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.

Publicity Hound Kate Farrall of San Diego, CA, writes:

“I need to get national/international publicity for my two muralist clients who are completing a five-story public art installation this November for the City of Davis, just outside of Sacramento. They have transformed a water tank into 360-degree kinetic art installation. You can see a short video that explains the project.

“My pitches have done well, thanks to your great advice. So far, I’ve gotten my clients a segment on our local PBS channel that will run for a year and a half, along with a few other news and print hits. The feedback on my pitches has been really good and I’ve tailored each one.

“How do I create a hook for national publications, especially art publications? Or even publications that are not so big but located elsewhere? Local has been a good hook for us so far, but that won’t work in the Midwest, New York or Europe. My clients want to be recognized as professional artists and to have a broader name recognition so they can expand where they work and the types of projects they do.

“You can read a press release about the project and see photos on Flickr.”

One of the biggest myths of press releases is that they must contain news.

That was true two decades ago when we wrote press releases primarily for journalists and we had to worry about insulting them with trivia about our business.

But now that we post them online, mostly to pull traffic to our websites, we’re free to write about whatever we wish.

Here, then, are 13 press release topics when your pockets are empty and there’s absolutely nothing newsworthy to write about. They’re excerpted from my free email course on 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases. (PR people, take the course to sharpen your press release skills. And then use the tips below when you’re scrounging for ideas to publicize your clients.)

Publicity Hounds who have a subscription to Expertclick, The Yearbook of Experts, which lets you post up to 52 press releases a year, will find these tips particularly helpful.

1.  Take a Stand on a Controversial Topic

Controversial topics can include everything from the old standbys such as abortion and gun control to local issues like proposed zoning laws.

When you’re done with the press release, generate extra publicity by writing a letter to the editor of your local or national newspaper. How to Use Newspaper & Magazine Editorial Pages shows you all the ways you can rally support for your cause or issue by using editorial pages, from writing letters to asking for a meeting with the newspaper editorial board.

2.  Write About Your Blog 

If you’ve started blogging for business, write a press release about it so people who want information on your topic can find it. Or devote the release to some of the things you mentioned in a specific post.

This blog, for example, helps people solve problems writing press releases, and I encourage people to submit questions to me. It also teaches people how to use social media sites to self-promote. I could write two press releases, or more, just telling reades about ways they can use this blog. You can, too.

Visit other bloggers who blog on the same topic, or a similar topic, and post comments at their blogs. By linking back to your blog from your comments, you will improve the page ranking of your own blog.

3. Lead Readers to Free Articles at Your Website

If you have free articles that solve people’s problems, or entertain them, say so.

Are your articles arranged by category? Are they updated monthly? Do you let the media, ezine publishers, newsletter editors and bloggers reprint them? Do you feature articles from other industry experts?

4. Tell People Where to Find You on Social Media Sites

Smart Publicity Hounds use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Quora profiles to position themselves as the go-to sources in their industries.

Do you post your photos and videos to Flickr? Do you have a YouTube channel chock full of helpful how-to videos? (Here’s mine.)

5.  Create Your Own Holiday

Create your own day, week or month of the year, or your own holiday, at Chases Calendar of Events. The listing is free. You can then use that holiday as a springboard to even more publicity.

The topic doesn’t have to be serious. In fact, the more fun, the better. I love Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day.

6. Make a Prediction

Predict something that ties into your area of expertise—or not.

Predict when gasoline prices, the stock market or interest rates will rise and fall. For fun, predict who will win the Super Bowl or when the first snowfall will occur in your area. Predict the winner of local or national elections.

7. Issue a Proclamation

Congratulate the local high school football team for winning a state title, or a local business for celebrating its 10th anniversary.

8. Write Tips That Tie into an Upcoming Holiday

Professional orgnizers can write about how to stay organized during the Christmas holidays. A child safety expert can offer tips on how to keep kids safe during fireworks season on the Fourth of July.

