If you’re releasing a report on the state of your industry, what’s the purpose of writing a press release? Why not just post the information to your blog?

In fact, why even bother with press releases? Can’t blog posts serve the same function?

That’s what law firm marketing expert Kevin O’Keefe asked at Real Lawyers Have Blogs.

He will be releasing a report later this week on the use of blogs by large American law firms, and he asked:

“My question is who do I send the press release to? Don’t I accomplish the same thing by posting a blog post with the report as I always have? As a courtesy to reporters and editors, couldn’t I just email them a link to my blog post? How does a press release help them?

“Some law firms and companies use press release services such as PR Newswire or PRWeb for press releases, many in large part for Search Engine Optimization.  Getting links from such sites to your company website or blog using keywords describing your offering causes your website or blog to rank higher on such keyword searches.  But that feels a bit like a sham and I’m not looking for SEO.”
   

Write a release and a blog post

Do both.

Press releases are written much like a newspaper article would be written with “just the facts.” And, of course, you can link directly to the report and anything else you wish.

One of the big advantages of press releases is that journalists, bloggers and others can simply cut and paste from the press release and add what you’ve written to their own copy.  Blogs, on the other hand, are written in a more informal, personal style that make wholesale copying difficult.
  
A blog also serves as a great platform to comment on various aspects of the report, in one or more blog posts. So while that press releases is pulling traffic at PRWeb, your post is pulling traffic at your blog. 
         
  
How to publicize an industry report

I gave Kevin seven ideas for publicizing his report:

1. Write a press release and post it to PRWeb.  Journalists and others can also search the PRWeb site by topic.  I found eight RSS feeds at PRWeb just for legal news. So if the only place that somebody can find info on the report is at Kevin’s blog, they’ll miss it if they’re at the PRWeb site.
       
2. Let your Twitter followers, Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections know about the release. Just give an enticing headline and link to it at PRWeb. (See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.)
       
3. Write a blog post that ties into the press release.  Why was the report written? Are the results surprising? Can you offer a behind-the-scenes look at the benefit of blogging for big law firms, something the press release doesn’t explain?
       
4. Post the same press release at your website, in your online press room.  You want to do this so that people who come to your website can find recent information about what you’re doing.
       
5. If you wish, you can now pitch the story to a select group of journalists and bloggers.  These can be people whose names you have collected and put into a database.  I’d create individual pitches for each journalists or blogger, customized for their audience, and then include a link where they can see the press release.
       
6. What about people on Twitter who “tweet” about law-related topics?  Don’t forget about them.  Sometimes you can get far more traction on Twitter than you can in traditional media, simply because of the retweets.
       
7. How do you find people who would be interested in the report and are most likely to retweet?  Go to Search.Twitter.com and search for #law, #lawyers, #legal and other related words, using hash tags.  Twitter will return a list of tweets written by people who have used those keywords in their posts.  You can then go to each person’s Twitter page and decide if they’re worth following.  If so, follow them.  They might follow you back.  You can then send them a direct message and let them know about your report, and link to the press release on PRWeb.
       
8. Finally, how about creating a short video, about two and a half minutes, discussing the report?  You can do this with an inexpensive Flip video camera and upload the video to YouTube, which can pull more traffic to your blog or website.

Kevin might also consider a subscription to Expertclick, the Online Yearbook of Experts. A subscription puts you in their experts directory and lets you post up to 52 press releases per year.  You can then link to these releases from your blog or the online press room at your website. That’s what I do.  Learn more at Expertclick.com.

How do you use press releases in conjunction with your blog?

When a business associate told me last week that she couldn’t understand why LinkedIn froze her account, especially because she invited only a few dozen people to connect within several months, I had a pretty good idea how that happened.

Three out of four of the people who invite me to connect with them on LinkedIn make the same mistake she probably made. They fail to explain on the invitation how we know each other, or how they know me.

If somebody invites you to connect and you don’t know them, LinkedIn gives you the option of clicking on “I don’t know this user” and “Report as spam.”

Scott Allen, who was my guest during a teleseminar on “How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically & Powerfully,” said that if too many people say they don’t know you, LinkedIn can freeze your account.

I always give the person who’s inviting me the benefit of the doubt. If they send the standard “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” invitation, I always reply and ask, “How do we know each other, or how do you know me?” I ask that question so often that I’ve even created a macro key for it so I don’t have retype it hundreds of times.

Often, I learn that many of those people read my newsletter or heard me at a speaking engagement, or they were referred to me by a friend who follows me. So I usually connect with them and we start a conversation. If there’s no connection between us, I don’t connect.

Other LinkedIn users might not be so patient. It takes only a second to click on “I don’t know this user” or “Report as Spam.”

But it takes only several more seconds to type “I read your newsletter each week” or “I heard you speak when you were in Dallas” or “we worked on a project together at Bowling Green State University.”

What about you? Do three out of four people who invite you fail to explain how they know you? Do you click on “I don’t know this user” or “Report as Spam,” or do you probe like I do?

