Publicity Resources

Write killer headlines: 102 fill-in-the-blank formulas

10/26/2011 By Joan 15 Comments

The next time you’re struggling with a headline for an article, press release, blog post, a page at your website or a paid ad, whip out this handy five-page cheat sheet and steal one of the 102 headline-writing formulas.

Fill in the blank, and you’ve got a killer headline.

It’s courtesy of blogger Chris Garrett, and it could be one of the most valuable tools in your office. Download it here.

Why Writing Great Headlines Is Important

Killer headlines pull people into your copy. They beg to be retweeted. And they often tell the reader, “You have a problem and this article will solve it.”

For added oomph, choose several other headlines from the list and place them throughout your article or blog post as sub-heads, like I’ve done in this blog post. Sub-heads are great for scanners, who often won’t take the time to read every word. They’re visual clues that tell readers what else they’ll find within an article.

Sample Headlines

Here are examples of headlines from this free report:

Get Rid of Your ___________ Once and For All

What Your _____________ is Not Telling You About _____________

10 Lies We Tell Our ________________

How to Spot a Fake ________________

5 Reasons _____________ is Better Than _________________

If those don’t fit the article or blog post you’re writing, you’ll find several that will.

More Tools to Help You

This report is one of 60 free or inexpensive tools I shared during the webinar “60 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Free (or Practically Free) Tips, Tricks, Tools & Tutorials for Publicity & Social Media.” Click here to read more about what it includes and how to access the video replay and the handouts.

I’ve listed several ways you can use these headlines. How else would you use them?

Filed Under: Blogs, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity Resources, Writing Articles Tagged With: headline examples, headline formulas, how to write headlines, sample headlines

60 free (or almost free) tools for marketing, publicity

10/15/2011 By Joan 2 Comments

Everybody’s talking about Fiverr.com, a website where people tell you what they’re willing to do for $5.

If you have a slim budget for publicity, this site could be perfect for you.

Among the wacky things people say they’re willing to do (“I’ll write your name in the foam on top of my cappuccino and send you a photo of it”), you’ll find people willing to do mini-projects like write a killer headline for an article you’ve written, draw an illustration that you can use to accompany a press release, or design a logo.

If you needed a logo, you could find five people on that site, give them all the same assignment for $5 each, and then choose the best logo.

You’d spend only $25—a steal.

Tom Antion, an Internet marketer and one of my mentors, says he uses this site frequently when he needs logos created for new websites he’s created, and has had great results.

Fiverr’s disadvantage is that is because the price is so cheap, you can’t ask for a refund if you don’t like the work, and you can’t carry on a conversation with the person doing your project. So even though you’re taking a chance, the results could really pay off.

Fiverr.com is one of the valuable publicity resources I’ll be sharing on Monday when I host the webinar, “60 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Free (or Practically Free) Tips, Tricks, Tools & Tutorials for Publicity & Social Media.”

It’s a compilation of the best tools, mostly freebies, that I’ve been sharing the last several months at my blog, social media sites, in articles and elsewhere.

The call is at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. If you can’t make it, sign up anyway because I’ll send you the link for the video replay and the handout that lists all 60 ideas.

Filed Under: Photos & Graphics, Publicity Resources, Writing Articles Tagged With: cheap logos, DIY publicity, fiverr.com, inexpensive logos, marking resource, publicity resources, publicity tools

Install Google’s +1 button at your website and blog

6/14/2011 By Joan 7 Comments

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:

If you don’t have a Google Profile, create one.
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.
Install the button at your website and blog. Or save yourself the headache and have your webmaster do it for you.
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?

Filed Under: Facebook, Photos & Graphics, Publicity on the Internet, Publicity Resources, Search engine optimization, Social media marketing Tagged With: +1 button, facebook like button, google, search results

Need local publicity? 6 tips for pitching Patch.com

5/20/2011 By Joan 7 Comments

If you need local publicity, and you live in one of 19 states in the United States, or the District of Columbia, Patch.com is almost begging for your pitch.

