Beth Ann Black of Coppell, Texas has a client, a large group of specialty veterinarians--all for animals--that will celebrate their fifth anniversary this spring. She wants fun promotional ideas, beyond the one they've already thought of: hosting an open house where current and potential clients bring teddy bears to be examined so the doctors … [Read more...]
Alternative publications
The more you pitch to large magazines and newspapers, the stiffer the competition for an editor's attention.
That's why placing stories in alternative publications can be so much easier--and sometimes more effective. They have a ready-made audience for your topic, regardless of how obscure it is.
Check out the [Read more...]
How to Get Onto “The 700 Club”
Sharon Dotson of Bayou City PR in Houston, Texas wants to know how to get a client onto “The 700 Club,” a live TV program that airs weekdays from The Christian Broadcasting Network’s (CBN) broadcast facilities in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Hosted by Pat Robertson, the program focuses on Christian ministry.
From Sandy Dumont of Norfolk, … [Read more...]
Finding the nut graph will help you with pitches
Journalists refer to it as the "nut graph."
It's short for "nut paragraph," the part near the beginning that explains, in a nutshell, what the story is about. The nut graph often lends perspective, includes statistics or makes a comparison between something then and now.
Here's an examples from a recent Wall Street Journal.
A … [Read more...]
Finding the right story hook will help you sell on radio
Veteran radio talk show host George McKenzie thinks radio is an often overlooked publicity outlet for authors, consultants, and anyone who has a product or service to sell.
Why? Because they pitch their books, products or service to radio DJs, and fail miserably.
The secret, he says, is not to pitch what you are selling. Rather, … [Read more...]
Less is more when contacting the media
Inexperienced Publicity Hounds make the frequent mistake of inundating media people with too much information. For example:
--Sending an unsolicited media kit along with a pitch letter, with grand illusions of the journalist spending hours poring over your materials. (Dream on).
--Sending an unsolicited book, with hopes that a … [Read more...]
Use sales copy techniques when pitching
When you send a snail-mail or email pitch to a journalist, does the copylook like a big block of gray? Or do you flag the journalist to the most importance elements of your pitch by using things such as sub-heads, boldtype, indented paragraphs, underlined text and a post-script?
Publicity Hounds who borrow those techniques, used by the world's … [Read more...]
Target smaller niche publications
When you're creating a media plan for yourself or a client, don't overlook all those second- and third-level publications--from free weekly shoppers to alternative newspapers--that might be hungry for your story idea or article.
When I was in Studio City, California in February to speak to the Book Publicists of Southern California, I … [Read more...]
Things to consider when hiring a publicist
At least once a week, somebody emails me and asks if I can recommend a good publicist.
Sure, I could. But usually, I don't. That's because you need to consider dozens of factors before hiring one.
--How much money can you spend?
--Do you want to get into only big national media, or do you want publicity in your own … [Read more...]
How to Get Booked on “The View”
After finally landing a spot on a major TV talk show, publicists and guests sometimes make the big mistake of thanking the wrong person.
They send flowers, or candy, or baskets of muffins, or cute little gifts that they know the Barbara Walters and Joy Behars of the world will love. But they ignore the most important person, the one who … [Read more...]