What’s the most annoying mistake you see people making on LinkedIn?

If your organization publishes a membership directory, allow members to include URLs for social media sites like Facebook Fan pages, Twitter profiles, YouTube channels and LinkedIn profiles, not just URLs for their websites.

That would be a nice value-added feature for chambers of commerce, convention and visitors bureaus, health care associations, school groups, etc. and it would distinguish your group’s benefits from those of your competitors.

I just received a copy of the 2010 Business Directory for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. While glancing through the members’ section, I noticed that all the companies, even mine, have only the URLs for their websites.

Can’t afford to let every member include social media URLs because of high printing costs? Then charge a small additional fee. 

Does your organization include these URLs in its membership directories? If not, why not? What other information do you include that members find valuable?

Every year since 2001, Rebecca Morgan and her cadre of volunteers have been going into the Willow Glen neighborhood in San Jose, Calif., just before Halloween and encouraging readers to give 6,500 of their “gently read” books to children in place of trick-or-treat candy.

“Books feed children’s minds, while candy only feeds their cavities,” says Rebecca, a speaker, author and consultant. “Many children rarely receive books as gifts, so even gently read books are special treats.”

The Books for Treats campaign has been bolstered by lots of local publicity as well as articles in Spry magazine, which is distributed to 9 million households in national newspapers, and in the American Association for the Advancement of Science magazine.
  

Taking the campaign nationwide

But this past October, Rebecca pursued a wild idea for publicity that attracted national attention.

“I’m reading the Luann cartoon in the paper and I see that once a month, Luann goes to the library to read to the kids,” she said.

She suspected that Greg Evans, Luann’s creator, supported literacy. So she Googled his name and, within seconds, found his email address. She wrote to him and asked if he’d be willing to have Luann give out books at Halloween.

The result is this strip, published Oct. 29 in hundreds of newspapers, and reprinted here with Greg Evans’ permission:

It includes the URL of Rebecca’s Books for Treats site in the lower right corner of the strip. Two days later, on Halloween, another strip shows Luann taking a stack of books to her parents and suggesting that they give trick-or-treaters books instead of candy.

“When it hit the blogosphere, and I got 60,000 hits that week at my website, up from only 250 a month,” she said.
    
      
Whom to pitch and where to find them

Rebecca says she hopes Greg isn’t inundated with pitches.

Not to worry, Rebecca. Publicity Hounds can refer to this site which includes hundreds of links to comic strips that might tie into their causes or issues. 

Here are some ideas to get you started, along with my ideas for the strip you might want to pitch, and the name of the artist:

• The military: Beetle Bailey. (Mort Walker)
     
• Babies: Baby Blues (Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman)
     
• Dogs: Mutts (Patrick McDonnell) — There are dozens of comic strips devoted to dogs, cats and animals.
    
• Latino-related issues: Baldo (Hector Cantu & Carlos Castellanos)
     
• Cats: Garfield (Jim Davis)
     
• Families: Family Circus (Bil Keane)

I know you can think of more. If you see a strip that ties into what you want to promote, Google the name of the strip or the creator. Or check the strip’s fine print and you might find the URL.

Does the artist have a blog? If so, you may have struck gold because that’s a perfect place for you to start a conversation with the artist before pitching. Artists’ and journalists’ blogs offer valuable clues about how to pitch them.

Is the artist on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media sites? If so, start the conversation there. And then send your brief pitch, just like Rebecca did. (See “How to Create the Perfect 30-Second Pitch.”)

What other favorite comic strips might tie into your cause or issue? Do you regularly read strips about your industry or occupation? If so, which ones?

By the way, I think Rebecca’s Books for Treats campaign would be perfect to pitch to dental associations.

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.

If you’re giving free speeches in your community as a way to practice before you start charging a fee, or simply to market your business, here are more places where you can speak.

Add them to the list I offfered a few weeks ago when I first saw this query in the SpeakerNetNews ezine.

When you book a speaking engagement, you can publicize it beforehand by:

• Writing press releases and sending them to local newspapers.
• Posting the information at websites for your local newspapers and TV stations. Many have calendar sections for upcoming events.
• Posting it at MeetUp.com.
• Posting information to Craigslist. See my article “Craigslist: A Valuable Publicity Tool.”

Learn more great ways to publicize your speaking engagements. “Special Report #21: 67 Great Publicity Tips for Professional Speakers” shows you how to create enticing story angles from your keynotes and workshops, what to do before and after every presentation for maximum exposure and how to help meeting planners publicize your speaking engagement.

If you do free or paid speaking engagements, there are opportunities galore to get in front of audiences that need to hear whay you have to say.

But some Publicity Hounds don’t quite know where to begin. In Friday’s issue of the SpeakerNet News ezine, Michael Schatzki said he wants to give a new hour-long speech he has created at least 20 times so he can polish it before charging a fee.  

His target audience is people in their late 30s to early 60s, business people or a general audience. His topic is on how to motivate people to fitness. Micheal asked for tips on how to let groups know that he speaks for free. He’s compiling all the results for the SpeakNet News archives. 

