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Those Annoying Follow-up Calls ~ Tips To Get Journalists To Welcome Your Call

February 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

weird iguanaBefore you make your next call to a journalist to follow up on something you sent, read the article at http://tinyurl.com/343etg. It was written by Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten, and it’s a perfect example of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of those annoying follow-up calls from PR people.

I know. I took calls like that during my 22 years in the newspaper industry, and they drove me crazy.

Here are some quick tips for following up:

–Journalists say they hate follow-up calls. Truth is, they hate follow-up calls like the ones Gene Weingarten writes about. If you follow up to offer an additional piece of information only for that journalist, or to suggest an idea for a photo to accompany your earlier story pitch, the journalist might welcome your call.

–Never, ever follow up to ask journalists if they received your press release and if they know when it will be printed. They won’t drop what they’re doing to talk to you, and they’ll quickly brand you as a pest. (Why do PR firms keep doing this?)

–You may have to follow up as many as seven times, using a combination of phone and email, before you hear back. If, after seven follow-ups, you hear nothing, stop calling and emailing.

–If you follow up and hear nothing, never assume the journalist isn’t interested. Sometimes, a reporter will print your email message, toss it into an “ideas” folder, then return to it two years later on a slow news day.

Author Jill Lublin interviewed journalists for their best suggestions on following up, and she discussed them during a teleseminar I conducted with her called “Failproof Ways to Follow Up.” It’s available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

Read more about what you’ll learn at http://tinyurl.com/bmyn7

* Thanks to Publicity Hound Meredith Hamilton of Expert Communications in Clearwater, Florida, for letting us know about the Washington Post article.

Special Thanks To …
Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
– – – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy list “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

If you like these tips please visit “The Publicity Hound Website” and pass them on to your friends, clients and colleagues.

Looking for more articles related to publicity?

Filed Under: Networking, Publicity Tagged With: media, press release, Publicity, publicty
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5 Ways To Increase Your Email Open Rates

January 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I just came across 5 amazing email marketing tips from Entrepreneur.com.

The article written by Derek Gehl is titled: “Top Secret: Get Your E-mails Opened”.

Here are the major points that are simple, and quick to implement immediately:

  • Take full advantage of your custom fields to make your subject line really compelling. Use the Name & City fields such as this: “Janet, want to get out of Tucson this weekend?”
  • Keep subject lines under 41 characters and include your benefit, offer, or most important element right within the first few word.
  • The more your subject lines look like personal e-mails from friends, family members or business associates, the more likely it is that they’ll be opened.
  • Avoid capitalization, exclamation marks and dollar signs.
  • Make sure your subject line is related to your actual message.
  • Come up with an interesting angle that grabs your customers’ attention and makes them want to open the e-mail.
  • Never stop testing and trying new subject lines.

Good luck, and please share your savvy email marketing tips.

Filed Under: Marketing, Notes, Planning, Publicity, Resources, Virtual Business Tagged With: eMail, email marketing, Internet Marketing, open rates
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10 Creative Blog Content Strategies

January 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Having a solid blogging strategy can build your credibility, generate leads, and ultimately assist with the development of your entire online marketing plan. The key is to find the right content that will keep your readers engaged, informed, and coming back for more!

But what exactly should your blog content include?  This is a question I hear over and over again.

The following article titled, “Don’t Let Blog Content Confuse You” by Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound is very informative. Joan shares with us exactly what types of content you should include in your blog to maximize your exposure and increase readership.

Don’t Let Blog Content Confuse You

If you’re an expert, you’d better be cranking out lots of content
in these formats:

Blogs. Ezines. Twitter posts. Facebook notes. Articles at article
directory sites. Articles at your own website.

Yet some Publicity Hounds are easily confused about what kinds of
topics to write in which types of formats, particularly when
writing for their blogs.

Over the weekend, Publicity Hound Michele Nightengale, who
teaches bricks-and-mortar businesses how to market online, told
me she’s going to start blogging. But she’s confused about
the difference between content for her blog and content for
articles at her website.

“I can’t seem to differentiate them in my mind,” she said. “The
ideas for my articles page and my blog are identical. I can only
think to post my articles on my blog. How do you treat them
separately and without too much duplicate content?”

She’s right. There’s a lot of overlap. Here’s how I differentiate
the two:

Articles posted at article directory sites like
http://www.EzineArticles generally focus on helping people solve
a particular problem. The structure of these articles can follow
various formats. But in general, they offer solutions to a
problem. And they’re about 500-700 words. Examples:

  • TV Publicity: 6 ways to find your way onto the local evening news
  • Inflight magazines: 8 topics editors love to write about
  • Hiring a publicist? Know the 4 ways they charge for their services
  • Public service announcements have these 6 elements

Almost everything else, I told her, is fodder for a blog. Think of blogging as journaling, or keeping a business diary. It usually includes much more opinion than how-to articles do. And the writing can be a little more personal and informal. You can use a blog to:

  • State an opinion on a topic.
  • Comment on somebody else’s blog post or article and link to it.
  • Comment on something happening in the news.
  • Offer a quiz for a reader.
  • Present a question from a reader and then offer the answer.
  • Present a case study.
  • Disagree with somebody else’s position on a topic, and explain why.
  • Discuss something in your personal life that relates to something in your professional life.
  • Review a book, home study course or other product you’ve bought.
  • Comment on a service you have used.

The ideas for blog content are endless. If you’re still short on
ideas, create several Google Alerts at
http://www.Google.com/alerts for topics you want to blog about.
Google will then email you as often as you wish and let you know
what articles, videos, news stories and other content about those
topics appear online.

I’ll address the topic of avoiding duplicate content in an
upcoming issue of this newsletter. But in general, you don’t want
to use identical content at your website, blog and article
directory sites.

If you’re new to blogging, or if your current blog isn’t
generating the traffic or sales you had hoped, you’ll learn some
quick tips from Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, aka The Blog
Squad, during a f~ree teleseminar from 4 to 5 p.m. on Monday,
Jan. 26. It’s called “Boost Your Biz with a Blog” and Denise and
Patsi will explain how they differentiate blog content from all
the other kinds of content they produce. You’ll also learn about
the biggest mistakes bloggers make and how beginning bloggers can
sabotage their own success.

Register at http://www.blogsquadteleseminars.com/joan/.

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

Filed Under: Blogging, Planning, Publicity Tagged With: blog content, blog startegy, Blogging, joan stewart
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Local Ottawa Entrepreneur Announces Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant Certification

July 24, 2008 By 1 Comment

For Immediate Release
Ottawa, Ontario
22 July, 2008

Local Virtual business owner makes the grade and receives coveted marketing certification.

Summer is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year, but also a period of great changes and growth, as Ms. Frances Palaschuk, owner of Ultimate Biz Assistant, a Virtual Assistance company specializing in eMarketing and business support, was awarded her Internet Marketing Certification from VAclassrom.com, one of the leading experts in the field.

“The Virtual Assistance Industry is not a myth anymore but a reality that is taking the Brick and Mortar world by its foundations,” says Frances Palaschuk. “The landscape of the web is changing fast, and as a Virtual Assistant, it is our responsibility not only to upgrade our services at all times, but also offer to our customers up to date assistance which is pertinent to their requirements. Choosing to further ones education is not a choice but a pre-requisite in our business.”

Always true to her word, and wanting to be able to widen the range of services she presently offers to her ever growing client base, Frances decided that going that “extra step” also meant going back to the basics by enrolling herself in one of the best eMarketing courses presently offered to Virtual Assistants. “This was one of the easiest choices I ever made says Frances, as marketing has always been of great interest to me and one of my secret passions!”

Learning and participating in the VAclassroom.com was a revelation as each course offered a better understanding and outlook on what the hurdles are that a business owner presently faces when they first expose their business to the online market. “As similar as the virtual and non virtual world may be, when it comes to marketing your own business, promoting your enterprise on the web is a totally different ball game.” explains Frances. “In our days a virtual business owner really has to take a different approach when it comes to marketing and promoting their business online. Not only are they faced with a confusing array of tools like Web Analytics, Webinars, and Keyword Research to name a few, but they also have to take into consideration their Networking value like Blogging, Social Media Networking, Podcasting and Video Marketing, and the list goes on!”.

As Ms. Palaschuck explains: “As a representative of the VA industry, being awarded this virtual Assistant Internet Marketing Certificate means everything to me. Our goal at Ultimate Biz Assistant, is not only to push buttons and enter submission to directories, we want to do more for our customers, we want to help them attain their eMarketing objectives and go beyond.”

About Frances Palaschuk
Frances prides herself with having spent the last 15 years working in industries such as real estate, building automation, telecommunications and customer care. With a passion for technology and being technical savvy Frances is able to keep up to date on Web 2.0 trends and develop strategic ways for her clients to implement these trends into their business.

About VAclassroom.com
VAclassroom.com offers a comprehensive skills training center for the fast growing Virtual Assistant Industry. There has never been a better time to start or grow a Virtual Assistant business then here in 2008! As many of you know, the Internet landscape continues to re-invent itself and businesses are in desperate need of talented Virtual Assistants to effectively service their evolving business and marketing support functions.

Company: Ultimate Biz Assistant
Contact: Frances Palaschuk
Address: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1E1X5
Email: ultimatebizassistant@gmail.com
URL: http://www.ultimatebizassistant.com

Filed Under: eMarketing, Publicity, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Business Tagged With: publicty, VAclassroom.com, Virtual Assistant
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Guerrilla Marketing Workshop With Conduit Solutions

July 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment

MonkeyToday, I had the pleasure of attending a Guerrilla Marketing workshop hosted by MOMpowered Inc., and delivered by Jason Daley of Conduit Solutions in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

I can tell you that Jason is very passionate about what he does and always has his clients top of mind.  Which is very smart and makes it easy for Jason to build and maintain long term relationships. Not to mention deliver great workshops!

I spend a better part of my day, usually about 10 hours, focused on online marketing and didn’t even realize, until today, that some of the things that I do are actually in the scope of “Guerrilla Marketing”.

Guerrilla Marketing, according to Jay Levinson, “it’s an inviting chance to stand out from competition“.

In the online world there are many chances that business owners can take to be able to stand out from competition.

Here is a fun way in which you could stand out from your competition today:

Video marketing; how many of your competitor’s are creating and distribution video online?

It’s fun, it can be easy to do, and it can also be really cost effective or even free…

All you need to get started is:

  • A video camera, a laptop with a camera built in camera, the flip camera.
  • An idea for a video; a tutorial, an introduction to your company, to introduce yourself, a new product, a new service, or just about anything fun.
  • An outline for the video, a basic plan on what you are going to say.
  • A marketing strategy to get that video online through, Youtube, Google Video and a whole other host of video submission channels.
  • To post the video on your blog.
  • Talk about the video in your newsletter.
  • Maybe even get your joint venture partners talking about your video in their newsletters and marketing materials.

What other tactics can you think of that will help you stand out from your competition?

Filed Under: eMarketing, Marketing, Publicity, Resources Tagged With: Guerilla marketing, Marketing, video marketing
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