How to Get Publicity

When you write articles for article directories, or for other websites or for print publications, does your author resource box make people smile?

The resource box is the blurb at the end that explains who you are, what you do and how you can help people. I found a fun one in the May 2008 issue of Professional Speaker magazine.

It's at the end of an article on how speakers can add humor to their presentations, and it was written by Stevie Ray, a professional speaker from Minnesota.

His resource box reads:

Steve Ray is a member of the NSA Minnesota Chapter, which means that he knows there are warmer places to live, but he's too stubborn to move. He is the author of What we Laugh At...and Why, Spontaneity Takes Practice, and Speaking in Public without Sweating in private and is a naitonally syndicated columnist for the Business Journal newspapers. He can be reached at www.steverays.org.

What little dose of humor can you include in your author resource box?

If you want to get onto TV in your own community, or in any cities throughout the U.S., and you aren't having luck getting your story onto TV news shows, you have two other alternatives: the public access channel in your community, or the leased access channel.

Both are excellent tools for Publicity Hounds. Here are the differences between the two.

Public access:

Every cable TV company has a public access channel, and anyone can get onto the channel with their own show. In the old days, you'd have to go to the studio at your local cable company, rent equipment for a small fee, bring your own camera person with you, and then tape the show. The cable company would air it whenever there was an opening in the schedule on the public access channel.

Today, however, most cable companies will accept videos that you can create in your own basement, living room or office. You don't need fancy equipment. You can get a good Flip Video camera with a mini-tripod, the kind I use, for less than $200. Even some digital cameras can produce decent-quality video that you can edit on your computer. It's that easy.

Nobody except you edits the video. Pornography is prohibited. But other than that, you can create a video about almost any topic. Your video can appear many times on the public access channel, depending on how many other people have created programs.

Jim Hunt of Pittsburgh, Pa., a past president of the National League of Cities, says many local public access channels are begging people in their communities to submit decent-quality videos.

Most local officials will tell you they're astounded at how many people watch these channels," Jim says. "If they don't have a lot of content, they'll replay your program sometimes 20 times. So people who might be surfing through the channels late at night might stop and see your program for maybe 5 seconds, get a good taste for what it's about, and then keep ."

For example, an auditor he knows created a video on identity theft, and the local cable company featured it several times. A local high school created programs on drug prevention.

Publicity Hounds can come up with lots of ideas on how to use the public access channel, also known as the PEG channel (public education and government).
Here are some of my own ideas:

---A cooking instructor could create a show ala "Rachael Ray" demonstrating how
to make certain recipes.

---A hair stylist can show how to cut a child's hair.

---A dog trainer can demonstrate how to train dogs, or teach a dog to do tricks.

---A dog groomer can demonstrate how to give a dog a bath or brush a dog's teeth.

---A small business consultant can create a show in which he interviews a local small business person and offers advice on how that person can grow their
business.

---An author can create a program that ties into the title of her book.


Leased access

If you want more than just local exposure, you can buy air time in the city of your choice and have your programs broadcast on the leased access channel.
Prices vary from market to market. In smaller markets throughout the U.S., you can "lease" air time for as little as $10 for a half hour. In very small markets, the price might drop to $6 for a half hour.

Your "show" can look like a TV show. Or, it can look like a half-hour infomercial. You decide what works best for you.

Do the math, and you can quickly see that if you rent 30 minutes of time for $10 each in 40 small markets, you can get your own TV show for less than $400 a month.

Other than having to pay for air time, leased access works in much the same way. You can create a show on whatever topic you want. Nobody edits it or censors it. You have complete control over content.

Public access and leased access are both excellent ways to gain valuable experience in front of a camera where you can make your mistakes and learn from them before trying to get onto regular TV news programs or feature shows.

Ready to get started? Check out these great video tips, courtesy of CNN.

I'm guessing this list of "101 Fantastic Freebies," compiled by PC Magazine, will get lots of page views.

Offering a list of freebies to your target audience is a fabulous publicity idea. For example:

Accountants, what free resources can you recommend so I can understand how to pay fewer taxes?

Business coaches, what freebies can business people take advantage of to stay motivated?

Speakers, what free resources can other speakers use to find content for their speeches, inspiration for humor, tips on creating an attractive one-sheet, and advice on how to negotiate fees? (I love the
SpeakernNet News website. You'll find lots of topics for speakers in the Compilations section.)

Tourism bureaus, where can visitors find the best freebies in your city?

See how easy it is? You don't even have to come up with a list of 100 freebies. Ten will do. Or only five. The point is, consumers and the media love discussing freebies. So offer them, and publicity is yours.
Once you've compiled your list, write and distribute a press release online, pitch the list to bloggers, and create a video.

Having trouble finding content for your blog?

