A reporter at a national publication is exploring the phenomenon of how smart people sometimes feel dumb in intimate social settings and needs sources to interview.

Have you ever clammed up in a business meeting, at a cocktail or dinner party, on jury duty, or at some other small social event—-even though you know you’re as smart (or smarter) than anyone else in the room? And is this a departure from your usual personality?

If you have funny or interesting stories to tell about this topic, please respond as soon as possible to aceb5@aol.com with details of your anecdote and contact information. Anyone quoted must be willing to use to use their name.

A columnist who writes about relationships for a top-tier media outlet (you or your PR clients will want to get into this one) wants to develop relationships with people who do research on psychology or relationships, particularly psychologists or academics.

“One of my frustrations in my column is that I don’t often hear about the research early,” the columnist says.

Respond in the comments section below and explain why you’d be a good source.

Should you pitch?

Nope. She, like other journalists, wants exclusive material. Just give what she asked for and let her decide if you’re worth pursuing.

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

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Heading To a Trade Show in 2012? 5 Tips for Getting the Most ROI Out Of Your Event: http://ow.ly/859iM

Retailers: 17 ways to use Twitter to engage your audience. [No excuse not to tweet!] http://ow.ly/83UdR

Publicity Tip: Readers LOVE year-end lists, like this one, The 50 Best Workout Songs of the Year. http://ow.ly/83RUZ 

The Essential word List for Lazy PR Writers.http://ow.ly/859s3 

5 ways to master the new Facebook timeline. http://ow.ly/86rsi 

When Business Blogging Works Too Well… | Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad http://bit.ly/ukgnlr

Do you have a form at your website? Add this clever tool to encourage people to promote you: http://ow.ly/85fX7

Local news outlets among Google’s most-searched terms:  http://ow.ly/85ath

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

25 Worst Passwords of the Year for 2011. [Is one of yous on this list?] http://ow.ly/81QNc

How to get a ton of new subscribers to your blog. http://ow.ly/7ZR3S

Should you post press releases in social media? Conflicting answers from the experts. http://ow.ly/7ZmYQ  http://ow.ly/8486v

Top 10 Marketing & PR Trends in 2012. http://ow.ly/7ZcO4

A free cheat sheet for writing blog posts that go viral, from @Copyblogger. http://ow.ly/7XSx3

How to answer a journalist’s query on HARO, Reporter Connection, PitchRate & PRLeads. http://ow.ly/7YMvB

8 secrets that writers won’t tell you. http://ow.ly/803Km

17 Fun Freebies That Build Thought Leadership. Something for everybody. http://ow.ly/7Wwxs

10 Worst Media Disasters of 2011 from @MrMediaTraining. [Can you guess #1?] http://ow.ly/81xh3

5 strategic social media tips for PR pros, from @PerkettPR [No. 4 is my favorite] http://ow.ly/81x3q

The next time you want publicity, do two things that 99 percent of the other people who want publicity fail to do.  
    
First, vow that you won’t use the “spray and pray” technique.  That is, spraying the same one-size-fits-all pitch or press release to dozens or even hundreds of journalists, and then praying they’ll call you. 
    
Second, target a short list of journalists.  And then find out all you can about them before delivering your customized pitch.  It’s easy, actually, because journalists are leaving clues EVERYWHERE online about the kinds of stories they think are important, the kinds of expert sources they’re looking for, and how to contact them. 
    
Think of it as a treasure hunt.  Do it right and you could strike gold.  Here are six places to look for those valuable nuggets, which I shared during the webinar “How to REALLY Use Publicity as an Online Marketing Channel and Zig When Everyone Else is Zagging.”
     
    
1. Find out if the journalist blogs

Some journalists blog as part of their job.  Others blog on the side because they’re passionate about a topic. 

I wrote about how I picked up all sorts of valuable clues by spending a little time reading the blog written by Deborah Kotz, senior health writer for U.S. News & World Report. 
    
I learned, for example, that she’s a penny-pincher and hates bottled water. I also learned that two years ago, she thought about her risk of staying on birth control pills until she reaches menopause, and lamented the dearth of research on the long-term use of contraceptives by women.
   
If I had spent a few hours searching for clues, I’d find a lot more than that.  But I’d NEVER find that kind of personal information in those expensive media directories.  Here’s why this kind of research is so valuable. 
    
If you sell a product or service, or promote a cause or issue, related to women’s health, Deborah already has given you dozens of valuable clues at her blog that you can tie to your pitch. Be sure to read the comments at a journalist’s blog, where the journalist often replies and leaves even more clues about topics she thinks are important.  
     
     
2. Look for journalists on Twitter
    
If a blog can provide that much information, imagine what you can learn by following the journalist on Twitter.  Here are seven places to look for reporters, editors, freelancers, broadcasters, radio talk show hosts, TV news anchors and other journalists:

JournalistTweets.com: Allows you to track what journalists are writing about you or your subject.  Includes email alerts.  Also allows you to locate journalists on Twitter by subject interest.  
    
JustTweetIt.com: Features more than 175 reporters and editors. 
    
MediaonTwitter.com: Features thousands of journalists in 11 countries by name, Twitter ID, title/beat and media outlet.  
   
Muckrack.com: Features journalists by beats (world, U.S., politics, business, technology, sports, arts, etc.) and media company. 
    
Listorious.com (U.S.):  Harry Hoover’s list of more than 250 U.S. journalists, including Rachael Maddow, George Stephanopoulos, David Gregory and Terry Moran.  
    
Listorious.com (Canada):  A list of more than two dozen Canadian journalists, compiled by Harry Hoover.

Listorious: Harry Hoover’s list of more than 300 media outlets, including top-tier outlets. 

Follow a journalist who you want to pitch.  But don’t expect journalists to follow you back.  Some aren’t interested in following other people.  They use Twitter primarily to find leads and sources for stories.  Even so, look for gold in their tweets.
     
    
3. Look for journalists on Facebook 
    
Search for journalists by name, or search for the media outlet’s Fan page.  You can also use the search box to search by job title such as “reporter,” “editor” or “freelancer.”  Journalists frequently use Facebook to issue a call for certain types of experts they need to interview, or let their friends know about the types of stories they’re working on.
     
    
4. Pan for gold at their company websites 
    
Many newspapers and magazines have online versions that include many more articles than can fit into the printed edition.  Some even have videos.  Often, you can leave comments.  One annoying feature of many of these sites, however, is that you must create an account and log in with a username and password.  But sometimes, it’s worth it.
     
     
5. Read the editor’s column
     
One of the most valuable places to pan for gold in a newspaper or magazine is in the editor’s column.  It provides valuable clues about new features and departments, new freelancers and photographers who are contributing to that issue, trends the publication is seeing, and other information the editor thinks is important. 
    
Editors often write about their personal lives, too.  One smart Publicity Hound I know responded to a column from an editor and ended up in an article in the magazine.  
    
He’s Dr. Robert Kotler, a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon, who was reading a copy of American Way, the in-flight magazine published by American Airlines.  In the May 1, 2009 issue, executive editor Adam Pitluk wrote about how his circle of friends has changed over the years. 
     
“I sent him a letter respectfully taking issue with some of his contentions and offering an alternative personal viewpoint,” Dr. Kotler told me.  “He does not keep long friendships.  I do.  A la my closeness with my fraternity brothers from our days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1960-64).”
    
Adam called Dr. Kotler and told him he appreciated the letter.
     
“When I had his ear, I said, ‘You know, l have an idea for a story regarding how patients are coming from abroad to Beverly Hills for cosmetic surgery.  Of course, they should be traveling here on American.  I’ll send you an outline of what I think might be an interesting story for your readership.’” 
    
Dr. Kotler followed up and sent statistics about Beverly Hills as a magnet for cosmetic surgery.  Not long afterward, Adam told Dr. Kotler he’d probably assign the story and a writer. 
    
“And then it happened.  An excellent writer in New York called and interviewed me and Dr. Stuart Linder, another plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills,” Dr. Kotler said.  The article, titled Vacationing for a New You, appeared in the Feb. 15, 2010 issue. 
   
Publicity in inflight magazines is a wonderful way to get in front of business travelers and others with a high disposable income. See “Special Report #29: Fly High with Publicity in the Inflight Magazines.” It includes contact information and pitching tips for more than 50 magazines.   
     
   
6. Subscribe to media leads services

Three free media leads services provide hundreds of leads online, five days a week, from print and broadcast journalists, podcasters, bloggers and others who are looking for specific types of sources. 
    
I don’t consider this “panning for gold” because thousands of other Publicity Hounds subscribe to these services, and the competition is stiff.  Even so, you’d be crazy not to subscribe. 
    
Sifting through all these leads is time-consuming, but you can delegate this task to an assistant, or a VA.  Here are the services where you can subscribe and receive your leads by email: 
     
HelpaReporter.com
     
PitchRate.com 
     
ReporterConnection.com

PRLeads.com is a similar fee-based service that sifts through the journalist queries for you and gives you only those that pertain to your area of expertise. 

Now that you know where to look, grab your pan, and go find some gold!  And when you get publicity, please share it with me.  I’m always looking for success stories for “The Publicity Hound’s tips of the Week,” my weekly ezine, and this blog.

Syndicated columnists can be valuable connections for a publicity campaign because they have such a far reach.

To find them, you can do your homework, consult media directories and search online for columnists who cover your topic.

But don’t forget about the free and fee-based services that can feed you leads several times a day on exactly what types of sources columnists and other journalists, broadcasters and bloggers are seeking.

