Susan Harrow and me, Elizabeth Yarnell!

Susan knows her stuff when it comes to helping people get more attention. What she teaches will not only help people who want to get in the media to sell their books or products, but will work for anyone who is promoting anything, be it a fundraiser for the elementary school, your business, or your favorite charity.

The 90-minute free webinar starts at 11 am PDT/2 pm EDT today, and both Susan and I will be offering free gifts to attendees who are present. However, if you can’t make it, all registered people will receive a link to the recording afterward as well.

Register now for the Sound Bites webinar with Susan Harrow.

Hope to see you there!

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Susan Harrow and me, Elizabeth Yarnell!

In this new age of media 3.0 the media is more often searching for experts when they have the need rather than pouring over hundreds of useless press releases that don’t have information that is relevant for their audience.

So even if you haven’t sent out a press release you could get that important call from the media – if you’ve positioned yourself correctly on the Internet.

On the flip side did you know that now with YouTube and Time Machine that what you say could haunt you forever? Once a video of you is posted or something you said shows up on the Internet there’s no way to take it back. With the advent of technology what you say will stay around in eternity and anyone can access it at any time.

This is why it makes it so important that you pay attention to what you say and how you say it.

That’s right, your reputation, your credibility, your brand, your livelihood could disappear with one bad article or one TV appearance gone south. But it doesn’t need to be so. Don’t make these five mistakes.

1. You waffle.
Many people I media train waffle. They meander off into a tangent or blurt out a thought that just came into their head in the heat of the moment, instead of carefully planning their messages and delivering them. I just saw the movie Fair Game about the Valerie Plame story. When Plame spoke to one of her contacts overseas from whom she wanted information she was firm as a mountain, soft as breeze, fluid as water. She was never harsh, but she got her way. She knew her facts so when she spoke to one of her own team members or someone whose cooperation she wanted she quietly, but firmly repeated her request.

You can do the same when someone asks you a question. You calmly assert your pre-rehearsed answer no matter how many different ways a reporter or host ask you a question to elicit a different response. Know what you want to say and stick to it. Stay firm as a mountain, soft as a breeze, fluid as water.

2. You don’t quote industry leaders or competitors.
It might sound counter-intuitive to quote your competition or other high-stature people in your field, but it shows that you are on top of what’s happening in your industry. In an Inc.com article titled 10 Tips for Giving an Important Speech by Alyssa Danigelis, anthropologist, filmmaker, and National Geographic explorer Elizabeth Lindsey said, “The more we talk about the things that matter to us, and less about our achievements, people breathe a collective sigh of relief.”

When we focus on what’s important to us in a sincere way it translates to our audience. They get it. Quote people you admire whose philosophy resonates with your own to help get your ideas across in a novel way. They often say things that give a different point of view given we are all entangled in our own perspective. It’s a way of broadening our own views and the views of our audience.

3. You don’t tell how you’ve helped people.
The most potent way to persuade people to buy or buy into you isn’t for you to talk about your achievements but to tell a story about a person you’ve helped. I recently media coached a client who said he wasn’t a good story-teller. As a doctor he preferred to site facts so he would be more authoritative. But the human warm fuzzy factor was a bit lacking. It’s important to use facts and stories to build trust. And it’s also necessary to tell stories that reveal our effectiveness human to human.

Facts show you have knowledge, and personal and professional stories illustrate your understanding – how you do what you do and how well your methods work. I suggested that he tell dramatic or funny stories about people who came into his office with an acute problem whom he helped quickly recover using both his doctorly intuition and the product he was promoting. In our next media coaching session he did this beautifully in preparation for his NPR interview. Giving your audience a story about how you helped another person is the closest thing to giving them an actual experience of you.

4. You don’t transform your wounds into wisdom.
Your hardships are the mistakes that others don’t need to make. Your wounds make you loveable. We all have an Achilles Heel. Don’t hide it, highlight it.

Comedian Craig Ferguson said, “I think that sometimes fear is god’s way of saying paying attention to this could be fun. I’ve learned from people who are braver than I that fear is necessary, failure is necessary. When I talk to people and they tell me how well they are or how well they are doing I think they’re crazy and they’re failing. And when I talk to people and who are telling me how they feel. I’m not saying that misery is more authentic than joy, I don’t mean that. But I do think that sometimes self promotion can be tiresome as I sit here talkin’ about my book. Which is available reasonably priced from all good outlets.”

What I love about Ferguson is that he doesn’t wallow in any sentiment. He moves into the wound and the moves out of it with humor. And aren’t you interested in his book just from reading this one quote? I was.

5. You’re don’t have your opinion ready.
Thought leaders have opinions. They back their opinions with evidence or piggy back them with humor to soften a tough point of view. Have your opinion ready. To become a respected thought leader spend some time every week thinking about the issues in your industry. Consider some of the trends that are happening. Formulate your thoughts. Concretize them in writing on your blog, Facebook, or in an article.

When a reporter who had interviewed me before called and asked me my opinion of the new Conan O’Brien Show I told her I hadn’t seen it, but I still had an opinion about it. We laughed. Then I transitioned from what I didn’t know into what I did know – which was Jon Stewart. I watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and think he’s hilarious, smart and self-deprecating.

Even though he’s super smart he’s not a snob about it. She really wanted my comments about the future of the talk show format so I talked about that in relation to Jon Stewart. As you can see I got a paragraph at the end of her article – without knowing a thing about the topic of her piece – Conan O’Brien. (http://www.prsecrets.com/articles/ChristianScienceMonitor_111010.html)

The important thing is to transition to what you know and make the connection so you are serving the reporter and her audience. Folk singer Joan Baez said, “I’ve never had a humble opinion. If you’ve got an opinion, why be humble about it?” Thought leaders aren’t afraid to voice a strong opinion.

