I’m still playing around with free infographics tools and apps in preparation for my webinar tomorrow—Thursday, May 24—on How to Easily Create Free and Inexpensive Infographics.

You’d be amazed at the astonishing number of web-based tools, and reviewers, who refer to so many of these DIY graphics sites as “drop dead simple.” Not for my non-techie mind.

I abandoned Infogr.am, a site that a few reviewers were gushing over, when I tried repeatedly to load their template for a pie chart, but it kept loading something completely different.

OK, then. I chose another template and created a chart comparing the weight loss of three fictional women over a five-month period. When I got to the end of the project, about 45 minutes later, I lost all my work. Enough of that!

After doing a Google search for free infographics, I ended up at Piktochart.com and fell in love with this site! Everything is drag and drop. It’s easy to understand. The “undo” button, my best friend, is easy to locate. The only quibble I had was that I was unable to upload my logo or graphics. (Did I miss this somewhere?)

The infographic below took about two hours because I was super-picky about the fonts and colors. I chose one of their free templates rather than paying a monthly fee which would have given me a bigger selection of some gorgeous templates. I didn’t have time to research statistics to use when creating it, so I used information about my own business.

Also check out the other infographic I created earlier this week about 3 Questions Bloggers & Journalists Love using Easel.ly. If you want more time-saving tips about what to do, and not do, when you use these sites, register for Thursday’s infographics webinar here. I’m going to save you hours of time using these sites because I’ll tell you about all the mistakes I made. 
 

I’ve been researching a variety of free and inexpensive programs and apps that allow you make infographics you can use in a PR campaign, at your website, in marketing materials, to share on the social media sites, or just for fun.

You can learn them during the webinar on How to Easily Create Free or Inexpensive Infographics from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 24.  

If you’re on Pintereset, you’re probably noticing all the really cool infographics, from the big, fancy ones that cost several thousand dollars to the sticky notes that include pithy sayings and quotes. 

I used Pinwords to quickly create this image of two of my favorite dog sayings:

I used Wordle.net to create this word cloud, based on words that appear at this blog:

You can use wordles in your marketing materials, at your blog, as part of a contest, or in many other ways that I’ll explain on Thursday.

A  few weeks ago, I showed you a cool graphic I created in less than 15 minutes at Visual.ly that compared my Twitter profile with Oprah’s. 

These are three of the easiest ones I’ve created. I’ll show you more, including bar charts, pie charts, flow charts and others during Thursday’s webinar. If the time is inconvenient for you, register anyway because I’m recording it, and you can access the replay, the MP3 and the PowerPoint slides I used. 

Have you created your own infographics? If so, email me with the links and explain what tool you used. I might include them in my webinar. Or, comment here and let me know if you’ve heard about any infographics programs that others have recommended to you.

Are you as fascinated with infographics as I am?

They’re everywhere these days, and you can’t spend much time on Twitter, or surfing the web, without stumbling across one.

Create your own at Visual.ly, a start-up that allows anyone to quickly and easily create professional quality designs with their own data. When you’re ready to show your work to the world, publish it on your Visual.ly profile, your own personal showcase. Here’s what Mashable says about the site.    
 
 
The Publicity Hound vs. Oprah

I don’t have any data at my fingertips that I’d like to use as the basis for an infographic, so I created an account and then chose one of their templates that lets me compare my Twitter stats with those of a celebrity. I chose Oprah, and told Visual.ly I want a “Faceoff.” I let Visual.ly access my Twitter account, and then chose my hairstyle, hair color, eye color and skin color. Just a few clicks of the mouse and—voila!—you can see how we compare (I’m definitely NOT a rocker, and if only I were that skinny!).

Go ahead. Create your own Faceoff with your favorite celebrity or Twitter friend and share the bit.ly link below so we can see how you compare. Or, choose “What Kind of Facebook Monster Are You? Create a Custom Monster from Your Facebook Stats.” This site has at least one bug. I tried comparing my Twitter stats with those of Martha Stewart, and she appeared as a man.

What do you think of Visual.ly? Do you know of similar sites that let you create infographics this easily? If so, have you used them in a PR or publicity campaign? Don’t forget to share your bit.ly link below.