9.  Identify A Trend You’re Seeing in Your Business or Industry

You don’t even have to think very hard to identify a trend you’re seeing. How has your customers’ behavior changed the way you do business? What’s happening with your orders? Is your nonprofit serving more people in a particular age group or income level?

If you want to cheat, Google “Top trends in the (fill in the blank) industry” and write about one of those.

10.  Comment on Breaking News

This one’s easy. The news can tie into your business or industry—or not. If you’re an expert who welcomes interview requests for radio talk shows, say so in the release. See 6 ways to tie your pitch to breaking news for PR and publicity.

11. What Event Are You Attending?

Most people don’t think it’s a big deal if they attend a trade show or industry conference. But why not turn this into a publicity opportunity?

Write a press release telling people that you’d welcome meeting them. Encourage them to ask you questions about problems they’re facing.

12. Take a Poll or Survey

Sites like Survey Monkey make simple polling a breeze.  You can also take a poll on Facebook. Don’t forget to write a follow-up press release that reports on the results of the poll.

13. Explain How to Solve a Problem

Press releases offering tips and advice are often the very best for pulling traffic to your website. That’s becauase you can dazzle readers with your expertise, help them solve their problem, and then link to a website where they can find more information about a product or service you sell that can help them even more.

What topics do you write about when the idea well is dry?

Tools to Help You:    

How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound

Keywords: The Magic Magnets That Pull Journalists & Consumes to Your Press Releases

The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists

The Big Press Release Samples Ebook: Press Releases for Every Occasion and Industry

Did you ever land at a blog, and spend more time staring at the clever graphic than you did reading the post?

I have. The same way you landed here and stared at the one above, wondering, “How did she do that?”

Easy. It’s one of the 10 free generators, most of them animated, at foday.com.

Here are some ideas for using these cool graphics in a publicity or marketing campaign.

The Talking Tomato

If you work in the food industry, use the Talking Tomato at your website. Let’s say you teach kids about healthy food. You can explain the nutritional benefits of tomatoes.

The Talking Cat

Humane societies and pet shops will love the talking cat. Simply insert the HTML code at your website. And then sponsor a contest to see who can come up with the most clever sayings for the cat. Award fun prizes.

Keep it fresh. Sponsor the contest again every few months.

     

The Newspaper

Bloggers, I’ll bet this newspaper generator will come in handy when you’re writing about a topic and can’t find a photo anywhere to accompany it. It isn’t animated. But you can create your own headline and write your own story:

The Cigarette Pack

Does your product or service help people to quit smoking?

Create your own cigarette pack and come up with a clever saying. You can use the graphic in your online press room and even offer it to journalists. I love the saying on the sample SMOKEME cigarette pack at their website:

Other Options

You can also choose from the Ninja (the one you were staring at at the top of this blog post), a clapper board perfect for people in the movie industry, talking squirrels, animated wizard text, talking flowers and talking owls.

Don’t forget Flickr, the social media site for uploading photos and videos. See 9 ways to use Flickr to promote your business.

OK, Hounds. It’s your turn. Use the generator to create a graphic that you could use in a publicity or marketing campaign. Post it in the comments section below. Or if it’s at your website or blog, link to it.

If for some reason it won’t show up correctly in the comments section, open a Notepad document, paste in the HTML code and send it to me as an attachment. Do not put it in the body of the email. If I get enough clever ones, I’ll feature some of them next week.

P.S. Comments at this blog are moderated, which means they won’t appear here until I approve them. What tools do you use that are similar to these? Did you find the free generator as easy to use as I did?

More Tools to Help You:

• Photofunia, another fun graphics tool, lets you place your photo on a bus shelter, on a billboard, in Times Square and in art museums, or give it all kinds of really neat artsy-fartsy treatments.
• Free generators are only one of 55 free things to offer you can offer to generate publicity or capture people’s email addresses.

