• 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?

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.

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?

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.)

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.

Jeanne Krieg of Savage, Minnesota writes:

“DryMate is a manufacturer in Minnesota with a line of absorbent and washable mats for home, pets, autos, hunting, garage and outdoors.  We even sell a mat that goes under your Christmas tree stand to catch spills, dirt etc.

“Since our product is made from a fabric with a bonded backing, do we want to reach textile editors of publications? Or category-specific editors? Or both? To whom do we send pitches and press releases?

“And can your Hounds suggest ideas on how we can pitch our product to either consumer or industry publications?

Gabrielle Yetter of  Marblehead, MA, writes:

“I recently launched my new company and produce The Screaming Pillow which is a pillow you scream into when you need to let off steam.

“It came about after my sister and her baby were killed in a car crash many years ago and my mother was counseled by a bereavement therapist to scream into a pillow.

“The product is more of a novelty item and I’m selling it through my website because it isn’t cost-effective to sell retail.  I have been doing a huge amount of online promotion and recently had a nice article written about me in our local paper which resulted in a decent number of sales.

“But I’m looking for creative ways to get the message out to broader audiences.  I’ve made contact with a few therapists who love it and I have lots of ideas, but am somewhat limited since I am a company of one.

“I’d love some ideas from your Hounds about how I might be able to reach more targeted audiences and ways in which I may be able to get press other than just in our local paper.”

A sampling of comments will be included in the “Help This Hound” section of next week’s issue of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week, my free ezine. If you’d like help with your own publicity or marketing, email me your “Help This Hound” question and include your name and town. I’ll consider featuring it here.

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.

Piggybacking onto hot celebrity gossip ranks right up there as one of the best ways to generate free publicity for your product, service, cause or issue.

But hurry. This story may be old news by the end of the week.

Here are the Top 10 ways to create free publicity for yourself by participating in the Tiger Woods conversation online and offline:

1. If you’re an expert in a topic that ties into this drama, pitch influential bloggers who are writing about the story. Explain your area of expertise and offer commentary.
       
2. Post comments at high-traffic blogs like Huffington Post that are discussing the story. Ditto at blogs written by journalists, like sports columnist Jason Whitlock whose post on Tiger’s Real Crime? Not Playing the Media’s Game attracted more than 500 comments in about two hours this morning. Weave into your comment information about your expertise. If appropriate, lead people back to your website where they can find tips, advice or a quiz that ties into the topic.
        
3. If you’re a divorce attorney who can talk about prenups, an ad agency executive who’s an expert on branding or celebrity endorsements, a crisis counselor or PR pro who can discuss PR 101, and even a minister who can offer tips on how to forgive, write a letter to the editor of local, regional and national publications where the stories are appearing.
         
4. Call your local TV stations and offer yourself as the local angle to this international story. Offer a list of short tips.
         
5. Create a short two-minute video offering advice on what others can learn from Tiger’s mess and upload it to YouTube and the other video-sharing sites. Tag it with keywords that people are using to search for information on the story.
         
6. Subscribe to free media leads services like HARO and PitchRate, or paid services like ProfNet and PRLeads, so you know about the types of sources journalists are seeking for their stories.
           
7. Offer to write a guest blog post about it, with tips and advice. BloggerLinkUp helps guest bloggers and bloggers who need guest posts find each other. 
       

8. Pitch clever angles to this story to drive-time radio show hosts. Example: A cell phone expert can pitch a story on “Got a dirty little secret? 5 ways to cover your tracks on your cell phone.”         

9. Write your own blog post that ties into Tiger Woods, include lots of outbound links, and then bookmark it at sites like Digg and Delicious. The “Top 10 Tips…” headline works well. I got the idea for this post while reading Tip #3 in Bryan Eisenbertg’s blog post on Top 3 Problems of Social Media.
           
10.  Do all of the above, and link to them from Twitter and Facebook.

If you’ve piggybacked off the Tiger Woods is story to generate free publicity for yourself or clients, or you’d like to add to this list, join the conversation.    

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)