If you like this tip about Visual.ly, sign up for my free ezine in the box at right. Publicity, PR and marketing tips every Tuesday and Saturday.

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

B2B marketers devote 26% of their budget to content marketing. [Infographic] http://ow.ly/9DnP2

Facebook’s latest news, announcements and media resources – Announcements – Introducing Interest Lists – Facebook http://ow.ly/9Ehxj

Pinterest = digital crack for women. (Hooked yet?) Lots of opportunities to pull traffic. http://ow.ly/9saIt

LinkedIn is better than Facebook (for identity thieves looking for rich victims). http://ow.ly/9uoJu

4 Tips for Creating Your LinkedIn Company Page | Social Media Examiner. http://ow.ly/9upsl

Drive new traffic to your old blog posts using Pinterest. Here’s how I’m doing it: http://ow.ly/9FBWw 

Send your Pinterest followers to your YouTube videos, free articles page & old blog posts. Neat example: http://ow.ly/9FC47

Blogs Trump Facebook for Trust and Spending. http://ow.ly/9FCb4

Making Headlines Shine (and Getting Your PR Releases Read!) | Bulldog Reporter. http://ow.ly/9FCx1

5 ways to handle negative Facebook comments. http://ow.ly/9FROH

Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak calls Pinterest, the wildly popular social media tool, “digital crack for women.”

 She’s addicted to it.  So are millions of other women.  (The guys are finally catching on.)  

And it’s time for Publicity Hounds everywhere to use this site to pull traffic.  Pinterest, a digital pinboard that lets you “pin” photos and videos, has reached the 10-million-user mark faster than any other social media site.  

Best part is, you don’t have to spend a ton of time on it.  Just “pin” photos you love.  But understand that this site is more than just stunning images of cupcakes and wedding dresses.  

If you’re smart, you can use it to pull traffic back to your website or blog.  

The photo of the green candy necklace, shown above, leads back to the website of Kinser Event Company which, presumably, will help you host a creative party for your child. 

Look at this colorful board called “Give Books” created by a book publishing company. 

Those are just two of the many examples I’ll be sharing when I host the webinar “How to Use Pinterest to Generate Clicks, Traffic, Links, Leads and Sales” at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 15.  

Can’t attend?  Register anyway and you’ll get the replay and my handy checklist that you can print and keep nearby so you don’t miss a step as you’re getting your account set up.  Register here.

This guest post was written by Julie Anne Herrin, a self-described social media and marketing junkie who ferrets out the latest and greatest in mobile, traditional and social media. She works in marketing and public relations for Zimbio and StyleBistro. You can find her at her blog at CapturingtheCustomer.com and on Twitter at @JulieAnneHerrin.

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By Julie Anne Herrin

Videos and mobile may be this month’s media darlings. But plain and simple, beautiful photography is what is moving the needle online.

Need some proof? Tumblr, Pinterest, StyleBistro, Houzz, Zimbio and The Fancy are where users are flocking and where VC dollars are flowing.

Want traffic and your name isn’t YouTube? You need photos.
   
   

Tumblr is a prime example of the public’s love of photos, and lots of them.

According to their dashboard, they are currently hosting over 46 million blogs, which collectively have more than 18.5 billion posts. They also share that half of posts are photos, which equates to 9.3 billion photographs or approximately 1.28 photos for every single person on the planet. Pretty impressive, right?

What is even more impressive is that even though they have been around since 2007, between 2011 and 2012, they saw a 218 percent  increase in the number of unique visitors, not an easy feat when you already have so many users.
 

Then there is everyone’s current favorite, Pinterest.

Having reached more than 10 million uniques-a-month faster than any other stand-alone site in history, beautiful imagery rules the scene at this 12-person start-up whose mantra is “Organize what you love.” While the site does enable video uploads, there are currently few videos compared to the number of photographs.

Raising $27 million in October 2011, and with a widely accepted valuation of $200 million, this invitation-only site goes to show that a picture is worth not just a thousand words but also a whole lot of money too.
 

 
Zimbio, Inc., parent company of both StyleBistro  and Zimbio, boasts one of the largest professional photo libraries on the web with over 7 million images.

