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PR, marketing and social media for entrepreneurs, authors and anyone with a great idea!

Posts Tagged ‘Bonnie Harris’

Five reasons why ‘Great Customer Service’ is not a ‘Great Selling Point’

shutterstock_57189268Almost half the clients I have worked with over the years believe that their strongest selling point is their great customer service. When you are deciding what your market position is going to be, when you are seeking out that all important unique selling point (point of difference), look beyond customer service – here’s why: (more…)

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How to pitch CNN

Recently I got one of my clients an interview on one of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s stories on CNN. My client (check out the drumming circle in the video below) told me I had paid for myself for a year with this clip. (more…)

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How to pitch the national morning shows


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Once again, I started to write a blog post about pitching Good Morning America and found this great article with the basics from a guy named Mort Fleischner. (Who couldn’t trust a guy named Mort?) I’ve included the first part, but please click through to the original article as well – his ‘don’ts’ are excellent advice!

New York City born and raised, Mort is a graduate of Columbia University School of Journalism, New York University, and Stuyvesant High School.  He resides just outside of the city with his wife Anita and two daughters. He currently consults with some of the leading news programs and reporters on-air.

Join him as he shares some secrets on how to get onto Good Morning America.

DO

…Make a cold call to the Good Morning America (GMA) studios news desk and ask for the name and any contact information you can get of the producers who handle the area you are pitching: books, business, politics, money, health, sex – you name it!  Be sure you get the correct spelling, as well as their email address and if possible, a phone number.  If they will not give you the phone number, you can at the very least get the Good Morning America mailing address and the correct contact that you should be pitching.

…Send your material and a brief and concise pitch letter or email to the producer, along with all appropriate contact information.  Be sure to paint a picture as to why their viewers may be interested in your story or product.  Be sure to mention your ability to employ visuals into your segment that will make it more appealing as a televised story.

…Be sure you have all the elements of your pitch organized before you send it out to the producers.  Morning shows work fast and they will not want to wait around for you to get organized if and when they reach out to you.

…Write out what you are going to say before you pitch and rehearse it.  Keep talking points and important information in front of you just in case you forget what you want to say in the heat of the moment.  When on the phone, be enthusiastic, keep it short, and remember that there is a fine line between pitching and being pushy.  Pushy folks do not get on television.

…Wait about a week and then call back.  You might get lucky and someone will answer, either a producer or their assistant/intern.  If no one answers keep trying, and note that a voice message will do nothing for you unless you are Tom Cruise or Sharon Stone so just hang up and call again another time. For the rest of the article from collective-e.com go here.

I would add also that having video “in the can” is a big plus. But sorry, your Flip won’t be enough. If you really have a good story, hire a professional and go shoot some background footage. Great visuals always give you a leg up and worst case, you can always use it for a Video News Release later.

Questions about pitching morning shows?

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How to pitch your product to celebrities

I once got a celeb to wear my client’s bunny slippers on the red carpet at the Academy Awards. How did I do that?

Your email:

 


Photo from fOTOGLIF

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Creating good marketing karma

buddha-headAccording to Free Dictionary the definition of karma is the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person’s existence, regarded as determining the person’s destiny. Beth Hodgson’s last post about the boomerang effect – what happens when you get even more traffic by sending it to others from your blog -  stirred up some comments about how karma works in the blogosphere. (Thanks Jorgen for kicking that discussion off and I’d love to hear YOUR stories too!) It got me thinking about my clients, and how their attitudes and actions affect the kind of PR results they get. Read on to find out how MUCH karma affects results. (more…)

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Pitching HARO and ProfNet

For entrepreneurs, small business owners and experts, the daily query boards like HARO and ProfNet can be incredible resources for gaining media placements. From major news broadcast shows to popular niche bloggers, these sites host queries from journalists and producers looking for specific sources for current stories.  Despite how great these resources are,  reporters tell me most  folks  blow their chances completely by the time they write the first sentence in response to a query. Here are some ways to up your chances for getting the media to email you regarding a query, and hopefully get mentioned in a major story! (more…)

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Managing my own social media

As promised in the wonderful Dana Larson’s post on time management, I’m going to fill you in on the rough process I use to manage my own (and Wax Marketing’s) social media accounts. Because I work on social media campaigns for some of my clients, people tend to think it’s really easy stay engaged in my own social media accounts. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Like most people, I either get totally sucked into goofing off on Twitter ( lately it’s @pharm84 who is a bad influence ) or I get so busy on client work I ignore it. But for the most part I have a routine I follow, and tools I use, that seem to work well for me in terms of staying consistent.  I hope it gives you some ideas, and PLEASE – let’s get some good comments going on favorite tools and tips for making social media less overwhelming.12471979839MX1G3 (more…)

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Some video humor for Wordless Wednesday

Tim Busa from Constant Contact  sent me this recent video made by the Constant Contact email marketing folks. Props for trying to make a dry subject funny- but the woman at the beginning scares me.

(That’s Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact. Just funnin’ ya Gail!)

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How to pitch a magazine editor

Your email:

 

I’ve been chewed out one too many times by a fierce, brilliant magazine editor, and yet a great feature in a national print monthly is still a plum placement. I asked an old editor of mine (in my brief freelance writing career) to spill the beans on what these folks REALLY want. And how to avoid totally pissing them off.

Sheri Wallace is the former  Editor-in-Chief of ePregnancy magazine and Associate Publisher of REAL Magazine, with respective bi-monthly national newsstand circulations of 400,000 and 250,000. She doesn’t mince words so read on… (more…)

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Offline marketing is just a new name for PR

reading-the-newspaper

Oh my god we can market in a NEWSPAPER

I’ve been hopping into the internet marketing forums to learn more about SEO for blogs lately. Suddenly I started seeing all these online gurus touting the benefits of making loads of money in “offline marketing”. Huh? (more…)

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