Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these, follow me on Twitter.

How entrepreneurs decide how to post on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. http://ow.ly/8MvYM

4 easy tactics for becoming a must-follow account on Twitter.  http://ow.ly/8MHte

5 Ways Writers Can Break Out of the Tired Old Social Media Box.  http://ow.ly/8Mxlx

How to keep your face out of LinkedIn ads. http://ow.ly/8Mw6j

Don’t create your next info-product until you watch this cool video that explains a smart 5-step system. http://ow.ly/8Onwp

13 Ways To Get More Traffic & Publicity From Slideshare. http://ow.ly/8OA68

Top 30 PR Do’s and Don’ts. http://ow.ly/8OzE4

18-point checklist for proofreaders. http://ow.ly/8PTc9

Press Release Tip: Always include a strong call to action & explain EXACTLY what you want people to do (click, call, write…)

The Inside Scoop on Using Twitter Lists for Profit and Sanity http://ow.ly/8Rgbr

Do you hate recording talking-head videos as much as I do?

There. I’ve said it. I hate recording talking-head videos!

Here’s why.

Before I can hit the “record” button, I must:

• Clean my home office. This includes ripping all the inspirational post-its and to-do notes from the walls, scooping up papers, notebooks, periodicals and other junk from my desk and throwing it into a pile in the corner. The coffee cups go into the kitchen sink.
• Drag out my big wooden ladder so I can clip one of the lights onto the side of it.
• Look for the blue gel sheets that I attach to the lights with wooden clothes pins.
•  Search for the damn clothes pins.
• Retrieve my tripod from the closet, set it up and attach the camera, then reposition it until it’s perfect.
• Wash and style my hair.
• Paint my face.
• Find something decent to wear.
• Tape my talking points to the wall behind the camera.

All That—BEFORE I Can Practice

Only then can I start recording a few dry runs.

When I’m done recording, I rip everything down and put the office back together again.

So why bother at all with these videos?

Because I can upload them to my YouTube channel. Videos are one of the most powerful ways to pull traffic. They’re terrific for offering free content.

They help people know more about me. They’re one of the hottest, most powerful marketing tools. And they’re essential for a PR campaign.

Anybody who doesn’t use video is leaving money on the table. (Nonprofits, this includes you!)

But why go through all this trouble and make shooting video harder than it has to be?

Enough is Enough

Last night, I decided to turn a small corner of my dirty apple cellar in my basement into a video studio. I can set up the equipment once and everything stays in place forever. When it’s time to record a video, all I have to do is gussy up, run downstairs, turn on the lights and start recording.

Here’s where you come in. I need your help turning part of this room, which you’d expect to find in the Addams Family basement, into an attractive setting for videos that are good enough for the corporate world. I want to shoot against this wall which is fine for Lurch and Uncle Fester, but not much else:

Calling it an apple cellar is a bit of a stretch. The 18-by-8 room is filled with remnants of aluminum siding and carpeting from the previous owner. It’s littered with pieces of broken wooden chairs.

I need to sweep up small piles of gravel and sand from the floor. A big oak table holds about a dozen paint cans, paint supplies, blankets and other junk:

The sturdy walls, made of large stones held together with grouting, keep out the noise. But they’re not a pretty backdrop.

Let’s Have Fun with This

What can I put against the stone wall? Suggestions for furniture? Silk flowers in a vase? I dislike silk flowers but don’t want to run out and buy a fresh bouquet every time I shoot.

I’ll also be sharing my progress, with video and photos, on the social media sites to prove that if I can do it, so can you. All you need is a small space, some fairly inexpensive equipment and the creative ideas of other Publicity Hounds like you.

I don’t need professional staging or interior decorating advice because I want to keep it simple. And I want to be able to buy what I need from the local thrift shops.

So have at it, Hounds.  I’m on a tight budget and need your ideas on how to really spruce up the place.

When a favorite journalist is promoted, leaves the newspaper for a new job, or wins an award, smart Publicity Hounds swing into action and deliver their congratulations, a very important part of building the relationship.

Be aware, especially, of things like writing, editing and photography awards. They don’t  mean a hill of beans to the success of the newspaper, but journalists think they are a very big deal. I worked in newsrooms for 22 years, won many awards, and they were a huge deal.

How do you congratulate them without gratuitous brown-nosing? Here are seven ideas:

• Send a handwritten note. Most well-wishers would cop out with an email. But you want to zig when everybody else is zagging. A postage stamp and a few minutes of your time are a cheap price to pay to stand out from the crowd.
• Is the journalist on Twitter? If so, send a congratulatory tweet. Link to an article about the award so others who follow the journalist can read it.
• Are  you friends on Facebook? If so, post congratulations to their wall, and give the URL for the article announcing the award. You can also link to the winning article or project.
• Create a short “way to go!” video and email the link. With a little editing, you can also provide the link for the winning project. Consider posting the video to their company’s website.
• Go ahead. Ask the journalist if it’s OK to post the video to YouTube.
  
• Is the journalist on LinkedIn? If so, consider writing a recommendation. But sure to explain what factors made their work so special, or what happened as a result. This is the place to recommend, not just congratulate.
• Call and leave a short, cheery voicemail message.