ComScore listed StyleBistro as one of the fastest growing sites of 2011 and people can’t seem to get enough. Over 16 million people (U.S.) visited the sites in January 2012 (Quantcast). Photography is far and away the content that people interact with, comment on, pin, email and Like. For example, of the more that 188 million page views on StyleBistro in January, over 70 percent of them were of photos.

Yes, there are videos on the sites but photography is what drives the traffic, page views and time on site.
 

Houzz, the Bay Area based home design site that has taken the web by storm, quickly amassed a library of over 330,000 images uploaded by design professionals and users alike.

The professional photography uploaded by designers and architects is what is really grabbing every one’s attention. The photography is, in large part, beautiful and allows everyone to ditch their magazine tear-sheets by creating Ideabooks—a method of collecting their favorite images from the site. Currently the site is video-free reinforcing the concept that it isn’t video that drives traffic.

The Fancy is absolutely the most star-studded start-up of the group, and while on the radar of those in the know, has yet to break out into the mainstream like the other companies listed above.

It has $18 million in funding. Twitter and FourSquare  founder Jack Dorsey sits on the board. Angel investors include Ashton Kutcher, and supportive tweets come from Kanye West. So we don’t anticipate it being long before The Fancy, which is focusing heavily on monetization strategies, does so. The site is based entirely on beautiful product images. Along with Pinterest, which is now driving more traffic to etsy.com than any other source, The Fancy is going to force manufacturers to up the ante and budget when it comes to product photography.

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From The Publicity Hound: Now that know where to find dazzling photos, learn how to use them on Pinterest. Join me at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 15, for “How to Use Pinterest  Generate Clicks, Traffic, Links, Leads and Sales.”   

At the winter farmer’s market in my town, I ran into my local editor for Patch.com, the uber-local website that’s giving Publicity Hounds yet another outlet for their press releases, photos and local news.

Lyssa Beyer and Matt Schroeder, her associate regional editor, were stopping shoppers and asking if they knew about Patch, which operrates in 22 states in the U.S. and the District of Columbia. Two weeks earlier, I had pitched a story about my local garden club to Beyer, and she said yes. They’re interviewing one of our members this week. So this was a good chance to meet her in person.

Here are her tips on how to use Patch:
  
 
1. Share your blog posts.

If you have your own blog, or even if  you don’t, you can register to be a blogger at your local Patch site. Go to Patch.com, click on the state where live, and then the Patch community where you want your blog to appear. Scroll down and look for the “Want to Blog on Patch?” button in the middle column. Introduce yourself, tell the editor a little about your blog, and wait for instructions.

You can share all your posts, or some of them. I recommend you tweak your posts to give them a local angle.  

Your post won’t appear until the local editor approves it. Patch welcomes moderated comments at all blogs. So check back periodically to continue the conversation if people comment on your posts.

Local nonprofits, this is a great opportunity for you, too!
   
  
2. Pitch news and feature stories to your local editor. 

Beyer responded to my pitch within 48 hours. Remember, local news is their bread and butter, so don’t be shy. 

When you pitch, let the editor know if you can offer contact information for other sources, or photos and graphics.
   
  
3.  Invite your local editor for coffee.

Beyer says she meets regularly with people in the community, usually at local coffee shops.  This is a great chance to start building the relatonship. Invite your local editor for coffee even if you don’t have  a story to pitch. See 18 ways to schmooze with reporters and Magic phrases to use with the media.
   
  
4.  Claim your free listing for businesses and organizations.

Patch includes a free directory of local businesses and organizations. Listings include details such as hours, payments and more, tools for owners, original photos, a description, and customer feedback.  If you’re squeamish about people reviewing your business, get over it. They’re probably already talking about you somewhere online. Read about 11 ways to use Yelp to respond to bad reviews. Much of that applies to Patch, too.   

5. Post your event on the calendar.

One of the reasons I love Patch is because readers can sign up for daily email alerts. When I get mine, I usually drop what I’m doing and head on over to Patch to see what’s happening in my community.
   
  
6.  Share your photos and videos.

The Gallery section is a great place to upload photos or videos that promote an upcoming event, or photos or videos you took at an event.  Remember, stand-alone photos and videos are welcome. You don’t necessarily have to have a big news story.
   
