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.

If you’re on Twitter, Twitter has assigned you a “reputation score.”

It has a system in place to gauge who you follow and who the people you follow follow.  It uses that information to suggest the “Who to Follow” avatars in the right-hand column of your profile.

So far, your score is still a secret.  So why am I mentioning it?

Because I’m betting that Twitter will make it public very soon—simply because so many other sites are starting to score and grade us. At a tech conference last year, Twitter’s CEO said he’d like to see the Twitter scores visible to everyone.
     
    

Who Else Brands, Scores & Grades You

• If you’re on Klout.com, you have a score, from 0 to 100, largely determined by how often you tweet. You’re also “branded” with a one- or two-word description like networker, celebrity, thought leader or curator. Klout calls these its classes. 
    
• Influencer Exchange, the new subscription-based software program that has a 14-day free trial I’ve been promoting, assigns a score to influencers in any one of thousands of niches, depending on who’s discussing them in traditional media or social media, and how important those people are.  You can read more about Influencer Exchange here.
    
• On Quora, the question and answer site, users “vote up” or “vote down” your answers.
    
• On Yelp, readers grade restaurants, stores, nightclubs and even the local furnace repair guys with reviews of from one to five stars. 
      
• Facebook doesn’t assign you a score, but how often you interact with your friends, and those who have Liked your pages, determines how often the information you share shows up in their news feeds.
    
• On Google, our websites are ranked, depending on a variety of factors such as how many other influential websites link to us, and how much content we provide.  
      

How Your Score Might be Used

I can’t help but envision all of us eventually having our online scores seered onto the flesh on our hips with a hot branding iron.

The score could eventually determine if we’re the top candidate for a job, or we get a lucrative consulting contract, or a reporter from the New York Times calls us for an interview because we have a higher score than the other dozen or so people the reporter researched.

Do you know about other sites that score, grade or brand users?  How do you think these sites will be used? And how much weight will people put on a reputation score? Are these “grading” systems missing more important things like a blog, the number of comments at a blog, and how often the blogger responds?
      
    
Tools That Can Help You:

Twitter for Beginners: A Step-by-Step, Can’t-Fail System for Experts and Influencers (and Those Who Want to Be) 

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

Publicity Hound Kate Farrall of San Diego, CA, writes:

“I need to get national/international publicity for my two muralist clients who are completing a five-story public art installation this November for the City of Davis, just outside of Sacramento. They have transformed a water tank into 360-degree kinetic art installation. You can see a short video that explains the project.

“My pitches have done well, thanks to your great advice. So far, I’ve gotten my clients a segment on our local PBS channel that will run for a year and a half, along with a few other news and print hits. The feedback on my pitches has been really good and I’ve tailored each one.

“How do I create a hook for national publications, especially art publications? Or even publications that are not so big but located elsewhere? Local has been a good hook for us so far, but that won’t work in the Midwest, New York or Europe. My clients want to be recognized as professional artists and to have a broader name recognition so they can expand where they work and the types of projects they do.

“You can read a press release about the project and see photos on Flickr.”

One of the biggest myths of press releases is that they must contain news.

That was true two decades ago when we wrote press releases primarily for journalists and we had to worry about insulting them with trivia about our business.

But now that we post them online, mostly to pull traffic to our websites, we’re free to write about whatever we wish.

Here, then, are 13 press release topics when your pockets are empty and there’s absolutely nothing newsworthy to write about. They’re excerpted from my free email course on 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases. (PR people, take the course to sharpen your press release skills. And then use the tips below when you’re scrounging for ideas to publicize your clients.)

Publicity Hounds who have a subscription to Expertclick, The Yearbook of Experts, which lets you post up to 52 press releases a year, will find these tips particularly helpful.

1.  Take a Stand on a Controversial Topic

Controversial topics can include everything from the old standbys such as abortion and gun control to local issues like proposed zoning laws.

When you’re done with the press release, generate extra publicity by writing a letter to the editor of your local or national newspaper. How to Use Newspaper & Magazine Editorial Pages shows you all the ways you can rally support for your cause or issue by using editorial pages, from writing letters to asking for a meeting with the newspaper editorial board.

2.  Write About Your Blog 

If you’ve started blogging for business, write a press release about it so people who want information on your topic can find it. Or devote the release to some of the things you mentioned in a specific post.

This blog, for example, helps people solve problems writing press releases, and I encourage people to submit questions to me. It also teaches people how to use social media sites to self-promote. I could write two press releases, or more, just telling reades about ways they can use this blog. You can, too.

Visit other bloggers who blog on the same topic, or a similar topic, and post comments at their blogs. By linking back to your blog from your comments, you will improve the page ranking of your own blog.

3. Lead Readers to Free Articles at Your Website

If you have free articles that solve people’s problems, or entertain them, say so.

Are your articles arranged by category? Are they updated monthly? Do you let the media, ezine publishers, newsletter editors and bloggers reprint them? Do you feature articles from other industry experts?

4. Tell People Where to Find You on Social Media Sites

Smart Publicity Hounds use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Quora profiles to position themselves as the go-to sources in their industries.

Do you post your photos and videos to Flickr? Do you have a YouTube channel chock full of helpful how-to videos? (Here’s mine.)

5.  Create Your Own Holiday

Create your own day, week or month of the year, or your own holiday, at Chases Calendar of Events. The listing is free. You can then use that holiday as a springboard to even more publicity.

The topic doesn’t have to be serious. In fact, the more fun, the better. I love Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day.

6. Make a Prediction

Predict something that ties into your area of expertise—or not.

Predict when gasoline prices, the stock market or interest rates will rise and fall. For fun, predict who will win the Super Bowl or when the first snowfall will occur in your area. Predict the winner of local or national elections.

7. Issue a Proclamation

Congratulate the local high school football team for winning a state title, or a local business for celebrating its 10th anniversary.

8. Write Tips That Tie into an Upcoming Holiday

Professional orgnizers can write about how to stay organized during the Christmas holidays. A child safety expert can offer tips on how to keep kids safe during fireworks season on the Fourth of July.

9.  Identify A Trend You’re Seeing in Your Business or Industry

You don’t even have to think very hard to identify a trend you’re seeing. How has your customers’ behavior changed the way you do business? What’s happening with your orders? Is your nonprofit serving more people in a particular age group or income level?

If you want to cheat, Google “Top trends in the (fill in the blank) industry” and write about one of those.

10.  Comment on Breaking News

This one’s easy. The news can tie into your business or industry—or not. If you’re an expert who welcomes interview requests for radio talk shows, say so in the release. See 6 ways to tie your pitch to breaking news for PR and publicity.

11. What Event Are You Attending?

Most people don’t think it’s a big deal if they attend a trade show or industry conference. But why not turn this into a publicity opportunity?

Write a press release telling people that you’d welcome meeting them. Encourage them to ask you questions about problems they’re facing.

12. Take a Poll or Survey

Sites like Survey Monkey make simple polling a breeze.  You can also take a poll on Facebook. Don’t forget to write a follow-up press release that reports on the results of the poll.

13. Explain How to Solve a Problem

Press releases offering tips and advice are often the very best for pulling traffic to your website. That’s becauase you can dazzle readers with your expertise, help them solve their problem, and then link to a website where they can find more information about a product or service you sell that can help them even more.

What topics do you write about when the idea well is dry?

Tools to Help You:    

How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound

Keywords: The Magic Magnets That Pull Journalists & Consumes to Your Press Releases

The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists

The Big Press Release Samples Ebook: Press Releases for Every Occasion and Industry

Online video is the most powerful tool on the Internet for driving traffic to your websites and services.

That’s why I have my own YouTube channel.

Search engines are focusing on online video to deliver the content their customers are looking for and have even changed their search parameters to push video to the top of the search results.

What does this mean for you?  Your business can get quick, effective search engine results that could take your websites months or even years to achieve, all for next to nothing to produce.

There are secret tactics that successful marketers and smart Publicity Hounds are using on free hosting sites such as YouTube that are bringing an avalanche of traffic to their websites.

My friends, Colin Martin, who edits my video, and Marc Bullard are offering a free one-hour webinar to show you how easy it is to pull traffic for specific keywords that your customers are typing into the search engines.  ““YouTube Super Secrets: Getting Views, Subscibers and Branding Your Business” will be from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 18.

Here’s What You’ll Learn

One of the biggest mistakes most people make (OK, I’m guilty as charged) is creating the video first. And then, when it’s time to upload the video to YouTube, they’re scrambling to come up with enough keywords to pull traffic.

If they’re in a hurry, they sit and guess which words their customers will be searching for, because there’s no time to do keyword research. Collin and Marc will show you how to do the critical keyword research you need BEFORE you start shooting.

You’ll also learn:

• How to properly fill out your video titles and descriptions for maximum search engine placement.
• How to find subscribers and friends for your channel.
• How to brand your channel to effectively promote your business.
• How to use comments wisely to drive traffic to your channel.
• How to share your YouTube video on all of your other social profiles.
• How to script your video to get the most traffic to your website.
• How to decipher YouTube’s statistics program to create better videos.