A memo from Patch editor-in-chief Brian Farnham outlines a plan to increase traffic by increasing article production.

Patch currently requires every site to post a minimum of four times per day, but many are not. Hence, the memo.

Patch covers California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

It loves news about new businesses, community events, local government, crime, items for the events calendar, columns from local residents and government officials, news tips, and the all-important and often overlooked photos and videos.

This is the perfect time to pitch Patch for another reason. AOL Inc, which owns Patch, is launching 33 sites in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, key states that play an early role in the U.S. presidential election.

How to Pitch Patch

Build a relationship with Patch writers and editors. Spend time at the Patch site for your community, and identify who is responsible for your local news. The editor’s name and email address is under the logo at the top of the page.
Email the editor and ask questions. I’ve found Patch writers to be incredibly helpful and friendly.
Many Patch writers are former journalists. And all journalists love to report news first. Keep Patch in mind when hear a newsy item about something in your community.
Add Patch to your media database. Every time you write a press release, ask if the content is something that Patch would like.
Is your business doing something new? It’s much easier to get business stories onto Patch than it is to get your story told in your local business journal, which usually requires multiple sources.
Don’t forget about stand-alone photos with captions, and video. (See How to Use Photos & Graphics in a Publicity Campaign)

One of the other reasons Patch is such a super tool in a publicity campaign is because people can sign up for the Patch newsletter in their community, and receive email alerts. I’ll often stop what I’m doing when I see the Port Washington/Saukville (Wisconsin) newsletter arrive in my Inbox.

What kind of publicity have you gotten from Patch? Do you have any pitching tips to add to my list?

Filed Under: Business Promotion, Citizen journalism, General, Newspaper Publicity, Photos & Graphics, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity Resources, Special Events, The Local Angle, Video Tagged With: business journals, community calendar, community journalism, local news, local reporting, news photos, Patch, Special Events

Sample PR contracts included in free ebook

5/2/2011 By Joan 9 Comments

If you’re setting up shop as a PR consultant, and you’ve got your first client, one of the most perplexing problems is obtaining sample contracts, or writing a contract from scratch.

But what if you don’t have the start-up money to consult with a lawyer? Problem solved.

Kellye Crane, of Solor PR Pro, and Jenny Schmitt of Cloudspark, wrote the free, 30-page ebook called Get It In Writing, The Communication Consultant’s Guide to Contracts. Just click on the link and download it. No opt-in needed.

This is the most comprehensive free book I’ve seen on this topic, and consultants who work in any area of communications will save themselves weeks of research. The authors advise that you eventually talk to an attorney when using a contract, but if you’re short on cash, this book will at least get you started.

It includes:

Simple letters of agreement. I’ve always abhorred contracts and most clients do, too. Letters of agreement are so much simpler and less intimidating.
Full contracts
Performance agreements
Subcontractor agreements
Nondisclosure agreements

The authors list five “gotchas” in client-provided contracts, such as insurance requirements and a payment schedule that won’t work for you, and advise you on how to deal with each of them.

You’ll also find a list of frequently asked questions. If you consult in any area of marketing, take a look at this book.

And to Get More Clients…

Now that you have the documents you need, start positioning yourself so that potential clients can find you. And use a variety of marketing techniques to find them. I hosted a teleseminar with Marcia Yudkin a few years ago on 24 Ways to Attract Clients to Your PR Practice.

Are Your Proposals the Problem?

If you consult in any area and feel like a proposal-writing factory, with a poor close rate, I highly recommend the book How to Write a Proposal That’s Accepted Every Time by Alan Weiss, the million-dollar consultant to Fortune 100 companies and to other consultants. It’s $149, but worth 10 times that price.

It does not include boilerplate or legal contracts but focuses, instead, on establishing a proposal based on value in collaboration with the buyer, so that proposals are summations, not explorations.

When I started following the advice in this book, my close rate skyrocketed. So did my consulting fees.

Watch as Alan tells you more about what you’ll learn: