The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Here’s another great resource for Publicity Hounds who need to outsource work to freelancers.

Consult the Society of Professional Journalists’ online freelancer directory, a listing of more than 600 members. You can search by state or specialty. Members include writers, photographers and graphic artists.

The trade group also has a new “Editor of the Moment” feature on its freelancer blog, The Independent Journalist, that connects editors and journalists.

During the teleseminar I hosted on Outsourcing Secrets: How to Find the Best Quality, Price & Teamwork from Freelancers, Leili McKinley mentioned several online services like Elance.com and Guru.com. I’ve used Elance.com several times and have found great writers and a few clunkers.

If you have a project that requires research or reporting, and you want journalists who speak English as a first lanuage, SPJ’s freelance directory is a great resource. SPJ members also agree to abide by the society’s Code of Ethics.

Posted In: General, Photos & Graphics, Publicity Resources, Writing Articles
posted On: 10/5/2008: 10:00 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

If you’re strapped for cash and can’t afford a professional photographer, and you need a photo because you want to promote something on Facebook or another social networking site, what’s the next best alternative?

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal offers tips from three professional photographers on how to capture the right image. Each has a Facebook page.

From Jessica Kaminski, owner of J. Kaminski Photography:

If you’re taking your own photo, “Hold the hand with the camera higher than normal so you don’t get a double chin in the photo.”

From Kristyna Wentz-Graff, staff photographer at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who offers this tip if you’re shooting your own photo outdoors:

“Use the early-morning hours before 10 a.m. or early evening hours such as 4, 5 or 6 when the light is most flattering and there’s a beautiful glow in the sky.” The noon sun, she says, will cast shadows that give you raccoon eyes and an elongated nose.

From Janet McMillan, owner, Janet McMillan Photography:

“For me, the best photos are when you can capture something that’s not necessarily so posed, like a true moment.”

For her own photo and a casual, informal look, she used a Holga camera, a toy camera with a plastic lens that takes larger-format film.

The article also offered a great reminder for those of you who want to promote on LinkedIn but don’t want to use a personal photo. Don’t hide behind a corporate logo because the site doesn’t allow copyrighted material.

Posted In: Facebook, LinkedIn, Photos & Graphics, Social networking
posted On: 9/30/2008: 2:07 am: By Joan
Comments: 3 Comments

If you sell freelance articles to newspapers or magazines and you’d like to make a little extra money selling accompanying photos, but you’re a lousy photographer, this is your lucky day.

I just got off the phone with Linda Martin, production coordinator for Shotgun Sports Magazine, who told me that she had a frustrating day today, looking at one crummy photo after another to accompany an article for the next issue.

“So, out of frustration, I wrote some tips on how to take photos with a digital camera,” she said.

Here are her tips, which are specifically for photographers shooting for her magazine. But they’re just as applicable to photographers who want to sell photos to any newspaper or magazine. Her advice is similar to what you’ll find in my ebook “How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your Publicity Campaign.”

1. Fewer Dead Things

Of course, we all know the purpose of hunting is to kill your prey so you can eat or display it. That’s a given. But most readers want to see the beauty of the hunt, the scenery, the details of your ammo and gun and the little tricks you use to make your hunt more successful. Keep the “blood & guts” to a minimum and go for “less is more.”

Get a gun, some people or some colorful scenery into the picture with your harvest if you can. Include photos of the guns, ammo and other equipment, which are as important (or more) than the birds or bucks. Unless you are showing how to identify the species, it usually isn’t necessary to show a lot of the quarry (although, one great “beauty” shot as a possible lead is always nice…)

2. Be Sharp

The most beautiful shot in the world won’t look good in the magazine if it is blurry. If you can’t hold the camera steady, use a tripod or sandbag or get a cable release so you can do it “remote control” or maybe get one of the digital cameras that has the “no jiggle” feature. Everything looks sharp on the tiny LCD screen on your digital camera—at that small size, just about everything looks in focus—but use the “zoom” button on your digital camera to close in on the photo and you will see if it really is a sharp as you thought. If not, try, try again. You can also try using “continuous shooting” mode, where the camera takes a burst of photos at one time. That way, one might just be perfectly in focus

3. Get Up Close & Personal

You may have a great shot of your friend shooting the target, but if you are standing too far away, even with a zoom lens, the photo may not blow up big enough to show the great detail. Get as close as you safely can and then use the zoom, with the camera set on a high resolution, so there is plenty of detail and flexibility for the graphic artist to work with. Use macro mode or a macro lens to show details. In most cases, you need to get closer to the subject than you think you should.

