Many people don’t understand what sound bites are. They don’t know how to create sound bites that sell. They don’t know that it’s not enough to be clever, entertaining or quippy. That might make TV and radio hosts happy, but it often won’t bring in the kind of results you’re looking for: to grow your business, sell more product, get new clients, more customers, or increase your fees.

You want to develop sound bites that speak to who you are, what you do and how well you do it. Sound bites are the essential messages that will create sales and recognition. They consist of anecdotes, analogies, stories, one-liners, and facts that you can speak in 15-30 seconds. They should be singly focused on what you want your audience to know. To turn media interviews into sales here are three things you can do.

1. Incorporate Your Past into Your Present Experience.
Camus says, “We are the sum of our choices.” We want to know how your childhood dreams have influenced the career you’ve chosen. Your past often has predictors to your future interests and life decisions. If you don’t want to go back as far as childhood then go back in your professional career. Sarah Newton, The UK’s Top Teen Coach, said that when she was a juvenile corrections officer what she heard from teenagers most was that they didn’t feel heard, understood or respected. “The most important thing a parent can do is listen,” says Newton.

Often sound bites like Newton’s seem simple. But it takes work to distill your ideas down to their essence. It’s the unadorned statement that is often the most powerful.

Another way to tie past to present is to show how your passion drives your profession. “People think I am disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference,” says Luciano Pavarotti. Choose the words that show your devotion.

2. Include Client Successes.
How has your product or service impacted your clients or customers? Tell a story that centers on that success. Marty Friedman, seminar Leader and author of Straight Talk for Men About Marriage, says, “An attorney who came to one of my seminars said he didn’t really think he got much out of it–until he got home and his wife wanted to have sex with him–for the first time in months. ‘I guess I must have learned a little something,’ the attorney admitted.”

Friedman tells a very succinct story with a potent punch line. And this sound bite lets you know that his methods are so powerful they work on non-believers and hard-sell cases like attorneys.

3. Show Your Suffering.
The people I’ve known who have suffered the most are funny, sarcastic, and wise, but never saccharin. Saccharin is all this sweet talk about love and understanding and comes off as facile. Love, understanding and forgiveness aren’t sickly tender. They often come out of bitterness, hopelessness and heartache. We trust those people who have suffered or who have failed over and over again and are willing to share their insights–in a non-showy way.

Dr. Vicki Rackner, CEO of Medical Bridges and Medical Editor of the Hope Health Letter which reaches over 3 million people says that at age 40 she made a radical choice: to close her private practice to be with her son. “As the operating room door closed, another opened. I can’t tell you that everyone lived happily ever after because we’re just at `once upon a time.’”

Closing her practice, the choice she made to forgo surgery in favor of becoming a patient advocate, goes against the grain of what “society” could deem is proper for a board certified surgeon with a full practice. You know right away that she is thoughtful and has tremendous empathy and insight. As a patient wouldn’t you want her on your side?

Sound bites, speaking in condensed language to convey your points, is an art to be practiced daily in and out of media interviews until it becomes a natural way of speaking.

If you incorporate your past into your present experience, include client successes, and show your suffering during an interview you’ll be perceived as an expert, increase your sales, and develop a following all while demonstrating your humanity.
Susan Harrow, CEO of http://prsecrets.com, is a top media coach, marketing strategist and author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins), The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah, and Get a 6- Figure Book Advance. Clients include Fortune 500 CEOs, bestselling authors and entrepreneurs who have appeared on Oprah, 60 Minutes, NPR, and in TIME, USA Today, Parade, People, O, NY Times, WSJ, and Inc.

Join us to learn how you can speak in sound bites to get what you want in business and in life (free teleseminar / webinar) here.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Yes, being active in social media does take a time commitment, I respond, but the exposure and influence you gain can be critical in seeing your book sales grow. One of the secrets to effective time management is to automate some of the tasks by using online tools like RSS feeds, apps, widgets, and syndication sites.

Check out this Hubspot post for ways to monitor your social media presence in 10 minutes.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

It’s great to write articles for free and post them online when you’re looking to drive traffic to a website, but you may also appreciate the financial rewards, not to mention the status and credibility, you get from seeing your byline in print.

The American Society of Journalists and Authors’ Annual Writer’s Conference, April 24-26, 2009 in New York City, can offer you the opportunities to meet and learn from top newspaper and magazine editors as well as publishers and agents, giving you a better shot at getting your work published. The theme this year is: The Writer’s GPS: On Track for Success.

Sally Stich, former president of Colorado Authors League and the Denver Woman’s Press Club (and my own first writing professor and mentor!), is the co-chair of this year’s American Society of Journalists and Authors’ Annual Writer’s Conference, to be held at the historic Roosevelt Hotel.

Now in its 38th year, this is THE writers’ conference to attend if you are serious about nonfiction writing in today’s world. Here is where you will learn from experts, mingle with professionals and take your career to a new level. This remarkable event brings together hundreds of authors, journalists, agents and others for serious networking and information exchange. Panelists from major magazines, publishing houses, Web sites,and agencies will give you the inside scoop on what gets their attention. And experts in today’s media will give insights into the nuts and bolts of navigating cyberspace as a nonfiction writer, using tools and techniques that will give you the advantage. If you’re serious about your freelance writing career, you can’t miss this conference. (This year, special college student discount for Saturday’s sessions.)

