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Joan Stewart

100 Retweet Targets

July 5th, 2010
Joan Stewart

If you’re looking for great content to retweet, and you want others to retweet your own content, check out this list of “100 Retweet Targets for Web Professionals,” courtesy of Website Magazine.

They did a little research and chose the top 10 Twitterers in 10 web-related categories, including PR.

“This list is in no way scientific and it is not all based on the account’s number of Twitter followers,” the magazine says. “In some cases, the account’s willingness to retweet has been weighed along with total followers. We cannot guarantee that each account is an expert in the industry or that they will follow you back–some will, but some will not. However, even if they don’t follow you, consider an occasional “@” tweet to get their attention. Just make sure it’s a quality update that is relevant to their interests.”


Joan Stewart

Create Link Bait

June 28th, 2010
Joan Stewart

If you’re looking for an enticing headline for an article or blog post that you want to go viral, here’s a handy, free tool that can help you create link bait.

It’s http://www.LinkBaitGenerator.com. Just type in the subject of your blog post, note whether it’s singular or plural, hit “submit,” and it creates a headline. I typed in the word “publicity” and it suggested these three headlines:

10 ballsy pranks involving publicity that failed miserably

9 crazy ways that publicity is infiltrating pop culture

6 ways Hollywood makes publicity look ridiculous in movies

Not every headline suggestion will work, but keep plugging in words and you’ll find one that fits.


Joan Stewart

7 Topics Inflight Magazine Editors and Readers Love

June 21st, 2010
Joan Stewart

1. Management and leadership tips, including business books, from authors, speakers and consultants.

2. Calendar listings for events tourists would love like antique shows, museum exhibits, food festivals and sporting events.

3. “Best kept secrets” and “off the beaten path” destinations in a community or region, from restaurants to quaint shopping areas, but only in a city or region the airline serves.

4. Techie gadgets and new products for business people or travelers, for the New Products section.

5. Profiles of successful local authors, artists and community leaders, but only if they live or work in a city or region the airline serves.

6. Stories related to food and wine, from tours of local wineries to profiles of local celebrity chefs.

7. The history and culture of a city or region the airline serves, particularly if it can be tied to an upcoming event that tourists would love.


Joan Stewart

9 key questions to ask press release writing services

June 14th, 2010
Joan Stewart

–Does your price include keyword research?
    
–What is the fee for writing, and is there a separate fee for online distribution?
    
–Is there an additional fee for sending the release to targeted media outlets and bloggers?
    
–How many revisions does the price include?
    
–What’s your turnaround time?
    
–What clients have hired you to write press releases and what are their phone numbers?
    
–Can you tell me about the success stories those clients have had as a result of releases you wrote for them?
     
–What is the fee? (Most reliable services charge $150 and higher for writing a press release.)

–You should also ask any company how it judges the success of a release.

You can also create a Google Alert for the headline on your press release and see how many news outlets, bloggers and websites pick up the release.


Joan Stewart

Time-saving Blogging Tips

May 24th, 2010
Joan Stewart

The biggest excuse people use to explain why they aren’t blogging, or why they don’t comment at other people’s blogs, is “I don’t have time.”

Here’s a tip that that lets you do both at the same time.

Create a Google Alert at http://www.Google.com/alerts for a keyword or keyword phrase.  When you check your alerts and you find a blog post that screams out for your expert commentary, tell yourself: “What I’m going to write here will be the basis of a post at my own blog.”

Write the comment.  Save it to your clipboard.  Then take it over to your blog where you can expound on it a little more.  Then, link back to the blog where you commented.  That’s exactly what I did over the weekend when I saw law firm marketing expert Kevin O’Keefe’s blog post about press releases.

The topic was perfect for me.  I wrote a lengthy comment, brought it back to my own blog and elaborated, linking back to Kevin’s blog.  You can read my post “Why a press release and not just a blog post?” at http://ow.ly/1pVlma

This little trick also works when you’re answering questions on LinkedIn.


Joan Stewart

How to Get onto Radio Shows

May 17th, 2010
Joan Stewart

If you’re a guest expert, or a PR person who represents an expert, and you’re looking for radio talk shows and podcasts that need guests, don’t pitch only the big shows.

Many of them are difficult to book, and you might be far better off trying to get onto shows that reach niched audiences.

Check out RadioGuestList.com. You can use this site several ways.

Experts, authors and PR firms searching for the right shows can sign up here.  Whenever a talk show is looking for guests, RadioGuestList will notify you.

If you’re a radio show booker, podcaster, talk radio host or TV producer who needs guests, submit your talk show booking opportunities here.  RadioGuesetList will email its list of guest experts, authors and PR firms so that experts who are a good fit for your show can email you directly.

On the homepage, you can see a list of categories on the right side.  I clicked on a few of them and saw lots of opportunities for authors, musicians, small business people and Internet marketers to appear as guests.  If you have an area of expertise, you’ll find something here that’s a good fit.