Don’t do all of these, or it will, indeed, be brown-nosing. And never sneak in a pitch while you’re congratulating.

What Else You Shouldn’t Do

• No flowers. Women reporters I’ve worked with love flowers, but they’d get the heebie-jeebies when sources sent them.
• No gifts, gift cards or anything of value. Many newspapers have ethics policies that prohibit reporters from receiving these. Don’t put someone in the uncomfortable position of having to return a gift to you.
• No tickets to sporting events, the theater or other entertainment venues.
• Don’t invite the journalist to lunch and dive for the check. He might not be able to accept a free meal. See 18 ways to schmooze with reporters.

Don’t forget sports reporters, copy editors, photographers, graphic artists and other newsroom employees. Ditto for TV producers, anchors, sportscasters, meteorologists and radio talk show hosts. They love being congratulated, too.

What have I missed? If you’re a PR person, a journalist or a Publicity Hound, what ideas can you share that have worked well?

Also see: 12 ways to say “thanks” to a blogger or journalist

Celebrity Publicists: This could be a good opportunity to promote major news about your client like a new CD or book, or very minor news like your client’s birthday party.

A top international entertainment news agency has hired freelancer Bill Hooey, a celebrity interviewer, to supply them with short videos of celebrity interviews. Hooey won’t identify the agency, but its client list consists of more than 3,000 media outlets worldwide.

These are easy interviews with softball questions that help the celebrity look good.

“I ask questions the celebrities enjoy answering,” Hooey says. “I’m not looking to do long interviews. The standard interview is less than five minutes. I’ll arrive, ask a few questions, and then leave.”

Interview topics can include:

• Comments about something in the news
• Information that the celebrity would like to clarify
• An important announcement
• The client’s marriage or divorce
• A milestone in the celebrity’s career
• A new CD, book or movie
• Attendance at a red carpet event or film premiere, fundraiser or major show biz party

Call Hooey at 323-397-8740 or email wildguy (at) earthlink.net.

You can see samples of his interviews at his YouTube channel.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 1981, Hooey has hosted two local television shows and four radio talk shows.  For the last six years, he has been writing the weekly newspaper column “Life In The Fast Lane” for the LA Xpress Newspaper (weekly circ. 129,000).

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?

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

1. 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.
2. Email the editor and ask questions. I’ve found Patch writers to be incredibly helpful and friendly.
3. 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.
4. Add Patch to your media database. Every time you write a press release, ask if the content is something that Patch would like.
5. 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.
6. 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?

If you’re like me, you rush over to one of the stock photo services when you need a graphic for your website, blog, a press kit, a sales page, or a Facebook Note.

But even at a buck or two each, you can burn through your credits quickly.

I just discovered the really snazzy Marketing Graphics Toolkit for only $10.95. It comes with 21 modules of premium graphics content. Here are a few samples of what you’ll get, and some examples of how how you can use them:

Red Arrow Buttons—Lots of Them!

Perfect for sales pages, icons on my Facebook page, and to draw attention to parts of a blog post.

Price Badges

A set of nice looking price badges in five different colors.  You can add these to your order buttons, put them on top of your ebook covers, or use them in your sales copy.  You get web ready transparent PNG files ($9.95, $19.95, $29.95 and $39.95) + you also get PSD source files so you can make it say any price you want.

High-Res Ebook Covers, Including 3D

I’m going to use these for my 52 special reports.  I don’t have graphics on the sales page, just the titles of the special reports, and the visuals will help me sell more of them.

Visual Headlines

Visual headlines on sales pages are a great way to REALLY make your headlines pop.  You’ll get two visual headlines: one for main headline and one for sub-headline.  They come in layered PSD format so you can easily modify the text in minutes.  You also get different highlight and underline effects.

Guarantee Stickers

Tests show that a guarantee can boost your sales drastically.  You get a set of professional guarantee signs in 8 different colors, including transparent PNG files and also source PSD files.

Handwritten Fonts

With handwritten fonts, you can add some personal notes to your website, blog and Facebook Welcome Page that say things like “check this out,” “watch this video,” etc. You’ll get direct links to websites where you can download several fonts.

Premium Header Templates

You’ll get several premium website headers for your blog or sales pages or blogs.  They come in layered PSD format and all of the elements on the headers can be modified.  You can change the text, change the colors, add your own images, move things around, combine elements from one header with another, etc. Lots of possibilies for customization, or just use them as is after editing your own text.

Buttons and Checkmarks

There are dozens of uses for these—press kits, web pages, marketing materials, your blog, Facebook fan pages, etc. They come in transparent PNG format so you can use them on any color background.  You also get source PSD files.

This is just a small sampling of what you’ll get. You’ll also find Add to Cart buttons, call-to-action buttons, backgrounds for PowerPoint slides, numbers icons, footers, photo frames and lots more.

Full disclosure: I get paid affiliate commission if you buy, so don’t get confused if it looks as though you’re buying directly from me. Max, the designer, is simply depositing the money directly into my PayPal account. I think you’ll like this package so much that you, too, can join the affiliate program and earn commission that’s deposited directly into your PayPal account. You don’t even need a shopping cart.