This guest post was written by David Murton. David has been helping companies build and maintain their online relationships with customers since 2006.  He is also a professional writer and webmaster, with a particular interest in the open source Drupal platform. On a more personal note, David is an avid piano and accordion player, drawn especially to music of the classical and romantic periods.

By  David Murton

Flickr is a popular but often overlooked social media website that offers image and video hosting as well as a dynamic online community.

It’s often used by bloggers to promote products or businesses, because all of their related images are in one convenient place on the web.  This makes it much easier for blog readers or customers to see many images that have been uploaded by the blogger by clicking on one link.

Many types of businesses can benefit from using Flickr as a promotional tool because customers who search for the company’s name on a search engine such as Google will be directed to both the company’s website or blog and their Flickr page.  Many customers want to look at images of a company’s products and may choose to look at a Flickr page before buying anything.

Here are nine ways to promote your business using Flickr.
    
   
1. Make Thumbnails Interesting

Thumbnails are the first images any client sees on a Flickr account before they click on any of the images.  It’s important that these photos accurately represent the company they’re promoting.

If you place the best photo in a group at the beginning of the photo list, it will automatically become the thumbnail image for that group on Flickr.  Photo settings allow the user to choose which part of a photo they will use as a thumbnail image.
     
    
2. Upload Photos of Products and Services

Any photos listed on a Flickr account should represent your business and its products.

Many companies use php5, a scripting language that’s designed to handle dynamic web pages, to manage the pictures they post on Flickr.  This is especially helpful for companies that post many photos. It’s important to remember that Flickr doesn’t allow marketing and promotion of products or services, so businesses must market indirectly and not post obvious ads.

Posting pictures of employees at industry functions is likely to make customers feel more connected to the business.

Pictures of successful products and happy customers are a great tool. Just make sure to get permission from anyone who appears in the photos.  Most people don’t mind having their picture posted and may even invite their friends and family to look at your company’s photos.

Use captions on every photo because they can describe products or introduce important people in your company.  It isn’t necessary to include the name and title of everyone in a large group picture. But pictures of at least four people should be marked with the name and title of each person, as well as other information that you want to share with potential customers.
     
    
3. Complete the Business Profile 

Use the profile space to share information about your business and promote it, but don’t overdo it.

Using your company logo as the Flickr “buddy icon” is a great way to promote your business without directly advertising.  Include your URL and other contact information as well as a short description as part of your Flickr profile.

    
4. Use an Easy-to-Remember Screen Name

Use your company name or URL as your screen name.  If you use the URL, each photo will be shown with the screen name in the corner.  Flickr users are likely to visit a company’s website when they have repeatedly seen the URL while viewing the photos they have uploaded.

Users who are searching for a particular company or website on Flickr will have a much easier time finding it if the screen name is the same as the company name.  For example, it’s easy to find famous photos from The Library of Congress because that’s their easily recognizable screen name.
     
    
5. Post Images Quickly

Many people search for photos of current events and current seasons and holidays. That’s why you should post pictures quickly.

People want to be the first to share information and photos with their friends on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Configuring the company’s blog to work with Flickr by linking related Flickr images in each blog post helps to draw attention to the photos and the blog. It also lets blog readers see more images from the same company on Flickr.
     
6. Tag Photos Properly

Tagging photos is tedious, but photo tags are the best way to drive new users to see your photos.  Pay attention to which keywords people are using the most when they search, and use those keywords if they apply.

Using keywords that don’t fit your company’s images is frustrating for Flickr users and may result in Flickr deactivating your account.

Geotagging is another great tool if you use Flickr to promote. It allows you to tag your photos with keywords that include cities, states, a country, etc. Even if your business isn’t identified with a certain location, it helps people know where the photos they are looking at were taken.
     
    
7. Allow Photo Use

It’s very common for people to ask permission to use Flickr photos. Promptly approving these requests will encourage others to share your photos and let more people see them.