4. Take a Different View

There is not just one way to look at a gun, bird, choke, shooter, whatever. Try taking shots from different angles to get a different perspective. Graphic artists need good “lead” photos to draw readers into a story, and one with a little different look to it often works well. If your camera has a “macro” lens, use it to get great shots of details. Readers get tired of seeing the “same old, same old” when it comes to photos, so give them something different (along with some traditional shots, too, of course.)

5. Move With the Light

If you have the opportunity, watch the area where you want to take your photos, inside or out, and see what time of day provides the best lighting situation, and take your photos then. It can make a huge difference in the results. Generally, dawn and dusk provide the warmest light and softest shadows. You can “cheat” on the light a little by using something like a frosted white shower curtain to provide some nice diffused light. You can also use your cap to reduce lens flares—just position it where the sun is positioned and look through your lens to get the light you want. If you think you can’t take good photos during bad-weather months, you’re wrong. Right after a storm, you often get great light; right before a storm, you often get great skies and clouds.

6. Location, Location, Location

Realtors say this all the time, but it’s true with photos, too. Often we get so caught up in getting a photo of the “thing,” we forget to look at what’s behind and around the thing. If you have to shoot with a bad background, take a high-resolution photo that can be blown up and cropped (before you send it in) to show only the good part. When shooting things like guns and gun parts, think about the background before you take the shot. Find a neutral background (or put one down) where there is good light. You don’t want the background to compete with or distract from the important part. Make sure the surface is clean. When the graphic artist zooms in to use the photo, all the dust and dirt shows up big time! Use your hands to “frame” the shot ahead of time so you can see what might be cluttering up your photo.

7. Relate to the Subject

To get great animal shots, aim at their eyes. If the eyes aren’t in focus, the rest of the photo won’t be too great, either. To get great shooting shots, anticipate. When you know what’s coming up (a great shot, a hard shot, whatever), get in position before it happens and set your camera, focus, lighting, etc. up, then wait for just the right moment and take your shot (or a burst of shots). If you want to show the size of something, include a person or something that everyone can relate to.

8. Be Your Own Worst Critic

Take a good, honest look at the photos you have taken and say to yourself “Is that really a good photo?” Compare it to photos in magazines that you like. You don’t have to take photos like a pro, but you should be able to say honestly to yourself “That’s a nice shot, and it shows exactly what I was trying to show.” If not, go back to the drawing board, or the photography location. You’ll be glad when you see your story in print accompanied by the great photos you took.

9. Invest in Good Stuff

Just like you invested in a good computer and printer to produce your manuscripts, invest in a good camera you find comfortable to use and spend some time learning to use it. The results will be as satisfying as using spell check and cut-and-paste to produce those blazingly hot, right-on-the-money bits of prose you are so proud of. Get a book on photography, take a class, invest in some “tricks of the trade” (like shades and boxes to help provide the right light, some background cloths, etc.) and talk to others about how they figured out to get good photos with their not-so-expensive digital camera. If your photos are at least as good as your writing, they will help sell the story to the editor and the readers.

OK, writers. Follow those tips, and you’ll be on your way to making your articles more attractive to editors by providing good-quality photos that makes the editors’ job that much easier.

Posted In: Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Photos & Graphics
posted On: 9/26/2008: 10:33 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

In yesterday’s ezine, The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week, I wrote about how Publicity Hounds should rely on weekly newspapers more than ever, now that several dailies are eliminating their zoned editions because of mounting financial pressures.

