The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Avrom Honig writes:

“My three-year-old web TV show Feed Me Bubbe, which features my Bubbe (Yiddish for grandmother) demonstrating how to cook a variety of kosher food, has received national media attention.

“Of course, we’d like to receive more. Can your Hounds recommend the best ways to pitch a story about the show to the big food magazines? We’ve already been on ABC News and PBS’s “Frontline,” and in the Wall Street Journal. But we’re always interested in any other media attention we can generate, including blogs.

“We’d love to hear ideas from your Hounds on other media outlets or bloggers that might be interested in covering Feed Me Bubbe.”

You can watch this segment, in which Bubbe makes “Jewish penicillin,” or chicken soup.   

Posted In: Pitching the Media, Publicity on the Internet, TV Publicity, Video, YouTube
posted On: 6/9/2009: 2:16 pm: By Joan
Comments: 5 Comments

Several readers saw the item in last week’s newsletter about getting onto “Oprah”  and wrote to tell me that they pitched ideas months ago and still haven’t heard back from Oprah’s producers. Can they assume their pitches are in the “deleted” folder?

Never!

While getting onto “Oprah” is always a long shot, I’ve heard of cases in which journalists and broadcasters follow up on pitches as long as two years after receiving them. 

I posted a Note to my Facebook page last night, telling my friends that publicists need to update themselves periodically on pitches that are still “out there.” Also, I advised, tell your clients not to be surprised if they hear from the media when they least expect it. Clients must be prepared on a second’s notice to discuss an old story idea. 

Susan Harrow, creator of “The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah,” was on CNBC last week to discuss The Oprah Effect.” Several entrepreneurs discussed how they got onto the show, and what it has meant to their businesses.

I missed the show. If you did, too, you can see a short segment in which Susan gives two tips for getting onto Oprah. (Apologies for the commercial.)

                                                  


Watch a clip of Susan Harrow discussing
how to get onto Oprah

Posted In: Business Promotion, PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media, TV Publicity
posted On: 6/2/2009: 11:46 am: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments

When a producer calls you and needs you to fill in for a guest who has canceled, move a mountain if you must, and say yes.

That’s what I did when Jon Missall of VoiceAmerica Business Network called yesterday afternoon and asked if I’d serve as a fill-in on the PRInsider show this morning with Maureen Kedes. Someone canceled, and they needed confirmation, within 30 minutes, that I could appear along with a guest of my choosing.

Of course, I said yes.

I invited Michelle Tennant of Wasabi Publicity, who has a string of A+ media hits to her credit, along with a really fun style. We’ll be a great team. And I know we’re on the same track because she was in The Publicity Hound Mentor Program for several years.

We’ll talk about a half dozen or so of the most important things Publicity Hounds must do to generate online and offline publicity. Michelle will share recent successes she has had getting her clients—including authors, nonprofits and small business owners— onto NBC in Dallas, AOL Canada, Good Morning America, the Colorado Business Journal, Dr. Phil and in other online and offline media.

The show will be at noon Eastern Time and you can listen here. I hope you join us.

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Celebrity tie-ins, Newspaper Publicity, Nonprofits, PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media, Publicity on the Internet, Radio Publicity, TV Publicity
posted On: 5/22/2009: 8:35 am: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

If you want to create a video for an upcoming event as part of your publicity campaign, or for a product or service you’re launching, and you’re on a tight deadline, here’s a great alternative to a talking-head video where you have to look good.

Animoto lets you produce TV-quality music videos using your own photos, or stock photos, in just minutes. You don’t need any technical expertise. If you can click the mouse, you can create a professional-looking video that has a lot of pizzazz.

I’m doing publicity for my garden club’s annual plant sale May 23. Yesterday, I created this fun little video in less than an hour and uploaded it to YouTube:

 How I did it:

• First, I chose my still photos. I took photos with my iPhone at a garden club event over the weekend. We were planting annuals inside teacups to sell at the plant sale. 
      
• Then I searched Animoto’s limited photo archive for photos of flowers.
        
• Then I bought a few stock photos from iStockPhoto.com.
      
• In Animoto, I lined them up according to how I wanted them to appear in the video.
      
• Next, I wrote all the text boxes. 
     
• When all the photos and text boxes were in place on the tiles, I clicked and dragged to rearrange them. One thing that tripped me up: When you create a text box, it appears as the first tile, right at the beginning of the video. Once you’ve added text, click and drag it to whereever you want it to appear in the sequence.
            
• When I produced the video, I chose one of Animoto’s jazz soundtracks, Blowin’ in from Chicago, from Hank Hirsh.
     
• Animoto worked its magic behind the scenes and delivered a sharp-looking video with fun transitions.

If you don’t like the way the video looks, you can ask Animoto to remix it for you. No two videos are the same, so you never know what the second version will look like.
   
  
Share your Animoto videos

Sharing your videos is a cinch. Add them to your MySpace & Facebook profiles, on your blog, email them to friends, put them up on YouTube or download them onto your computer. I uploaded mine to YouTube, added it to my Facebook profile and sent it to everyone in the garden club. Later this week, I’ll upload the video to the local TV stations’ websites.

Some of Animoto’s founders used to produce shows for MTV, Comedy Central & ABC. They studied classical music in London, played in rock bands in Seattle and developed software in Japan. They developed a patent-pending, Cinematic Artificial Intelligence that thinks like an actual editor and director.
    

How much it costs

You can create all the 30-second videos you want, for free. Each can accommodate from 12 to 15 images.

An all-access, non-commercial pass costs $30. Or buy a non-commercial three-month pass for $99. I paid $249 for an annual commercial pass which gives me several nice options the two others don’t have. First, I can remove the Animoto logo from the video. Second, I can include a button at the end that lets visitors click and visit a website. 

Animoto supports not-for-profits and other humanitarian causes with free pro accounts. You can apply at the site. 

One other thing I’ll do differently the next time I create a video. When I produced the video, Animoto gave me the option of mentioning the musician’s name and the name of the song, which I did.  But after I uploaded it to YouTube, YoutTube notified me and said I might be violating copyright. It said I don’t need to do anything but I can refute that if I so choose. I decided to do nothing.

Also, when visitors click on the link to watch the YouTube video, YouTube gives them the option of buying the music while the video is playing, which is distracting. Next time, I’ll remove the artist’s name from the video.

If you create Animoto videos, share them here. And have fun.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Facebook, Nonprofits, Photos & Graphics, Social media marketing, Special Events, TV Publicity, Video
posted On: 5/12/2009: 12:09 pm: By Joan
Comments: 19 Comments

Terri Jay of Washoe Valley, Nev. writes:

“I am a psychic messenger for humans and pets. My main focus right now is to generate private reading clients and also to get the word out about what I do.

“I am able to communicate with people who have Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism, or those in a coma. These communication disorders affect millions of people.

“Some people want pet readings. As soon as they start talking about their pet, I can feel the pet through them. Pet communication covers everything, from health to behavior to grieving to performance (especially with horses). My website is at http://www.TerriJay.com

“I have virtually no advertising budget but I do have an agent in L.A. who is pitching a TV show idea. I’d like to find ways to reach out to people and let them know this is possible right away, until I get the TV show going. I’m doing fairly well, have a show at the Pioneer Underground in Downtown Reno on some Saturdays but would really like to become more well known because it would help move the TV show pitching along.

“Can your Hounds help me with ideas?”

Posted In: Business Promotion, TV Publicity
posted On: 4/28/2009: 10:11 am: By Joan
Comments: 8 Comments