  
7. Write an announcement.

Just married? New baby? Make the honor roll? Spread the word in an announcement. This is for personal news only, not promoting your business. 
  
  
Those are my tips for using Patch. What are yours? If you’re using Patch, what kinds of results have you seen? More people attending your events? More people saying, “I saw you on Patch”?

Chris Stephenson of Madrid, Spain, asks:

“I’d really like to use Flickr to host a competition. I’d ask people to submit photos of a variety of airports, highways, bridges and all types of buildings that the company I work for has or is currently managing or constructing.

“Potentially, I could offer a prize of photo equipment to attract interest.  It’s unclear whether Flickr would perceive this as  commercial use because I don’t plan to sell anything, but rather, generate community and interest in the company. 

“I’m also looking for any other suggestions your Publicity Hounds might offer on how to promote this.”

If your online pressroom looks anything like mine did about two hours ago, it’s time to drag out the dust mask, the Shop-Vac® and maybe even a garbage dumpster.

I found so much outdated information and ancient publicity photos in the pressrooms at my website and at the PressRoom247 site that I almost didn’t recognize myself! And then it dawned on me that the current photo at this blog is about a decade old. That, too, is being replaced. 

Here’s a list of some of things to look for in you rown pressroom, including some not-so-obvious things that might escape your attention. 
     
     
Old Photos

I trashed most of my 10-year-old photos and replaced them with the 2010 versions. All the old ones will disappear when my website eventually moves over to this blog in a few months. I’ll do a wholesale cleaning after the transition. But for now, at least the really old  content is gone.

You may love that photo of yourself taken 15 years ago sans the baggy eyes and gray hair. But trying to pass yourself off as somebody who looks a lot younger than you do now is disengenuous. Besides, it makes people who know you and see the old photos wonder, “If his photos are that outdated, I wonder what else at his website is out of date?” (Please contact me if you find old photos of me at my website.)
     
     
Old Addresses, Phone Numbers and Fax Numbers

I found one old address, and a fax number that was disconnected two years ago. Try typing an old phone number or address into Google and see what comes up in the search results. If the old number is at your own website, update it!
     
    
Email Addresses

Scour your site, not just your pressroom, for any old email addresses that need to be removed.
     
     
Awards and Other Bragging Rights

Does your profile include an industry award you received recently? What about that major publicity hit from a few months ago? Have you mentioned it and linked to the article or the broadcast clip?

Does your bio mention the new books you’ve published? If not, add them. 
     
    
Out-of-date Products & New Product Sites

I found several references to products I’ve pulled from my inventory. 

If you’re an artist, you might have started selling products at sites like Etsy. If you write, you might sell ebooks for the Kindle at Amazon.com, or for the Nook at BarnesandNoble.com. There’s nothing wrong with linking to those sites.

   
Logos, Taglines and Other Branding
  
If you’ve introduced new elements like a logo or tagline to your marketing, make sure they’re part of the pressroom. Nothing would be more embarrassing than to be featured in a two-page spread in a magazine, with your old logo right there at the top of the page. 

Journalists don’t always take time to double-check these things. Smart Publicity Hounds do.
    
    
Links to Social Media Profiles 

Let people know where they can follow you on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Quora. Do you have photos and slideshows at Flickr? 

Have you created Squidoo lenses or HubPages? And don’t forget the link to your Google profile. 
     
    
Your Ezine and Blog

Remember that journalists and others might be entering your website from your pressroom, not necessarily from your homepage. If so, will they know that you blog and that they can subscribe to the RSS feed?

Will they know that they can subscribe to your ezine? I need to add a sign-up box for my ezine to my pressroom. What a great way to stay in touch with journalists!
     
    
Other Free Content

Do  you have a podcast or online radio show? Have you written articles for sites like EzineArticles.com? 

I’m even thinking of adding a section where visitors can find several guest posts I’ve written at other blogs, including this one on 17 Freebies  That Build Thought Leadership, one of the Top 10 posts at The Distributed Marketing Blog.
     
    
What Have I Missed?

Go ahead. Inspect your own pressroom right now and comment below on what you’ve found that’s outdated. Or let us know what you’ve added.