It wasn’t until today that I remembered a fabulous article in the May/June 2000 issue of The Publicity Hound, my now-defunct print newsletter. Lovelace Lee III, a publicist from Los Angeles, wrote “Don’t Forget the Weeklies,” and explained how he relied on Black weekly newspapers as part of a national publicity campaign for one of his clients.

I’m reprinting the column here becauase it’s a great example of the power of not only mainstream weeklies, but special-interest weeklies. Those include ethnic, religious, educational, business, industry-specific and topic-specific newspapers. Here’s Lovelace’s article, in full:

Don’t Forget the Weeklies

By Lovelace Lee III

God bless the weekly newspaper! You can’t beat it for community news. I’ve used the weeklies to create affordable national publicity campaigns for my clients. And so can you.

In 1991, a young, Black honor student named LaTasha Harlins was killed in a scuffle with a Korean merchant in South Central Los Angeles. With the right spin, Black weeklies treated the update—a year later—as news.

My client was the now-defunct LaTasha Harlins Justice Committee. They needed to raise funds for a community center to be named after the slain teen.

Research of 10 major cities showed that most blacks really didn’t know the details of the LaTasha Harlins murder and editors of the weeklies were still curious. In 1992, I created the LaTasha Was Murdered Campaign to be released to Black weeklies across America.

I began the campaign with personal phone calls to editors of Black weeklies in 25 cities. I told them what I had and why it was important to their readers. The following week, I sent a release package that included a personal letter to the editor, a four-page news story, a black and white photo of campaign spokesperson and rapper Hot Shot wearing the “LaTasha Was Murdered” T-shirt and a page of Hot Shot’s quotes to support the article.

At the end of the release, I asked that editors send me two uncut, full-page tearsheets of the story as it appeared in their newsppaer. And for their support, I promised to send them their very own T-shirt. Of course, they were the first in their cities to have this coveted T-shirt. Crazy, huh?

Not really. Remember, I had already talked with these editors at my expense—a relationship had been established.

Within 10 days of the mailing, tearsheets started arriving from black weeklies all over the country. The campaign reaped press from 35 black weeklies, ADWEEK, two loal TV stations and Players, the international black men’s magazine. A hot rap group decided to assume fund-raising responsibilities for the community center and one of the members even wore the T-shirt in a music video.

Don’t forget the weeklies. A little time spent cultivating a relationship can be good for you and your business or your favorite cause.

Lovelace Lee III is a public relations veteran with over 20 years experience. He’s a screenwriter and author of the soon-to-be published book 501 Things Every black Person Should Know for a Richer & Fuller Life. He lives in Los Angeles He can be reached at robertlucycreative@yahoo.com or 310-743-2855.

While you’re at it, don’t forget your local shoppers, those newspapers usually crammed with ads, that usually show up once a week. If they need editorial to fill it, make sure they have an article or photo from you.

Posted In: Media Kits, Newspaper Publicity, Photos & Graphics, Pitching the Media, Publicity for Niche Markets
posted On: 9/24/2008: 10:57 pm: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

Perez Hilton,  the Hollywood gossip blogger named the #1 most influential “web celeb” by Forbes.com, tells Martha Stewart his top three secrets for creating a profitable blog.

He blogs several times a day and gets an astounding 9 million visitors to his blog each day. Advertising at the site has made him a millionaire, although he won’t tell Martha exactly how much it rakes in. 

His advice for success?

1. Find a niche (”Ya gotta get a gimmick.”)

2. Find ways to make your blog different. His signature ”white chalk” drawings, sometimes humorous and often crude, appear frequently on top of photos of celebrities that accompany his posts.

3. Be prepared to work hard. He works on his blog 14 to 16 hours a day, Sunday through Thursday. Watch the interview here:

This blog, by the way, is a great place to search for the hottest celebrity news. See (Special Report #50: How to Piggyback onto Celebrity News to Promote Your Product, Service, Cause or Issue.”)

Posted In: Advertising, Blogs, Celebrity tie-ins, Photos & Graphics, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 9/18/2008: 12:16 pm: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment