The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

• Discovery World Museum is giving prizes to math wizards and Einsteins who can recite from memory the most digits of pi.  
      
• Each year, Whole Foods Market in Milwaukee gives away free slices of apple, cherry or blueberry pie, starting at 3:14 p.m. It also sells pies for $3.14.

Your business doesn’t have to be tied to food, or math, in order for you to generate a little publicity from Pi Day.  What can you sell for $3.14?  Or what challenge can you issue to your customers that ties into the numbers 3, 1 and 4?

Posted In: Business Promotion, Holidays, Newspaper Publicity, TV Publicity
posted On: 3/14/2010: 10:07 am: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

If you’re a publicist or PR pro and write press releases for your clients, you’re making a big mistake if you let your clients determine exactly what the final version of a press release will say—particularly if that release is being sent to the traditional media.

Of course, they should read it for accuracy and suggest changes. And clients should always approve the final version of a release.

But problems start brewing the minute you let them insert information that has no business being there, and then fail to call them on it.

Beware control freaks and ego maniacs

Clients who are control freaks love to boss around their PR people and insert their own language into press releases. Ego maniacs demand you include puffery and other B.S. quotes so they look important. And then there’s the client who took a high school journalism course and thinks he knows everything about how to write a press release.

Sadly, they don’t understand the damage they’re inflicting on themselves by forcing you to make changes that you know are just plain bad.

I’ve heard this complaint dozens of times and it popped up again this week in my email:

“I have a small, marketing and PR business here in New York.  Sometimes I create press releases for businesses, and many of them have been published by a newspaper that has millions of readers.

“I give my client one proof for minor changes. The problem is that a lot of them are not very educated. So sometimes they ask for changes that do not make any sense, or they ask me to change everything.  Then, I walk away because if they want too many changes, they don’t need me. They can do it themselves.

“Is there a better way that I am not aware ?”

Yes.

Get it in writing

Deal with that problem before you take on a new client, not after.

Your proposal or simple one-page letter of agreement should specify that you won’t submit submit press releases or materials to the media that will embarrass you or the client.  When I worked as an editor, I’d occasionally get a call from a PR person who would say,  “I know this press release is awful, but my client wants me to send it to you.”

They didn’t want to anger the client. But they never thought twice about angering me. I’d make a mental note that that PR person was a pain in the neck and that the client wasn’t worth covering.

When I left the newspaper business and did PR, including writing press releases, for my own clients, I’d tell clients that part of my job was to also keep them out of trouble with the media.

“If I send this release, it will mean trouble for you,” I’d tell them, being careful to use the word “you.” My words carried a little more weight because I worked as a newspaper editor for two decades. If they disagreed, I stood firm.

Don’t put your reputation on the line by letting clients have the upper hand. You’re better off walking way from a project, like the writer above did, and leaving $200 on the table than damaging your good name and submitting something that you know reflects poorly on you, particularly if your name is on the press release or if you’re the key media contact. (See 24 Ways to Add Clients to Your PR Practice.)

The same goes for crappy pitches. I can’t count the number of times PR people pitched horrible stories that they knew were bad, but they placed “being obedient” above being smart.

Press releases for consumers

Press releases written specifically to reach consumers online are somewhat different.

If you aren’t sending those releases to the media, the risk of letting clients determine what goes and what stays isn’t as great. Just remember that if reporters and editors find the release and want to write about it, and the writing sounds contrived or overly promotional, that could be a turn-off.

If you’re a PR person and you’ve run into this problem, how have you handled it?  If you work for multiple bosses who must “sign off” on your press releases, what’s the best way to avoid management-by-committee problems? Share your ideas here.

If you need press releases written or distributed and you’re looking for good vendors, check the publicity resources page at my website.

Posted In: Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases
posted On: 2/9/2010: 11:30 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Several readers wrote to say they loved the item in last week’s ezine regarding the Newspaper Map of the World, the interactive  map at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. that shows headlines in today’s newspapers in hundreds of countries.

When you place your cursor on a particular city, you’ll see headlines for today’s newspaper. If you double-click on the dot, the page gets larger. I was in a hurry when I wrote that item.

But since then, I’ve been thinking about ways to use the map, particularly for people seeking publicity:

1. In place of an expensive media directory. It won’t come close to giving you you all the information a media directory will, but it’s a good place to start if all you need to know is the name of a newspaper in a certain city.
          
2. If you’re traveling to a particular city—for a speaking engagement or book tour, for instance—and you’d love to do an interview with the local newspaper when you get there, you can stay abreast of the news weeks before you arrive.
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3. The map will also help you find local reporters who are covering the major stories of the day. Once you know who covers what, you can read their articles before you pitch them and perhaps tie something they’ve written previously into your pitch. (You can also probably find more in-depth information on who covers what at the newspapers’ websites, particularly for larger newspapers.)
         
4. You can follow the Newseum on Facebook and learn quickly whether major newspapers ran stories of certain breaking news events on their front pages.
       
5. You can refer to it if you’re job-hunting, willing to relocate, and you want a job at a newspaper. (Are any of those people left these days?) 

OK, I thought I could come up with six ways to use the map, but I’m all out of ideas. The sixth one is yours.

How would you use this Map of the World?

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media
posted On: 2/1/2010: 6:08 pm: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Jill Starishevsky of New York, NY writes:

“I am a prosecutor of child abuse and sex crimes in New York City.  I wrote a children’s book called My Body Belongs to Me to teach children that if someone touches them inappropriately, they should tell a parent or teacher right away. 

“In a non-threatening, engaging manner, this guide establishes boundaries and teaches kids that when it comes to their body, there are some parts that are for ‘no one else to see’ and empowers them to tell a parent or teacher if someone touches them inappropriately. 

“Most importantly, this narrative assures young ones that sexual molestation is not their fault, and by speaking out, the child will continue to grow big and strong.  A ‘Suggestions for the Storyteller’ section is also included to help lead a comfortable discussion afterward.

“How can I promote this book in traditional and social media?”

(Read more about how to submit your own question to this blog.)

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Radio Publicity, Social media marketing, TV Publicity
posted On: 1/26/2010: 1:04 pm: By Joan
Comments: 25 Comments

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.

Posted In: Blogs, Business Promotion, LinkedIn, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Nonprofits, Pitching the Media, Social networking
posted On: 1/19/2010: 8:33 am: By Joan
Comments: 8 Comments