The site is maintained by Scott Fox, an author and Internet marketer.  Check out his 10 tips on how to use social networking to market your product or service.  You can also follow RadioGuestList on Twitter.

 


Joan Stewart

How to Keep Yourself Safe on Social Media Sites

May 10th, 2010
Joan Stewart

Lots of people don’t think twice before advertising where they are, or where they’re going, on Twitter or Facebook.

If that describes you, and you also use the FourSquare app on your phone, don’t be surprised if your smiling face and your next tweet show up on PleaseRobMe.com, a site that mocks people who broadcast to the world when they’re leaving home and where they’re going.

Here’s how it works.  People download the FourSquare app to their phone and create a profile.  You can invite friends from your Gmail, Facebook or Twitter accounts.  You then use FourSquare to ”check-in.” When you tell people where you are, FourSquare tells your friends where they can find you and recommends places to go and things to do nearby.

The problem occurs when you tell FourSquare to automatically broadcast your whereabouts to your Twitter and Facebook followers.  As soon as somebody checks in, their tweet or message shows up on a scrolling list on PleaseRobMe.com’s home page.  Dozens of new messages appear each minute.

Thieves can use the information on PleaseRobMe.com several ways.  They can set up a filter and search by username or city.  Both Twitter and FourSquare note when you have marked your location.  That gives thieves an idea of about how long you’ll be away from home.


Joan Stewart

How to Connect on LinkedIn

May 3rd, 2010
Joan Stewart

When a business associate told me last week that she couldn’t understand why LinkedIn froze her account, especially because she invited only a few dozen people to connect within several months, I had a pretty good idea how that happened.

Three out of four of the people who invite me to connect with them on LinkedIn make the same mistake she probably made.  They fail to explain on the invitation how we know each other, or how they know me.

If somebody invites you to connect and you don’t know them, LinkedIn gives you the option of clicking on “I don’t know this user” and “Report as spam.”

If too many people say they don’t know you, LinkedIn can freeze your account.

I always give the person who’s inviting me the benefit of the doubt.  If they send the standard “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” invitation, I always reply and ask, “How do we know each other, or how do you know me?” I ask that question so often that I’ve even created a macro key for it so I don’t have to retype it hundreds of times.

Often, I learn that many of those people read my newsletter or heard me at a speaking engagement, or they were referred to me by a friend who follows me.  So I usually connect with them and we start a conversation.  If there’s no connection between us, I don’t connect.

Other LinkedIn users might not be so patient.


Joan Stewart

Pitching a Story to Motivated Magazine

April 26th, 2010
Joan Stewart

If you or your PR client have a great story to tell that can motivate entrepreneurs and upper management, you might be a good candidate for Motivated magazine.

Editor Shevaun Voisin said she welcomes pitches.  But before pitching, please check out the magazine’s website to get a good feel for its mission.

She says:

“MOTIVATED Magazine encourages readers to rise to their fullest potential.  Pairing passion with purpose, the magazine features insightful articles submitted directly from today’s world leaders, entrepreneurs and everyday people with extraordinary stories to share.

“Each issue focuses on a theme in an effort to inspire and motivate readers on their journey toward business and personal success.  Topics range from the importance of leading, communicating, and investing, to strategizing, producing, and growing, all in an effort to achieve balance and overall happiness.

“Be sure to read my editorials so you understand the reason why I publish my magazine…it is very important to me that contributors understand my intention behind the magazine so that they are on board with my mission to empower and educate others by pairing passion with purpose.”

The target market includes entrepreneurs and upper management executives who have an interest in growing personally and professionally.  The magazine is shelved in the business section of Chapters, Indigo, and Barnes & Noble bookstores.

Email her at Shevaun at DeclanMcAndrewPublishing.com.


Joan Stewart

Piggybacking Publicity

April 19th, 2010
Joan Stewart

Piggybacking publicity onto popular or obscure days, weeks and months of the year is one of the easiest ways to find your way into the media.

Here’s one of the more obscure days of the year.  It’s Pi Day, and was last month on the 14th of March.  It celebrates pi, which is 3.141592653589793, the mathematical constant that goes on without any repeating patterns, right into infinity.

Columnist Jim Stingl of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a column  about two local businesses celebrated.

* Discovery World Museum is giving prizes to math wizards and Einsteins who can recite from memory the most digits of pi.

* Each year, Whole Foods Market in Milwaukee gives away free slices of apple, cherry or blueberry pie, starting at 3:14 p.m. It also sells pies for $3.14.

Your business doesn’t have to be tied to food, or math, in order for you to generate a little publicity from Pi Day.  What can you sell for $3.14?  Or what challenge can you issue to your customers that ties into the numbers 3, 1 and 4? 

Note: You don’t have to create your own holiday, or your own day, week or month of the year in order to generate publicity from it. You can piggyback onto anyone else’s special day. Publicity Hounds do that all the time, with great results.

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