Update on April 5, 2011: If you buy this package, you’ll be taken to a page and offered another product. On that page, scroll to the bottom to find the download link for the graphics package. Many of my readers were confused about this. So was I.

Share this on the social media sites, at your blog, in your newsletter, in your speaker handouts and in other marketing materials.  Your followers will love you—and your classy looking website, blog and marketing materials.

Click here to read the testimonials and see what else is in the package.

Think beyond the office when you’re pitching stories about yourself or your company to journalists and bloggers.

If your CEO has an unusual hobby or collection, Kym McNicholas of Forbes wants to know about it. She’s an anchor/reporter for the Forbes Video Network and reports and produces mostly video business stories. She she also contributes to her blog and sometimes to the magazine.

“I love ‘unique’ entrepreneurial stories.  I especially enjoy writing about executives who excel outside the boardroom with special hobbies, sports, charity, or collections.”

For example, she wrote this blog post about Tom Georgens, head of NetApp, a Silicon Valley data storage firm, who competes in ham radio contests, in what’s called “Radio Sport.” It’s where amateur radio owners try to communicate with as many people around the world as they can in 48 hours.

She also wrote about Paul Pluschkell, the CEO of Spigit, a Silicon Valley idea management software firm, who coaches his Babe Ruth World Series winning baseball team, made up of 14-year-old and 15-year-old boys from Pleasanton, California – just east of Silicon Valley.  Between work, family and the softball team, Pluschkell is lucky to get 4 1/2 hours of sleep each night.

In my ebook, How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound, I include dozens of ideas on how people can generate publicity for themselves and their businesses. Check out the free sample chapter of publicity tips. If you don’t have an unusual collection, one of these ideas will click with you.

The next time you write a press release, use BusinessWire’s handy checklist so you don’t forget key elements of the release.

Its 11 pointers include things that are easy to forget like HTML formatting, using keywords and hyperlinks, and including video. (A few days ago, I wrote about 19 opportunities to use hyperlinks in press releases.)

The list is excellent, but I disagree with item Number One: “Make sure your press release contains actual news.”

Gone are the days when we had to worry about insulting journalists with press releases that weren’t newsworthy. Today, now that we’re posting them online, we can reach consumers directly by writing press releases even when we have no news to report. A release can include a list of tips on how to solve a problem, how to use a product we sell, or it can include our opinion about something that isn’t particularly newsworthy.

Smart Publicity Hounds understand that press releases seldom result in big stories in the media. We write many of them for the search engines so that consumers can find our information without waiting for journalists to report it.

Even so, I like this checklist. You’d be smart to keep it nearby.   

If you need more help writing press releases and distributing them online, sign up for my free email course, 89 Reasons to Write Powerful Press Releases.  It’s like earning a master’s degree in press release writing.

The next time you write a press release, don’t forget hyperlinks.

Too many writers do. Or they’re simply unaware of the three most important reasons to include them: they improve your search engine optimization, drive traffic to your website, and amplify your message.

Used correctly, links can also push consumers to take the action you want them to take, whether it’s buying a product or calling for a reservation.

Business Wire has a helpful White Paper, ” Six Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Press Release,”  that you can download for free, and using hyperlinks is one of the tips. The White Paper givest two examples of when you should consider linking. If the release includes a quote from your CEO, link to the CEO’s bio. If the release announces a new business opening, link to a map that shows readers where it’s located.
  
  

17 Other Opportunities to Use Links
  

Here are 17 of my own ideas:

1. A sales page, where brilliant sales copy can push consumers to buy your product or service.
     
2. A video that demonstrates how to use the product you’re writing about, or provides helpful tips that tie into the topic of the release.
     
3. A page of testimonials from happy customers.
     
4. A blog post you’ve written where your readers are engaged in a lively conversation about a particular topic.
     
5. An earlier press release that offers more perspective on the topic.
     
6. A podcast that ties into the topic.
     
7. Your online press room where journalists and consumers can find more background information about you and your business.
     
8. Your social media profiles, with a recommendation that readers follow you.
     
9. A page at your website that includes an opt-in box where people can request something like a free White Paper, special report, or list of helpful tips.
     
10. A book you’re selling on Amazon.com.
      
11. A page at your website that includes frequently asked questions.
      
12. A page at your website where visitors will find product photos.
      
13. Quotes from analysts.
      
14. A page where readers can ask you a question about a particular topic. (A great way to generate sales leads!)
      
15. Reviews from customers.
      
16. An online catalog.
      
17. A photo gallery that ties into the topic of the release

  
But Don’t Go Overboard

A word of caution. Don’t go nuts when using hyperlinks. 
  
Press release expert Janet Thaeler, who was my guest during a teleseminar on how to use keywords in press releases, says a good rule of thumb is one link for every 100 to 150 words in the release. Use more than that, and the release can annoy readers as well as the search engines. It will look like you’re spamming. 

If you need more help on how to write press release, sign up for my free email course, 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases.

Those are my ideas. Now, lets hear yours. When do you use hyperlinks in press releases and what kinds of results have you seen?