5 ways to be included on other people’s Twitter lists

Twitter lists that list Joan Stewart, The Publicity HoundWhen I hosted the recorded webinar last week on How to Use Twitter Lists & Directories to Promote Your Expertise and Build Your Brand,  I encouraged participants to get onto as many Twitter lists as possible because lists are a powerful form of free advertising. 

One of my suggestions was to write a blog post telling readers the types of lists where you’d be a perfect fit, and then suggesting that they add you to existing lists on those topics, or create new ones.

But before you do that, it’s helpful to first find out how people on Twitter perceive you.  This will give you other ideas to add to the list of topics on which you’re an expert, and some of them might surprise you. The instructions below are included on the handouts from last week’s webinar, and the entire package is available here.

To see whose lists you’re on:

  • Log into your Twitter account
      
  • Go to your Home page
      
  • Look in the upper right corner, near your gravatar, for the word “Listed.” It will tell you how many lists you’re on.
      
  • Click on it. You’ll see all the names of the lists and the gravatars of the people who created them. The names of the lists will be in bold.

Scan the list and you should start to see a pattern. The screenshot above shows some of the 668 lists I’m on. Many of the lists are devoted to PR, publicity, marketing communications, book marketing and social media.

Now that you have a good idea how you’re perceived, write a blog post like this one, suggesting that your Twitter followers add you to their lists on certain topics.
    
   
Add Me to These Lists

Here are topics for other lists you can consider adding me to, based on many of the other lists on which I appear:

Writing or Writers

Editing or Editors

Journalists or Journalism

Marketing

Authors

Business Women

Small Business

Online Marketing

Digital Marketing

Self-promotion

Shoestring Marketing

Book Publicity

Resources for Authors

Inspiring Quotes

Humor

Entrepreneurs

Advertising/Marketing

PR Pros

Press Releases

Blogging or Bloggers

Dog Jokes (I include a dog joke in each issue of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week, my free weekly ezine, and often share it on Twitter)
     
     
Other Ways to be Included on Twitter Lists

1. Tweet helpful, relevant content frequently and forego the “here’s what I’m doing today” tweets. Help people solve their problems!

2. Add yourself to your own lists if you’re a perfect fit. Remember that other people will be subscribing to your lists. If you’re a small business expert, for example,  and somebody is following your list of small business experts, you want to be on it.

3. Include a short blurb in your email signature suggesting that people add you to their lists, with a link to your Twitter page.

4. Ask! Don’t be shy about suggesting that people add you to a particular list they’ve created. They might be grateful that you’ve helped them grow their lists.

Be sure to reciprocate. Welcome requests from other people who ask you to put them on your lists.

What other ways do you use Twitter lists? Is there anything about lists that you don’t understand? Sharre your own tips here on how to get onto other people’s lists.

If you MUST stage a groundbreaking event, try this

community groundbreaking in fairfax, virginiaYou can lump groundbreaking ceremonies, check-passings and ribbon-cuttings into one category.

They’re tired, lifeless events staged for the media and to stroke the organizers’ egos. Smart Publicity Hounds avoid them at all costs.

But if you absolutely MUST have a groundbreaking event because your boss demands it, here’s a different twist on a tired theme. It’s courtesy of Lois Kirkpatrick of the Fairfax County Department of Family Services in Fairfax, Va. Lois submitted a “Help This Hound” question for my blog and ezine a few weeks ago, and got some great ideas from my readers about alternatives to cliche groundbreaking ceremonies.

man with daughter at community groundbreaking eventWhen Lois emailed her question to me, she mentioned a clever idea for a groundbreaking her department hosted several years ago that actually resulted in fabulous publicity in her local weekly newspaper.
“We asked the community to bring their own shovels, trowels, pick axes—any kind of digging implement they had—to help us break ground. So we ended up with a bunch of kids digging in the dirt, surrounded by VIPs. The attached aren’t the photos that took up the entire front page of a local paper, but they give you an idea of the event.
“It was very successful!”

How about other fun alternatives to traditional groundbreakings, ribbon-cuttings and check-passings? What have you done in your own community to generate publicity for these otherwise staid events?