A Super Bonus

They’re also offering a killer bonus on how to add duplicate video content to your channel without it being rejected.  Smart Internet marketers know that the search engines frown on duplicate content. But this trick is so sneaky—and so effective—that YouTube doesn’t want you to know about it.

Who should attend the webinar?

Authors, coaches, consultants, public speakers, musicians, small business owners, and publicists who want to incorporate video into their clients’ PR campaigns.

Register for the free webinar. We’ll see you on May 18.

If you’re like me, you sometimes spend so much time and effort trying to understand the minutiae on a site like Facebook, that you forget to let your regular customers know where to find you there.

Here are 13 ways to create a trail of digital bread crumbs that will let your friends, followers and fans follow you from one social media site to another.

1. Link to social media sites from the homepage of your website.

This sounds like a no-brainer, right?

But a recent study by social media expert BL Ochman showed that only 44 percent of the Fortune 50′s homepages had ANY social media icons that link to the company’s social media pages. Amazing.

This is the graphic that’s on the right side of my homepage and in the margin of my ezine, The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week:
 

 
 2. Link from your blog.

This is often an afterthought. But with all that traffic coming in from the search engines, a blog can be one of the most valuable pieces of real estate where you should display social media buttons. I include buttons, like this, at my blog:
 
 

 

3. Link to your social media profiles from your Google profile.

If you don’t have a Google profile, create one right now. 

Your profile lets you decide what the world sees when it searches for you. It makes it easy for visitors to get to know you and find you. Google lets you include within your profile a long list of links to external sites. Here’s the list I created on my profile:
 

If you created your profile a year or two ago, revisit it. Include links to your profiles on sites like Quora.com that you might have created recently. (I just noticed all of these profiles need to be updated to include my Quora profile page.)
 

4. Link from your YouTube channel.

Linking to the channel is easy. But too often, we forget to link from it. On my YouTube channel, I include links to several social media sites from the sub-head that says “About Me”:
 
 

 
5. On LinkedIn, when accepting invitations to connect, let people know where else they can find you.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a simple tactic that has resulted in a nice little bump in the numbers for my Facebook Fans and Twitter followers. When I accept someone’s invitation to connect on LinkedIn, I don’t just hit the “Accept” button and move on. I always reply. I customize the first sentence or two, like this:

“Helen, I can’t believe it’s been three years since we met! Great connecting with you here!”

Now here’s the best part. The next two paragraphs are cut and paste. I use Shortkeys, a macro program that, with just a few keystrokes, pastes this into the bottom of the message:

“You might want to follow me on Twitter at @PublicityHound and on Facebook, where I share PR and social media tips almost daily. You can “Like” my Facebook fan page at http://www.Facebook.com/publicitytips.

“Let me know where I can follow you.

“Let’s stay in touch. Be well.”

I’ve actually had new connections reply and comment, “Thanks so much! I’ve wondered where you are on Twitter” or “I just Liked your Facebook page and commented.”
 

6. On LinkedIn, you can link to three websites from your profile.

Choose them wisely. Read what I wrote about how to get more Google juice from your LinkedIn profile.
 

7. On LinkedIn, link to a social media site when you answer question.

Every time you answer a question, you can include the URLs of three websites where people can find more information. Only one of those links should be to a site you own, or a social media page.

Don’t be stingy! Share the link love, and point out two other experts or resources that aren’t affiliated with you.
 

8. On LinkedIn, let members of Groups in which you participate know where they can find you on other sites.

I do this only if it ties into the discussion at hand. Make sure this doesn’t violate the rules of that particular Group.

LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth, who was my guest expert during the webinar on “Your LinkedIn Power Formula: How to Make Killer Contacts, Pull Crowds to Events,  be a Star in Your Industry and Track Down Leads Like a Bloodhound,” says you should be a member of no fewer than 50 LinkedIn Groups because Group membership has so many advantages.
 

9. On Facebook, use social media apps.

Add the apps for YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn so they appear as navigational buttons under your photo on your fan page.

 
I also link to Twitter from the blue bird photo in my photo ribbon at the top of my fan page:
 

  

I give detailed instructions on how to manipulate these photos in the replay of the webinar 12 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.
 
 
10. Let people on your email list know where to find you.

Write an enticing question in your Facebook fan page status update. Send the question to your email list and include the link to the status update.

To find a status update link, click on the timestamp:
  

After you click, go to the browser window, and cut and paste the link.
 

