The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

If you do free or paid speaking engagements, there are opportunities galore to get in front of audiences that need to hear whay you have to say.

But some Publicity Hounds don’t quite know where to begin. In Friday’s issue of the SpeakerNet News ezine, Michael Schatzki said he wants to give a new hour-long speech he has created at least 20 times so he can polish it before charging a fee.  

His target audience is people in their late 30s to early 60s, business people or a general audience. His topic is on how to motivate people to fitness. Micheal asked for tips on how to let groups know that he speaks for free. He’s compiling all the results for the SpeakNet News archives. 

I responded and offered these nine ways to publicize free or paid speaking engagements:

1. Contact local chambers of commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis, Business Networking International, and any other business networking groups.
     
2. Consider joining Toastmasters. You’ll get instant feedback. And Toastmasters know which groups in town welcome speakers.
     
3. Go to MeetUp.com and see what business groups are meeting near you. I belong to a MeetUp group for Internet marketers in Wisconsin, and at our last meeting, we discussed which speakers we could invite to speak for free.
      
4. Go to Craigslist and check out the community category. You’ll find sub-categories for classes, events and small business. Post a note in the best category offering your services. Make sure you don’t post the same item to more than one category. See How to Use Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool.
           
5. Get a local business journal, daily or weekly newspaper or business magazine and check the section of the paper that announces local business events and who is speaking. You’ll find many groups you probably never knew existed. There’s usually a phone number to call for registration. Call that number and ask for the meeting planner.      
      
6. If you’re Twittering (you should be), let your followers know about your topic and ask them for suggestions. If you’re speaking in a specific geographic area, use a hashtag (#) with the name of a city in your tweet, like this—#Chicgo— so people who are searching for information on that city will find your tweet. Learn more about how to use hashtags for publicity.
      
7. If you’re on LinkedIn (you should be), post the question in their Q&A section and you’ll probably get many responses from people who do business near you.
     
8. If you’re on Facebook, ask your friends to spread the word. See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.
     
9. You probably won’t have to resort to paid ads. But if you do, you can target people in specific geographic locations with fairly cheap ads on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Do you do free or paid speaking engagements? If so, what are some of the ways you publicize them?

(Shutterstock photo)

Posted In: Advertising, Business Promotion, Facebook, LinkedIn, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Social networking, Special Events, Twitter
posted On: 11/22/2009: 9:05 am: By Joan
Comments: 4 Comments

If you can’t afford your own photographer, or you take lousy photos, or you hate creating graphics, use a stock photo service to enhance everything from press releases to media kits in a PR campaign.

Royalty-free stock images can save you a lot of time and money trying to generate graphics on your own. Royalty-free means you can use the downloaded images forever and not have to worry about infringement issues.

Shutterstock has given me a complimentary subscription so I can try their service, and their photos come in handy at this blog. They’ve helped me compile this list of 13 ways you can use stock image photos in a PR campaign.

1. Blogs. Many bloggers are missing the opportunity to dress up their posts and make their blogs more attractive. Regardless of what topic I write about, I can usually find a stock image to accompany it.  
       
2. Ezines and print newsletters. Stock photos and illustrations can enhance articles in company newsletters and ezines. Now that so many ezine publishers produce HTML newsletters, stock images come in handy.
         
3. Press releases. Most press release distribution services allow customers to upload several images at no extra charge. If the headline doesn’t call attention to your release, the stock photo just might. Adding editorial stock images of premier events such as concerts or sports competitions can add weight and influence to a related press release, blog post or ezine article.
       
4. Presentations. Whether you’re submitting a proposal for a client, or you’re a speaker who’s presenting to an audience, compelling stock images used to illustrate business presentations can help capture the attention of your audience. Highlight key points with photos and illustrations in PowerPoint. 
       
5. Reports. Stock photos are a great way to add excitement to client reports and reinforce your accomplishments.
       
6. White Papers. White Papers often cry out for colorful stock imagery to break up text and hold readers’ attention. 
        
7. Media kits. Including stock photos and illustrations when designing a media kit or media kit inserts to add extra visual appeal. 
       
8. Event invitations and posters. Stock photos and illustrations allow PR professionals to create attractive event invitations. Stock images can also help create just the right mood for the event itself. Simply enlarge them to poster size and place them throughout the event location.  
       