Wanted: Alternatives to dreaded ground-breaking events

ground-breaking shovel holding brown dirtLois Kirkpatrick of Fairfax, Va., writes:   

“I work for a large county government that has a variety of groundbreaking/grand opening events.   

“The facilities range from libraries, parks and public safety buildings to homeless shelters and mental health centers.  

“What are some things we can do instead of the dreaded VIPs-holding-shovels groundbreakings and VIPs-holding-scissors ribbon-cuttings?  I’m looking for general ideas that can be applied to most types of facilities.”


21 ways to promote your webinars and teleseminars

online education for webinar promotion in block letters

If you’re new to hosting webinars, the team at SocialBrite.org has a very helpful summary of 10 steps for planning a successful webinar.

It includes nine ways to promote your webinar. I took their list and added to it. Most of these ideas will also work when promoting teleseminars. Here’s their list of suggestions on how to promote:

1. At your website.

2. On online event calendars such as Upcoming.com

3. Relevant listservs

4. In print and online newsletters

5. On Twitter channels

6. In Facebook groups

7. As a local event for nonprofits (SocialBrite.org specializes in teaching social media to nonprofits).

8. On Web pages that promote webinars in your industry.

9. At the end of current webinars.


Here are my own ideas

I added to their list and came up with 12 of my own ideas:

10. On Craigslist, but only on the list for the city that’s closest to where you live. (See How to Use Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool.)

11. In the events or calendar sections in traditional media, including newspapers, magazines, trade journals and business journals.

12. In an online press release. (See Keywords: The Magic Magnets That Pull Consumers & Journalists to Your Press Releases.)

13.  On the websites of local newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations.

14. In videos, where you can excerpt tips and lead viewers to the sign-up page. Upload the video to video sharing-sharing sites.

15. At your guest experts’ blogs, at their websites, in their newsletters, and on their social media sites.

16. Create an Event on Facebook, and share with your Friends and Fans. (See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook)

17. In an email blast to your opt-in list, and the lists of your guest experts.

18. In a podcast.

19. At the end of a quiz you create around the topic of the webinar.

20. In targeted ads on Facebook and LinkedIn.

21. If you have an affiliate program, encourage your affiliates to promote the event, using their affiliate links.


Add to this list

Did I miss any? How do you promote your webinars and teleseminars, and which are the most effective?

What about paid ads? Have you used them,
and are they effective?


My Next Webinar: How to Use Twitter Lists

Joan Stewart's Twitter lists of PR peopleI’m presenting “How to Use Twitter Lists to Generate Publicity & Build Your Brand” at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Aug. 26.   This one-hour webinar is perfect for anyone who hasn’t yet started using Twitter lists, or for Twitter users who aren’t sure how to get the most out of their lists.

Everyone who attends will also receive a bonus special report I wrote on “How to Use Twitter for Business to Network, Promote, Sell, Recruit & Profit,” a $10 value, as well as slides of the PowerPoint presentation I’m using for the video, a link for the streaming video and the video download, and the MP3 recording.  So if the time is inconvenient for you, register anyway and you can watch it afterward at a time most convenient for you.

Register here.

N.Y. ‘dress better’ workshops for women need publicity ideas

Woman measuring hips with measuring tapeCathy Berger of Roslyn, New York, writes:

I keep having to cancel events because I don’t have enough paid registrations.

I have a live, hands-on “dress better” fashion company full of classes.  Most are $36 for 90 minutes of instruction, and attendees can take individual courses whenever they are held, but they must be physically near to New York City or Long Island/Nassau County.  You can learn more about it here.

The “What’s Your Body Type?  Now Dress For It” class, for example, includes:
   
–Topics such as an analysis of your present style
     
–A real measurement of key body areas
    
–A professional determination of your true body type
    
–Techniques to create the illusion of a slimmer (or custom) look
    
–Slides showing ways to dress for it and how to create a wardrobe for it
    
–How to use items already in your closet to pull your new look off.
    
What are some quick and creative ways I can market the event calendar and reach the right people—women who want or need to look and dress their best?