11. Don’t forget photo-sharing sites.

Link from other social media sites to sites like Flickr and SlideShare. On Flickr, you can post photos to other sites like Facebook, Twitter, your favorite blogs and more. Just set up a connection between Flickr and your favorite services, and voila!
 

12. And social bookmarking sites, too.

On StumbleUpon, for example, you can automatically share your favorites with Facebook.
 

13. On Twitter, link from your profile.
 
I’m starting to see a lot of people promoting their expertise by including links to their Quora profiles from their Twitter profiles.

This is just a start. I know you can think of more. Share your ideas below.

Actress Julianne Hough is teaming up with the national “got milk?” campaign and Seventeen magazine to find nine girls throughout the United States to become the next Milk Mustache stars.

The “Power of 9″ campaign emphasizes the power of milk’s nine essential nutrients and encourages girls to celebrate the power of looking and feeling their best, which can inspire confidence and help girls reach their goals.

The campaign is looking for girls who “are not afraid to speak up; who are confident; respected, quirky and smart; and know that lowfat milk is an important ingredient for a well-balanced life. ”

Watch the video:

    
    
How to Enter

Teens can log onto the site and submit a short video that shows who they are, what inspires them, and why milk is an important ingredient in their lives. The website also includes Hough’s tips for making a winning entry, plus other sample submissions from teens.  

Hough and a panel of judges will choose the top entries, and teens across the U.S. will have a chance to vote on their favorite nine.

Winners will be flown to Los Angeles where they’ll meet their fellow winners before posing together for a Milk Mustache ad, to be featured as a special two-page spread in the pages of Seventeen magazine this fall.  They will also be able to write at the Power of 9 blog on Seventeen.com.

This is a terrific opportunity for any girl who wants publicity.
    
   
My Ideas on How to Use This Contest 

• PR people, your clients’ daughters might want to know about this.
• Nonprofits, if your cause or issue ties into the topic of healthy eating, or girls, this contest is a natural for you. 
• Schools, let your students know.
• Girls Scouts, 4-H and Campfire Girls, tell your members.
• If you blog about these kinds of topics, and your audience would want to know, share this with your readers.
• Spread the news on Twitter and Facebook.

Drink up! And start shooting.

Writer Ed Davis asked me to pass along tips on how coffee shops can do competitive intelligence online, for an article in Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine.

These tips work just as well for any retailer selling online or offline, or anyone who wants to spy on their competitors, or any Publicity Hound who wants more publicity than the competition:

1. Start at your competitor’s website. 

They might have an RSS feed (subscribe to the feed) or links to their social media profiles or a blog. 

While you’re there, be on the lookout for any customer service type things you see that make it easy for customers to contact or interact with them.  Example: A phone number placed prominently on the homepage.  If you see something you like—an introductory video, a “contact us” form, etc.—steal the idea and add it to your own website (but don’t plagiarize).

2. Create Google Alerts.

Create separate Google Alerts for every major competitor’s business name and website URL.  Google will deliver to your email inbox, as often as you wish, information it finds on the web about your competitors or their website.  

When creating the Alert, choose “Everything,” “Once a day” and “Only the best results.”  Be sure to set up Google Alerts for your own name and business, too, so you know instantly what people are saying about you online.

3. Look for their blog.

Are they blogging?  If so, subscribe to the RSS feed.

Check to see how many comments they’re getting.  Are the comments positive or negative or both?  Do they seem to have a loyal following?  Join the conversation if you wish, but do not post a snarky comment at their blog under your own name or a fake name.  Often, it’s more valuable to just sit on the sidelines and watch.  

4. Look on Facebook. 

Do they have a Facebook profile or Fan Page?  If so, become a friend and a fan and watch closely to see what they’re sharing with their followers. Read comments from their friends and followers. Are they offering  discounts, coupons or anything special for their fans? (See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook)

5. Look on Twitter. 

If they have an account, follow them. Their tweets might tip you off to new products and services they’ll be offering, events they’re hosting, etc.

Have they created Twitter lists? If so, review them. You might see lists that include marketers or coaches who they’re learning from, or others who are passing along valuable information that you, too, can learn from. (See How to Use Twitter Lists & Directories to Generate Publicity & Build Your Brand.)

6. Use SocialMention.com.

This is just like Google Alerts, but for social media.  Receive free daily email alerts of your brand or your competitor’s brand, company, CEO, marketing campaign, etc. Social Mention monitors more than 80 social media properties including Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google, etc.    