9. Social media. Use them to enliven your your social media presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter (Twitpic), Wikipedia, and more.  
       
10. Search engine optimization. By properly tagging a stock image within a release, blog or website, you can raise your site’s rankings. PR clients will appreciate the added value as well as your SEO savvy.
        
11. Your own website. Stock photos and illustrations are a great way to demonstrate creative flair and generate interest in your website, or your PR client’s.
        
12. Advertising.  If you’re buying an ad, a good stock photo can come in handy.
        
13. For the media. Offer stock photos to journalists if they’re coving a story about you, and the photos are a good tie-in. Sure,  the media have access to their own stock photos, but Rule #1 when working with the media is “Be helpful.” 

My ebook How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your Publicity Campaign offers thousands of helpful tips on how to  incorporate images into your publicity efforts.  

Posted In: Advertising, Blogs, Celebrity tie-ins, Facebook, PR Consultants/Publicists, Photos & Graphics, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity Resources, Search engine optimization, Social media marketing, Special Events
posted On: 11/21/2009: 6:15 pm: By Joan
Comments: 3 Comments

Cheryl Muskus of Oak Creek, WI, writes:

“I’m the owner of  The CarmelRose, a floral shop, and I’m looking for ways to generate publicity in a very competitive market.

“Even though our industry is hurt to a large extent when obituaries state ‘in lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to…,” we’re trying to form relationships with local funeral homes so they can refer us to families that are buying flowers for the funeral.  I’d also like to target the local corporate market because revenues from local businesses that need floral arrangements can be significant.

“What ideas to your Hounds have for events I can sponsor at the shop or elsewhere, story ideas I can pitch to the local media, press releases I can write, photos I can offer the local media, opportunities for getting onto local TV, and joint venture partnerships I can form with other businesses? 

“Also, suggestions for using social media would be appreciated.”

Posted In: Business Promotion, Holidays, Newspaper Publicity, Photos & Graphics, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity on the Internet, Special Events
posted On: 11/3/2009: 9:25 am: By Joan
Comments: 15 Comments

With so many international reporters and editors, TV producers and radio show hosts, it’s more important than ever that you pronounce their names correctly, particularly if you are appearing on their shows or pitching them by phone.

Ditto for potential clients and bosses, or for audience members who you call on from the platform if you’re a speaker or trainer.

HowtoSayThatName.com is the perfect place to learn. First, choose the correct language or nationality from the left side of the screen. Then type in the name you don’t know how to pronounce and click on the audio button. You’ll hear a native speaker pronouncing the name.  

Aside from the more common languages like French, Italian and Chinese, you’ll find more obscure languages, too, like Xhosa, Kikuya, Mandinka, Maasai and Wolof. Want to learn the correct pronunciation but not sure of the language you should choose? Type in the name anyway.  

A hat tip to business networking expert Lynne Waymon who submitted this to the SpeakerNetNews ezine, a terrific ezine for anyone who speaks for free or for a fee.

If you REALLY want to impress somebody and let them know you know the meaning behind their name, check out  20000Names.com, which features 20,000 names categorized by  country, language and meaning. 

Posted In: Publicity Resources, Publicity for Niche Markets, Special Events
posted On: 10/31/2009: 7:52 am: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

Vicki Young of Dallas, Texas writes:

“What’s the best way for a very worthy nonprofit agency to get free help with their PR campaign?

“I’ve been doing PR work for Captain Hope’s Kids as a nonprofit client for years, but I have to step down. It’s a great organization in Dallas, Texas, that’s dedicated to meeting the critical needs of homeless children in North Texas.

“They need an annual marketing and public relations plan developed, and help publicizing their annual special events. 

“I know this agency isn’t the only one that needs volunteer PR help, so I’m hoping your Publicity Hounds can recommend ideas that will help many other groups, too. Where should we be looking for volunteer PR people who can write press releases, or at least advise nonprofits on how to create a good marketing plan?”

Posted In: Nonprofits, PR Consultants/Publicists, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity Resources, Special Events
posted On: 9/22/2009: 8:48 am: By Joan
Comments: 8 Comments