"What can I blog about?" is one of the most frequent questions people ask me. Here's a list to get you started.

--Anything related to your area of expertise

--New products or service you're offering

--Your opinion on breaking news events that affect your industry

--Your opinion on controversial topics

--Answers to questions people email to you (use their name only with their permission)

--Your opinion on online articles (link to the article)

--Interesting blog posts you've discovered at other blogs, and your opinion (link)

--New products you love or hate

--Free advice for problems your ideal clients are having

--A poll you want to take

--A contest you want to announce

--Feedback from your audience on an interesting question

--Something you've written and want to call attention to elsewhere online (article directory, a comment at somebody else's blog)

--An award you've won

--Your MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles

--Comment on content you subscribe to via RSS feeds

--Upcoming speaking engagements or events you are hosting

--A problem you're struggling with (ask for feedback)

A wonderful way to generate publicity for your industry, trade show or convention is to have a speed event that challenges members to do something as fast as possible and beat the clock.

At the Nightclub and Bar Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas in February, Bobby "G" Gleason participated in a speed cocktail-mising event and made 253 cocktails in only 60 minutes, placing him in the Guinness Book of World Record.

That's a little more than four cocktails per minute. Each cocktail had to be made from a different recipe. He made 70 different types of margaritas.

Gleason, a Las Vegas resident, is the master mixologist for Beam Global Spirits & Wine.

Here's why speed competitions like this one are great for publicity:

---They provide three critical elements that TV loves: people, color and motion.

---A competition like this could be what convinces the media to cover your
event. (See "How to Plan & Promote Sizzling Special Events.")
 

---They call attention to the trade association

---They provide great fodder for the media. I read the story about this in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's food section on Sunday, complete with a recipe for one of his margaritas

---The Guinness world record will live on forever, until somebody else breaks it

---It promotes the brand, in this case, Hornitos Reposado tequila and DeKuyper Signature triple sec

---It's fun. What blogger or media outlet wouldn't love this story?

The next time you sponsor an event, consider a speed competition.

March 9: Daylight Savings Time begins. Pitch stories about how the longer days affect things like traffic safety,  our moods, and outdoor activities.

March 16: What do people do with the palms they receive at church today, on Palm Sunday? I've seen them woven and braided. What other ways are they displayed?

March 17: This the day to promote anything that's green, from beer to
pizza to dogs dyed in green.

March 20: Spring begins today, a perfect time for tips on how to
prepare yards and gardens for planting.

March 23: Easter comes early this year. What does that mean for
retailers? Do they lose sales on things like spring clothing and candy?

April 19: Passover begins at sundown.  How do you celebrate
Passover?

April 23: Administrative Professionals Day replaces the old
"Secretaries Day."  How do administrative professionals want to be thanked?
With flowers and candy, or with a pat on the back and a bonus? What about virtual assistants? How do you thank your VA? (See
"Hire a Virtual Assistant to Help with PR, Publicity")  

April 25: How is your school, neighborhood, garden club or community
group celebrating National Arbor Day? Explain what people need to know about how to plant a tree.    

 

Here's a great podcast that will you give all kinds of ideas on how to use a podcast to market to a younger audience.

It's an interview with Duncan Wardle, VP of Global PR for Disney Parks & Resorts, courtesy of "On the Record Online."

If you're targeting a younger audience with your product, service, cause or issue, don't waste your time trying to generate publicity only in the mainstream media.

Listen now and learn how Disneyland's PR strategy reaches out to kids.

I first heard about the "Feed a CPA" idea last year, when Seth Hodes of the Baltimore law firm of Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz emailed me to tell me about a neat publicity stunt his firm staged to generate publicity.

They hired a local cater to deliver gourmet lunches to three random CPA firms in Maryland on March 1, a crunch time for accountants. CPAs rely on attorneys for referrals, so it was as much about building relationships as it was about generating publicity.

He wrote a three-paragraph press release and sent it to 200 media outlets. The story appeared in The Daily Record in Maryland, at an accounting blog, and in the AICPA Newsletter which goes to 350,000 CPAs.

A few weeks ago, Publicity Hound Yves Marie Danie Baptiste, shown here, who coaches small businesses on how to generate publicity, told me she read about that idea in my newsletter last year and she's tweaking it three different ways.

Baptiste, who owns an organic pet food business, organized shops in her neighborhood in Queens, New York to provide a day of fun for homeless families on Monday, January 21. You can read the article she got in her local newspaper. The local FOX TV station also covered it.

Here's her second idea. Instead of feeding a CPA at tax time, how about feeding a florist this week, while they're filling orders for Valentine's Day? This story is custom-made for TV because it has all the elements TV loves: people, color and motion.