Make sure that anyone who uses the photos gives proper credit to your company, usually through linkbacks.  Flickr statistics are available in the settings column of each profile so that the profile creator can see which images people are viewing the most.    
    

8. Join Groups

Joining groups that are related to your business is a great way to gain exposure for your images and company.

Commenting on the photos of others shows that your business is making an effort to be part of the community.  The people whose photos you have commented on will likely want to view your photos and make comments of their own.
    
    

9.  Organize

Most Flickr users won’t look at photos that are disorganized, especially if they are unfamiliar with the business that has posted the images.  Each photo album is called a set and the sets can be organized into collections that are related.

Cross linking between the company’s website and Flickr page will likely result in increased traffic at both places.  Make sure that all image collections reflect the target audience of your company and don’t forget to link the Flickr page with all newsletters and social media sites where you have a presence.

Flickr says that about 3,000 pictures are uploaded by users every minute.  There are more than 5 billion images posted on the site, so companies should make sure that the images they upload are well organized and appropriate for the audience they are trying to reach.

What tips can you share about posting photos to Flickr? Have other people used your photos? If so, how? Has Flickr helped pull traffic to your website? What other ways do you use Flickr in your PR or publicity campaign?

When Google, the King of Search, gives Publicity Hounds an easy way to let our websites and blogs stand out, we need to embrace it with all four paws.

The newest tool is the +1 button, shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.”

You’ll start seeing it popping up on websites and blogs.

Here’s how it works.

When you install the code that makes the button visible on your own site, people who like your content can click on it and tell Google and others that they’re recommending it.  It’s Google’s equivalent of Facebook’s Like button.

But here’s the really powerful part.  When you recommend somebody else’s content, your photo shows up when that person’s website is listed in Google’s search results.  But your photo will show up only if you already have a Google Profile. Here’s an example:

 
Do these four things today:

1. If you don’t have a Google Profile, create one. 
       
2. Read more about the Google +1 button.  Here are Google’s FAQs. You can find a video and a helpful tutorial from Francisco Rosales at the SocialMouths blog.
      
3. Install the button at your website and blog.  Or save yourself the headache and have your webmaster do it for you.
     
4. Start recommending content you see elsewhere by clicking on the +1 button.

It’s too early to tell how successful the button will be, and whether it will go to the Google graveyard like the failed Buzz experiment, but you’d be crazy not to at least try it.

Do you think this button will catch on?

If you want  to learn more about marketing, social media, search engine optimization and blogging, you’ll love Hubspot’s newest freebie: a collection of 100 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts & Graphs.

It’s based on original research and data from a variety of sources, including analysis of Hubspot’s 4,500 business customers, surveys with hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses, and dozens of well-respected publications like MarketingSherpa, eMarketer, Pew Research and McKinsey.

You can click through the slide show presentation at their website, or download the PDF file for your own use. 

You’ll find stats, graphs and charts on inbound vs. outbound marketing, SEO, social media, blogging, Facebook and Twitter. 

Here are a few examples:

 Here are nine ways Publicity Hounds can use this presentation:

• To re-evaluate your own marketing strategies and decide if you’re spending money and other resources in the most effective marketing channels.
     
• Social media and marketing consultants can use the stats when meeting with prospective clients.
     
• Speakers, include them in your handouts and Power Point slides.
     
• Authors, use the stats in books you’re writing about these topics. (I asked Hubspot if this OK, and they said yes, as long as you attribute the info to them.)
     
• Share the slideshow on Twitter and Facebook and in your LinkedIn groups. (See advanced strategies for writing a killer LinkedIn profile, cashing in on groups and using LinkedIn Company Pages as a giant, free billboard.
     
• Blog about the freebie, like I am here.
    
• Write a blog post elaborating on just one of the stats, graphs or charts, and feature the slide.
      
• Use the stats or graphics in a video on a marketing or SEO topic.
     
• Include the stats in a press release. (Take my free email course on 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases.)

What other ways can you think of to use this?