I responded and offered these nine ways to publicize free or paid speaking engagements:

1. Contact local chambers of commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis, Business Networking International, and any other business networking groups.
     
2. Consider joining Toastmasters. You’ll get instant feedback. And Toastmasters know which groups in town welcome speakers.
     
3. Go to MeetUp.com and see what business groups are meeting near you. I belong to a MeetUp group for Internet marketers in Wisconsin, and at our last meeting, we discussed which speakers we could invite to speak for free.
      
4. Go to Craigslist and check out the community category. You’ll find sub-categories for classes, events and small business. Post a note in the best category offering your services. Make sure you don’t post the same item to more than one category. See How to Use Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool.
           
5. Get a local business journal, daily or weekly newspaper or business magazine and check the section of the paper that announces local business events and who is speaking. You’ll find many groups you probably never knew existed. There’s usually a phone number to call for registration. Call that number and ask for the meeting planner.      
      
6. If you’re Twittering (you should be), let your followers know about your topic and ask them for suggestions. If you’re speaking in a specific geographic area, use a hashtag (#) with the name of a city in your tweet, like this—#Chicgo— so people who are searching for information on that city will find your tweet. Learn more about how to use hashtags for publicity.
      
7. If you’re on LinkedIn (you should be), post the question in their Q&A section and you’ll probably get many responses from people who do business near you.
     
8. If you’re on Facebook, ask your friends to spread the word. See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.
     
9. You probably won’t have to resort to paid ads. But if you do, you can target people in specific geographic locations with fairly cheap ads on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Do you do free or paid speaking engagements? If so, what are some of the ways you publicize them?

(Shutterstock photo)

Companies and nonprofits everywhere are scrambling to create social media policies.

But before you appoint a special committee within your organization to do weeks of research, and then summon your expensive attorneys, scan this helpful list of more than 80 sample social media policies. If you have your own policy that isn’t listed here, add it to the list for more exposure and, perhaps, publicity.  

I love this list because you can identify three or four organizatons similar to yours and probably find policies that address the concerns of your particular industry. Nonprofits, for example, would probably want a policy that addresses what volunteers can and can’t do in social media under the nonprofit’s name. 

Several weeks ago, I used LinkedIn’s question-and-answer feature to tap into my own network to hunt for social media policies, and then reported what I found. This new list of more than 80 policies is much more comprehensive, well-organized and all in one place. 

Tip: How about sharing the list with YOUR network on the social media sites, including LinkedIn?  

What do you do when you’re walking past the sales department in your company and you see a sales rep uploading a photo of him and his drunken buddies to his Facebook page?

What about that strange guy in Receiving who tweets about all things Gothic and, occasionally, slips the name of your company into his weird tweets?

Or the woman in HR who thinks social media is a waste of time and gives dirty looks to anyone who even talks about it?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a social media policy right at your fingertips to avoid problems like those? Sure it would. But writing one could be a nightmare.

So relax. I found several dozen samples you can refer to when writing your own policy.

Last week, I was preparing a presentation on social media for managers in Executive Agenda, a professional development group for senior executives in Wisconsin, and needed a sample social media policy. To save time, I went over to LinkedIn and asked if anyone had a sample they’d be willing to share.

Eleven people responded. I struck gold! You can, too:

• Marketing communications strategist Alan Stamm shares this list of more than 30 social media policies, compiled by Barry Hurd at 123 Social Media in Seattle. It includes  policies for Harvard University, the U.S. Air Force, HP, Intel, Cisco, GM and ESPN.
• Alan also linked to blogger Filberto Selvas who comments on what he found within policies from those organizations.
• Ari Adler, who wrote about corporate social media policies for Ragan.com,  shared a particularly helpful Top 10 Guidelines for Social Media. It’s copyright-free and can be used with or without attribution to Shift Communications, which helped a client write it.
• Freelancer Fawn Fitter shared an article she wrote for Microsoft.com on how to Accommodate Younger Workers in Your IT Strategy.

• Lynne Eisaguirre, a former employment attorney, cautions: “You also need to consider the advice of your IT people about the danger of using too much bandwith, importing viruses and the like.

By the way, if you aren’t asking questions on LinkedIn, you’re not taking advantage of a powerful shortcut to doing research. Answering questions is also a great way to promote your expertise on LinkedIn.

Next, I’ll take the video and post it to my YouTube channel. Then I’ll share it with my Facebook Fans. Failing to create Fan Pages on Facebook, by the way, is a major missed opportunity, because Fan Pages are the only place Facebook allows you to promote. You can also have an unlimited number of Fans. Read about other missed opportunities on Facebook. 

And then I’ll tweet about it, leading my Twitter followers to this blog.

There are countless other ways to recycle content, but you get the idea.  If you’re writing a string of tweets about a particular topic, can they be turned into article for EzineArticles.com? Can that article then be turned into a video?

When you find yourself creating content for social media sites, stop and ask yourself: How many ways you can milk the cow that’s already in the barn?