7. Use Grader.com.

This website has a nice selection of tools that help you measure and analyze your marketing efforts, or those of your competitor.  You’ll find tools for measuring on FourSquare, Twitter, Facebook, a blog, and more.

8. Search for their videos.

Have they created videos that are pulling in traffic to their website? Go to YouTube and search under their name. Or, do a Google search for their name and then click on ”Videos” in the upper left corner.

9. Check their search engine ranking.

How well do they rank on  Google’s organic search list? Let’s say you’re a coffee shop in Port Washington, Wisconsin, where I live. Search ”coffee shop + Port Washington, Wi.” and compare how each of you rank.

There are dozens more tools for keeping track of what your competitors are doing, but these are the best and easiest places to start. What tools do you use to spy?

When you’re brainstorming ideas to promote your next special event, use this shortcut: My list of 27 questions designed to get you thinking creatively about how to generate publicity. 

The answers will help you identify juicy angles, compelling pitches and other content the media and bloggers will want to know about.

I’ll share several dozen more ideas when I host the webinar “50 Places Online to Promote Your Live and Virtual Events to Reach Your Target Market & Pull Sell-out Crowds” from 3 to 4:15 Eastern Time on Tuesday, Oct. 19. (If you can’t attend live, register anyway because you’ll get the video replay, MP3, PowerPoint slides I used, and handouts.)

Until then, whether you’re doing your own promotion or you’re part of a committee, here are 27 questions to ask while planning your event:

1. What’s the most unusual or interesting angle to this year’s event?
     
2. What trends are we expecting to see this year among attendees, and are they coming to our event to learn more about those trends?
     
3. How will a recent news event affect our live event? (Example: Is a major bridge near your event closed and undergoing repairs?  Has your organization come under fire recently?)
     
4. Who is the most interesting behind-the-scenes person or volunteer working on the event? (That person might make an interesting profile story.)
     
5. Can we sponsor a clever or funny contest in the weeks leading up to the event, on a topic that ties into our event?
     
6. Can we take a poll or survey that ties into our event, and then announce the results at the event? 
     
7. Have we created a Facebook Fan Page devoted specifically to our event and what can we offer our fans to attract their attention? (See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook)
      
8. What kind of intertesting, short videos can we create and upload to sites like YouTube to drive traffic to the sign-up page?
     
9. What are good topics for tips sheets we can write for pre-event publicity? (Example: “9 ways to keep employees from bolting to your competitor’s company” would tie into an HR conference.)
     
10. What kinds of how-to articles can we write and upload to article directory sites, or offer to bloggers who write specifically for our target market?
      
11. Who within our organization can write a guest blog post on a topic that ties into the event, and to whom can we offer it?
      
12. How are we using technology to draw more visitors?
      
13. What are we doing to attract attendees in an unconventional age bracket or demographic?
      
14. How are we making the event safer?
      
15. If it’s a virtual event like a teleseminar or webinar, what are we doing to make the event of significant value to attendees? (Are you soliciting questions beforehand and promising to answer them during the call or afterward? Will you answer  their questions during the session even though they aren’t there? Are you offering bonuses like audio and video replay links?)
      
16. What can we plan at the event to guarantee great visuals for television, preferably something that will attract the TV cameras beforehand?
      
17. What major changes are we planning this year?  Is it because of a mistake made last year? (Don’t be afraid to talk about your mistakes and what you learned from them!)
       
18. Are we celebrating a significant anniversary like a 10th, 20th 50th that we can tie into the event? If so, can we make old photos, documents and other historical memorabilia available to the media as part of pre-event publicity?
      
19. Does our event tie into a major or minor holiday? And if so, how can we piggyback onto that holiday?
      
20. What are we doing to pull more people to our event when the economy is bad and people don’t want to spend money?
      
21. Who attended our event last year and might agree to be interviewed by the media about what they saw/learned/ate/heard/experienced?
      
22. Is there a follow-up story from last year’s event that we can pitch this time around?
      
23. What is the most significant or interesting “preparation” that goes into our event?
       
24. Is there something related to our event in which we can invite a reporter to participate? (A cardboard boat regatta can invite a reporter to ride along in one of the cardboard boats and report on the competition. Fun!)
      
25. What interesting photos, graphics or logos can we offer to the media and bloggers to accompany a simple calendar listing?
      
26. What sites like Meetup.com can we use to promote our event and which of the above angles can we use to get them to our event?
      
27. Can we offer the media quiz that ties into our event?

There you have it. But what have I missed? Can you add any questions to this list?

What’s your best tip about publicizing an event?