I attended the ASJA conference 7 years ago and found it to be a valuable and enjoyable experience.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t overlook libraries as great vehicles for getting your book in front of more eyes. I am constantly surprised by the number of fans who tell me they checked my cookbook out of the library before deciding to purchase it. I never would have thought that people checked out cookbooks from the library and then went on to buy their own copy.

In case you haven’t been following the news, library usage is up in this country, a direct reflection of the dour economy. More people in libraries = more opportunities for your book to be picked up and your message to spread.

You can take advantage of organizations offering a spot in their ALA booth for your book at bargain prices vs the thousands it would cost to secure your own booth.

Members of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association can secure a spot in the CIPA ALA booth — if there are any still available.

The Jenkins Group offers a combined book exhibit booth at ALA and is offering spots for $120.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

The conference is structured around three tracks: Blogging, Audio, and Video. Lots of new media superstars will be presenting seminars.

The limited seating of up to 100 is sure to provide a comfortable and intimate setting for attendees to ask questions and engage in discussions on any number of topics. The opportunities to interact with presenters and fellow attendees are endless.

Be sure to sign up as yours truly will join a panel discussion on SEO on Saturday afternoon around 3:30pm. Hope to see you there!

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

*** The 2008 DIY Book Festival will have a special focus on unpublished stories, poetry and comics at its seventh annual program celebrating the success of independent authors and publishers.

*** The 2008 London Book Festival honors books worthy of further attention from the international publishing community. )

*** The 2008 New England Book Festival honors the best books of the holiday season.

Grand prizes for each competition include $1500 cash and a flight to the awards ceremony.

The 2008 DIY, New England and London book festivals are part of the JM Northern Media family of festivals, which include the DIY Convention: Do It Yourself in Film, Music & Books. The festivals are sponsored by the Larimar St. Croix Writer’s Retreat, The Hollywood Creative Directory; eDivvy, Shopanista, Westside Websites and The DIY Reporter.com.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Here is the booth for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association – the largest independent publishers association in the country. This was my home base.

DK Simoneau shows off her award-winning children’s book on surviving joint custody for children of divorce: We’re Having A Tuesday.

The authors of the upcoming Random House novel The Necklace about 13 women and the experiment that changed their lives, brought a diamond necklace to BEA and draped it around fans for photographs. I thought this was a smart publicity move (can you see it around my neck?). Was it real diamonds? I have no idea! The book is due out in September.

Claudine Wolk was signing her new title, It Gets Easier! And Other Lies We Tell New Mothers. We bonded over stories of the “dark years” of infancy and new motherhood.

The authors of A Pirate’s Quest For His Family Heirloom Peg Leg are actually wildlife documentary filmmakers. The book is illustrated by a wildlife artist and tells the story of a pirate’s search for his peg leg. Not only were they in costume to draw attention to themselves, but I was serenaded with a pirate’s ballad accompanied by the guitar. It’s hard to see, but there is an iron hook on the end of his raised hand. They were also handing out pirate cookies — always a great way to get attention!

Terence Mix shows off his newly-released book, The Price of Ovulation, an expository look at the fertility industry and what fertility drugs are doing to women and their babies. Terry is a lawyer who has worked on behalf of women and babies who have suffered the side effects of fertility treatments.

13-year old twins, Brittany and Brianna Winner, announce the release of their award-winning novel, The Strand Prophecy. Besides penning a science-fiction adventure novel in the genre of Harry Potter, the girls also sing and dance and have their own music video. Their accomplishment is even more impressive knowing they were born 10 weeks premature and have faced health and learning issues as a result. They wear their beaded head-dresses to brand themselves.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

At BooK Expo, you can meet with foreign rights agents, chat with the presidents of publishing houses, get a book signed by a celebrity, or set your book up for catalog distribution. But don’t overlook the bounty of free books!

From advance reading copies of upcoming releases to reprints of classics from deceased authors, many publishers offer stacks of books free for the taking. It almost feels like stealing. And, of course, there are imprinted canvas book bags to haul away your loot.

Aside from working the booth for a half day and representing the 30 authors participating in the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) effort, I have goals of publicizing my own activities, namely this blog and the upcoming teleseminar (Wed., June 4, 2pm EST — click the teleseminar link to the left to learn more!) as well as the January release of my cookbook from Broadway Books.

Here are some of the highlights of my first day at BEA in Los Angeles:

- I stood in line to get a book signed by Barbara Walters (her new memoir). When it was my turn, I told her she looked lovely (very true) and gave her one of my cards with a recipe from my upcoming cookbook on the back. It’s a long shot, but how great would it be if she actually looked at it and was interested in my cookbook when it comes out in January?

- I distributed more than 100 cards to authors interested in learning more about publicity and told them about the teleseminar on Wednesday. I printed the cards with the recipe on one side and the publicity information on the other in hopes that people would hold on to the recipe, if nothing else. Having something extra that people want to keep on your materials decreases the probability that your piece will get jettisoned before it ever gets home from L.A.

- I spoke with a guy who works on the big L.A. food and wine festival in April. I will keep in touch with him and see if I can get on the stage there to do a cooking demonstration.

- I picked up about 20 books to carry me through the year and be passed around my circle of book-loving friends and relatives. I’m sure I’ll get more today.

Even though I alternated between 3 pair of shoes, I still managed to come out with a massive blister by the end of the day! Do men have this problem?

The first day was so exciting and overwhelming that I never took a single photo! I will try to today. Wish me luck!

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.