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.

Do you want to publish a book but just aren’t sure how to get started? The Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) will host its first two CIPA College Days of 2011 in February. The first College Day will be held at the Colorado Christian University building in Northglenn, CO on Feb. 12th and the second scheduled for Feb. 26th at Office Evolution in Lone Tree, CO.

The 2011 CIPA College deans, Joyce Miller and Dr. C. Daniel Miller of Integrated Writers Services, LLC, have developed a comprehensive curriculum with the help of an advisory group of CIPA members and other independent publishing experts. “The College curriculum will provide educational experiences that will appeal to those just getting starting in the publishing world and also to experienced independent publishers,” says Dr. Miller. “Our goal with CIPA College is to deliver “everything you need to know about independent publishing, when you need to know it!”

For more information go to the new CIPA website at www.cipabooks.com and select CIPA College 2011 under CIPA Programs in the top menu bar. Please note that CIPA members receive substantial discounts for individual CIPA College courses and for the multi-course discount packages. Non-members also will receive multi-course discounts by signing up for a morning, afternoon, or all-day package.

*Full disclosure: I am on the CIPA College faculty and will be giving a seminar entitled “Establishing and Promoting Your Brand,” on Feb. 12th in Northglenn, CO. Additional College Days are being planned for March 19 in central Denver, April 2 in Loveland, and on April 30 in Colorado Springs. All courses will be available for purchase online after the event.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Get these answers and more at the Free Webinar from SPAN and the Copyright Clearance Center’s “Copyright for Today’s Dynamic Publishing Environment”

January 22, 2009, 2-3 PM, EST
Presented by:  Dru Zuretti, M. Ed., Manager of Copyright Education at the Copyright Clearance Center

This free Webinar will present the fundamental copyright concepts boiled down to easy-to-digest language, with a focus on concerns primary to the publishing industry in today’s dynamic, digital environment.

This Web session is approximately 45 minutes long. The presentation will be followed by an open Q&A session.

You’ll Learn:

. The basic principles of U.S. copyright law
. A copyright-holder’s privileges and obligations under U.S. copyright law
. How to evaluate potential exceptions to copyright protection
. When copyright permission may be needed and  how to obtain it
. What may be an infringement of copyright

Who Should Attend?

This session is perfect for rights and permissions, production, marketing, sales, and service personnel,
interns, writers, editors, and others from all organizational levels who want to gain a basic
understanding of copyright considerations in a  publishing environment.
Sign Up Now!!!

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

In case you don’t know, Dan wrote Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual), which should be every aspiring independent publisher’s bible.

It starts with Continental breakfast at 8:00 a.m., followed by a short meeting, Dan’s talk (2 hours), then networking. Here’s a tip: bring your own mug for coffee — the ones supplied hold about 5 sips and there will be a coffee urn available for the duration of the meeting.

If you have any interest in self-publishing or independent publishing, you should be there on the 18th. This is a supportive group of some 500 authors and publishers who will help you get the knowledge you will need to succeed in publishing.

RSVP by October 14th for the early bird rate of $5 off, or pay full price at the door! This meeting is open to the public at non-member rates.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Are you an author or an aspiring writer? This for you!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (11:30 am – 1:30 pm)
Four Points Sheraton
$20 members, $25 non-members (RSVP deadline: Sunday 10/19 midnight)

(PS: Sorry about the font above — I cut and pasted and couldn’t make it regular type anymore. Technology: love it and curse it!)

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Envisioned as an affordable and engaging conference for writers of all abilities, you’ll have the opportunity to hear me speak twice: Hook the Media on Your Book and Scoring Free (or Almost Free) Publicity — From TV to Blogs.

While the event is already full (so sorry I didn’t talk about this earlier!), you can still request to be added to the wait list and get on the mailing list to hear about the next event.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Learn more about this from the people over at Marketing Experiments, a very techy lab that takes a hard look at website and email marketing performance using qualitative data.

Using Testimonials Effectively: How credibility indicators can 
help (or hurt) your conversions

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 – 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. EDT

Presenter:
– Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, Director, MarketingExperiments

Is “testimonial blindness” the new “banner blindness”?

As more and more websites use these credibility indicators,
marketers need to know if these elements really work, if they’re
just cluttering up pages, or worse – hurting results.

During this free, one-hour Web Clinic, we will: 

– Examine recent tests that increased (and reduced) conversions
– Discuss proven ways to use testimonials more effectively
– Review and optimize attendees’ landing pages (time permitting)

NOTE: To be considered for a live landing page review, please
include your sign-up page URL when you register. 

Reserve your spot for this Webinar 

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

Bookstores, libraries, and other book buyers are looking for 
your books. Can they find them? Learn how to sell more books 
by effectively using Bowker’s Books in Print and other free 
services.  

To register, e-mail Denielle.Starr@Bowker.com.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.

If you missed it, no worries: the link is up and you are welcome to listen to the how authors can use social media teleseminar anytime. You may choose to listen online or to download the .mp3 file and load it into your iPod for your listening convenience. Anything is possible.

People are buzzing about the upcoming online publicity coaching course. After considering feedback, we’ve decided to move the start date back a few days to Monday, June 16th. That means the early bird bonus rate has also been extended to registrations made by June 12th! From online media kits to pitching the media, from blogging to social networking to information products, you’ll emerge on the other side with solid strategies for pursuing publicity both in the traditional media and on the web. Be sure to check it out to see what it’s all about.

©2012 Recipes for Publicity. All Rights Reserved.