For instance, today’s feed from Reporter Connection, includes two leads for these columnists:

• Workplace columnist Mildred Culp is seeking job-related questions from job-hunters who can’t get hired.
• Syndicated columnist Lisa McLeod wants to know: are women being hobbled by their wardrobes? She’s looking for shoes and bags that give you an edge without killing your feet, neck, knees and back. “These will be road-tested at an upcoming women’s conference, and we will include images and links to websites when we run the article. We’ll only report on the ones that worked.” Her column is printed in 10 daily newspapers, the Huffington Post, and several top business women’s sites.

If you’re not subscribing to these free leads services, including PitchRate.com and  Help a Reporter Out, start.

PR Leads, a fee-based service, is a great time-saver because it delivers only leads in your area of expertise. ProfNet, the granddaddy of leads services, is a much pricier alternative that delivers several feeds per day.

(Shutterstock photo)

If you’re a guest expert, or a PR person who represents an expert, and you’re looking for radio talk shows and podcasts that need guests, don’t pitch only the big shows.

Many of them are difficult to book, and you might be far better off trying to get onto shows that reach niched audiences.

Check out RadioGuestList.com.  You can use this site several ways.
       
      

How to be on a show

Experts, authors and PR firms searching for the right shows can sign up here. Whenever a talk show is looking for guests, RadioGuestList will notify you.
  
     
How to find guests for your show

If you’re a radio show booker, podcaster, talk radio host or TV producer who needs guests, submit your talk show booking opportunities here. RadioGuesetList will email its list of guest experts, authors and PR firms so that experts who are a good fit for your show can email you directly.
     
    
How to see which shows are available 

On the homepage, you can see a list of categories on the right side. I clicked on a few of them and saw lots of opportunities for authors, musicians, small business people and Internet marketers to appear as guests. If you have an area of expertise, you’ll find something here that’s a good fit.

The site is maintained by Scott Fox, an author and Internet marketer. Check out his 10 tips on how to use social networking to market your product or service. You can also follow RadioGuestList on Twitter.

Never done a radio interview before? George McKenzie, a former radio talk show host, offered tips galore when I interviewed him about how to get onto drive-time radio shows and ace the interview so that the host invites you back.

Have you used RadioGuestList.com? Share your success stories here.

If you sell a consumer product or service that would make a great gift for the holidays, this is the perfect time to take advantage of a 25 percent discount to The Gift List, a subscription service that provides pitching tips and contact information for hundreds of media outlets that are planning special gift coverage.  

“This year more than ever, we’ve seen later deadlines at some very large national outlets,” says Amy Bates Stumpf. “And if you haven’t already noticed, the short leads for print outlets, including weekly national publications like People and US Weekly, regional publications, weekly and daily newspapers, are starting to show up online as we talk to editors about their upcoming plans for the holidays.”

Her media lists deliver contacts for national and regional magazines, the top 250 daily newspapers, news wires and syndicates, national television, and national radio, as well as a list for websites and blogs.

Amy says it’s still early for some newspapers and regional publications, which is why you’ll see additions to the list throughout the end of October.  “We’ve also started hearing from our broadcast outlets and will continue to load these as they make the decisions for holiday content.”

She’s offering the discouint for either the Print & Broadcast list or the Web & Blog list because Publicity Hounds might feel like they’ve missed out on the call for early pitches.

If you have advice, opinions, story ideas or a question related to small business for BusinessWeek.com, a high-traffic destination for anyone looking for business tips, check out their frequently asked questions.

It includes tips on how to contact Karen Klein,  who writes the Smart Answers column, and has a weekly podcast series.  I suggest you contact Karen and offer yourself as a source.  Let her know your area of expertise.

Karen, by the way, interviewed me yesterday to get my best tips on how a start-up small business can promote their new health product. The column should be posted today or tomorrow.

You can also check the FAQ page for tips on how to submit a Viewpoint column to Small Biz Channel editor Nick Leiber.    

Here are some ideas you can pitch:

• How small businesses can save money during this bad economy.
      
• Opportunities to use Facebook and other social media sites to sell a product or service. How are you using your Fan Pages, for example,  to promote and sell? Are you offering coupons or freebies?  
     
•  Tips and tricks on how to save time and money managing any aspect of a small business.
           
• How to find and keep great employees.

When pitching ideas and Viewpoint columns, remember that you should never overtly promote your pr0duct or service. If you can provide helpful tips and advice, BusinessWeek will be more open to your pitch.

If you’re a man 60 or older and your career is taking on a striking new dimension, from a career change to national recognition, here’s a chance for some super publicity.

Mildred Culp, who writes Workwise, a syndicated column, might want to interview you for a column. These people are disqualified:

• Women (already represented)
• Business owners or other self-employed workers
• Men in education

She’d like public relations, advertising and marketing firms to promote their clients.

WorkWise is syndicated to national media, uncovering emerging trends in the workplace. Its papers range from The Miami Herald, a major daily, to Four Corners Business Journal in Farmington, N.M.