The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Thanks to Publicity Hound Paul Furiga for pointing out the special section on trends in the November 21 Wall Street Journal. It’s worth a trek to your local library to check it out.

The paper tracked trends in 10 industries: retail, radio, utilities, housing, groceries, delivery services, advertising, the security industry, venture capital and steel.

Publicity Hounds will find several interesting trends in the radio category. For example, the number of commercial stations broadcasting in Spanish climbed to 708 this year from 665 last year and 427 in 1995. Radio stations are also experimenting with talk shows or even entire programming lineups aimed at women, with the idea of pulling in more radio advertisers that go after the coveted mommy demographic. Listeners will also notice that many radio hosts are forming membership clubs, such as the “Friday Night Girls” club formed by Delilah Rene, whose nationally syndicated show features love songs mixed with uplifting stories from listeners.

Use the section to identify trends in your own industry or industries you are targeting for more business. Then create a short, catchy pitch that weaves in statistics about trends related to the story idea—a sure way to catch the media’s attention. Raleigh Pinskey, a wizard at creating memorable pitches, shows you how to do it on the CD or electronic transcript titled “How to Create the Perfect 30-Second Pitch.” It comes with a list of Raleigh’s 26 ways to reel in the media with hooks. You can download it and be reading it as soon as your order has been approved.

Posted In: Radio Publicity
posted On: 11/30/2005: 11:56 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

It’s not even December yet, and the sparks are already flying.

In some ranks, it’s no longer Christmas Eve. Now it’s “Holiday Eve.” Others don’t send Christmas greetings. They send “holiday greetings.” As for that tree…you guessed it. It’s now a “holiday tree.”

On AM and FM radio stations and on TV talk shows, the debate is raging over whether somebody out there is stealing Christmas. This topic just begs Publicity Hounds to jump into the fray and, at the same time, promote their product, service, cause or issue.

—If you sell a product or service with the word “Christmas” in its name, and you’re keeping it that way, or if you’ve substituted the word “holiday” for “Christmas,” let business reporters know. Be ready to talk about what this means to profitability.

—Federal agencies, state offices, county governments, cities, towns and villages should let local reporters know what’s allowed and what isn’t on government property. Creches at City Hall? Religious Christmas carols? Where do you draw the line?

—Historians can present another view. How has this issue been handled throughout history? Was it ever a problem until now? And why is the debate more heated than ever?

—How is your company handling this dilemma? Has your Christmas party turned into a holiday party? Are you editing the word Christmas out of your company newsletter? I’ll bet most of you corporate types wouldn’t touch this one. Too bad. You could end up on the front page of your local newspaper.

—Or is this whole thing fabricated by hysterical Christians and conservative talk radio, as an article at Salon.com implies?

Don’t forget the bloggers, letters to the editor and opinion columns, letters to ezine publishers and Internet discussion boards that would be interested in this topic. For tips on how to do this, see “How to Use Newspaper and Magazine Editorial Pages.”

As for my household, we don’t send greetings, but if we did, they’d be called Christmas cards. When we buy gifts, we call it Christmas shopping. We have a Christmas tree. And we’re having friends and family over on Christmas Eve to enjoy a Christmas dinner, Christmas cookies and Christmas cheer–while we play our favorite Christmas carols on CD. We might even watch our favorite Christmas movie. It’s “White Christmas.”

And what do we want for Christmas? A “Just Say Merry Christmas” wristband.

Merry Christmas.

Posted In: The Local Angle, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media
posted On: 11/29/2005: 10:00 am: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments

Rebecca Sharp Colmer of Ann Arbor, Michigan writes:

“I have just launched an online dating site for senior citizens, called SeniorSparks.com. In addition, I have just released a new book in The Senior’s Guide Series called The Senior’s Guide to Dating (Again)—Traditional and Online. Senior Sparks offers dating seminars and personalized compatibility coaching. Any ideas on how to get booked for dating seminars on a national level?”

Posted In: Business Promotion, Authors & Publishers, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: : 2:30 am: By Joan
Comments: 7 Comments

If you have a product that would be a perfect gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or graduation day, now is the time to start thinking about pitching ideas to national magazines.

You might even get in under the wire for Valentine’s Day. Here are some leads to get you started:

—Vegetarian Times magazine is considering a feature that ties in with Father’s Day, focusing on healthy living items for men. It would include food and nutrition products for vegetarian dads.

—Selecta, a magazine that targets upscale Hispanics in the U.S. and Latin America, wants to know about high-end, luxury products, accessories and gadgets for Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day.

—Business Week magazine wants to know about products that will make good Father’s Day gifts such as high-tech gadgets, apparel, food and travel items, etc. Their deadline is February 15.

—Florida International Magazine, which targets residents and lovers of Florida, wants high-end luxury lifestyle products for special features for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gift guides.

I found those leads and dozens of others when I got a day pass at The Gift List, a website that features tons of leads for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduation Day and lots of other special features planned for the first six months of next year. You can get the same pass that’s good for 24 hours so you can check out all the leads. But you must send an email to Amy and tell her you want to do a test-drive. You’ll be amazed at what you find.

Posted In: Photos & Graphics, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media
posted On: 11/27/2005: 7:59 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Brick-and-mortar retailers refer to the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday, the official start of the Christmas shopping season. Whatever you call it, you’ve got opportunities galore to tie your product or service to it. Think trends.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

—Credit counselors should remind us about how credit card companies have us in their grip this time of year. Pass along tips on how to be a smart shopper this holiday season and stay within our means.

—According to findings of a survey conducted by Circuit City, 37 percent of respondents said they will do more holiday shopping online this year versus last year. If you’re an expert in Internet marketing, offer tips on how Internet marketers or anyone who buys online can avoid rip-offs this holiday season. For example, any order I get from Nigeria raises a red flag, and the buyer must pass a serious of security checks before I’ll ship the product.

—Retailers are tightening their policies on returns. If you’re one of them, let business and consumer reporters know why.

—I love getting and receiving gift certificates, but not the ones that expire just a few months after Christmas. Consumer experts can offer tips about things to watch out for, like short expiration dates, if we’re buying certificates to give as gifts.

—If your business involves children, do your own mini-review of age-appropriate toys and share your findings with the local media. They love stories like this.

—Get into holiday gift guides. From now until Christmas, newspapers will be flooded with Holiday Gift Guides. Even though the deadline for most magazine gift guides has passed, more than 100 newspapers, wire services and TV and radio stations are actively seeking products and services for holiday gift features. Check The Gift List, a handy resource guide chock full of contact information for media planning holiday gift features. Test-drive this service with a 24-hour pass. Send an email to Amy and tell her you want to try it out.

If you’re submitting shopping tips, a great way to do it is with a tip sheet like “10 tips on how to…” During a teleseminar I hosted called “Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes: How to Write Them and Why Editors Love Them,” I explained that briefs are one of the best ways to get into national magazines because they don’t take up much room. Besides, editors are always looking for short items to fill odd-size holes on a page.

So stop going after only the big stories.

Posted In: The Local Angle, Magazine Publicity, Pitching the Media
posted On: 11/23/2005: 3:27 pm: By Joan
Comments: No Comments