Yves isn't done yet. She used an idea she heard from me and encouraged one of her clients, Girgor Makarian, owner of Ani Pizza Palace in Astoria, to send a heart-shaped pizza to one of the local police departments this week, just to say thanks. She even delivered the pizza. That story is scheduled to be printed in the Queens Courier newspapers this week.

Brilliant.

For even  more publicity ideas, check out Yvet's small business marketing blog.

If you think getting onto those big TV talk shows is way too much effort, this item is for you.

It's from Luke Vorstermans of The Orion Group Ltd. He writes:

When we launched Scentuelle, an innovative aroma patch that enhances the libido, we sent out press release, media kits and emails to countless of reporters, editors and media types.

Overall, our efforts were not that fruitful. Like so many entrepreneurs seeking exposure, we were trying to do it all...and do it perfectly!

One afternoon in a moment of frustration, I started surfing a few websites of my target market--women-- hoping to find some way in.

On one site (and probably overlooked on previous visits) I noticed a button that said:

"Got a product or idea that would be of interest to our audience? Send us an email."

What could be easier? I sent in a short pitch and heard nothing back for three months. Then out of nowhere came a phone call from the producers of The Rachael Ray Show asking for information on our innovative technology.

Three weeks later, Scentuelle was center stage for more than 10 minutes on RR's "Human Lab: Sex Drive" segment. Our website has been a busy spot ever since!

Oftentimes in our efforts to do the "perfect PR," we miss the golden opportunities right under our noses.

The Publicity Hound says:

Hounds, you can pitch your idea to Rachael Ray.

When a reporter at a big newspaper or magazine calls for an interview, you're elated.

Then reality sinks in.

You know reporters are skilled at conducting interviews and getting subjects to say things they really don't want to say. You, on the other hand, don't know anything about interviews. When they ask a question, you're supposed to answer, right?

Asking the Hard Question--Top 10 Interview Tips by freelancer Michelle
Vranizan Rafter, designed to help freelance writers ask their subjects really difficult questions, are perfect for Publicity Hounds, because they'll give you an excellent understanding of the techniques journalists use to loosen your lips.

Knowing which wrench a reporter will pull out of his toolbox to pry open your mouth is all part of preparing for an interview. Read the tips the next time a journalist calls---even if you think the interview is for an innocent story that can't get you into too  much trouble.  

See Alternatives to Saying "No comment'"

When the National Speakers Association updated its website last year, one of its most valuable documents for Publicity Hounds disappeared, and nobody seems to know what happened to it.

It's a White Paper titled The Expertise Imperative, written several years ago by NSA members Alan Parisse, Rita Risser, Bob Treadway and Alan Weiss. They spent months researching the topic of expertise and defining exactly what speakers must do to be considered experts in their fields.

I had a hard copy of that 12-page report and I took it to all my live presentations, waved it in the air and recommended that every audience member read it. I recommended it during teleseminars I conducted. I wrote about it in ebooks and special reports I created.

Why? Three reasons:

First, if you're calling yourself an expert, you'd better be darn sure you are one.

Second, the media flock to experts. If you want publicity, expertise opens doors. The very word "expert," mentioned in a pitch to a reporter, can get you the story you're hoping for.

Third, the report identifies several levels of experise and offers guidelines on what should be expected at each level. If a reporter asks, "What makes you an expert anyway?" During an interview, you'd better know how to respond.

So that it won't be lost forever, I've uploaded The Expertise Imperative to my website, with permission.

If you're not a speaker, and you still want to be considered an expert in your field, read it. People from all walks of life, from belly dancers and mountain climbers to physicians and etiquette experts, are members of NSA. So just about anybody who wants to become an expert can benefit from its findings.

Most interesting is that expertise isn't only about what you know but about what you do. And what do experts do? You'll have to read the report to find out.
Please feel free to share it.

When it comes to knowing how to sell books by doing a radio interview, author Joe Sabah is one of the masters.

He offers a tip I've never heard before. During your phone interview, have a copy of the state map where the radio station is located. It lets you refer to cities, areas and regions in the listening area, and you sound like you're one of them.

If you can't get your hands on a map, at the very least, do some quick research online to learn the geography so you can work the local lingo into your answers.

Read his great tips on how authors can make radio interviews pay.

Brett Favre's press conference a PR touchdown

TripAdvisor.com's '10 dirtiest hotels'

Comment on popular videos with your own video comment

TV interview tip: Don't use the anchor's name

Every Christmas season, for three years in a row, I've been thanking readers of my ezine, "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," by compiling the best two dozen tips from each year's issue and offering it as a special gift.

"The Best of the Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week" of 2005, 2006 and 2007 are yours, too, if you go to my
Free Publicity Articles page and download them.

You'll find dozens of terrific ideas for promoting your product, service, cause or issue.