’re tired of it. They see lackluster sales, and they move on to something else.

Don’t be one of those authors. Write a book quickly to upsell potential clients to other high-ticket products and services. Register for the free teleseminar.