Don’t Expect to Bump Oprah From A Magazine Cover

Don’t Expect to Bump Oprah From A Magazine Cover

by: Roman Pericon

ขI want a pony, a tree house and the fastest bike in the world.ข

ขI want the G.I. Joe with the parachute and camouflage Jeep.ข

Those wants from when we were children haven’t changed much now that we have traded in our play clothes for suits and ties. When I sit down with clients, I always ask them what they want out of their publicity campaign so I can create a realistic list of expectations.

But I usually hear:

ขFront page of the Wall Street Journal.ข

ขI want to sit next to Katie and Matt.ข

ขDo you think I could be on Oprah next week?ข

Before I sign a new client, I make sure I explain editorial calendars and lead times so they won’t ask me ขWhy haven’t I gotten placements with you yet? It’s been six days already.ข I also explain the concept of ขnewsworthyข to them.

But it seems that more often than not, all of that explaining goes out the door.

Here’s The Naked Truth.

Sometimes reporters like big names. Sometimes they like unknowns. That lifestyle editor at InStyle may love the handmade candles that you created but if a major crisis happens in the news (e.g. celebrity breakup, Alist star caught with a call girl, paparazzi caught impromptu wedding) then you can bet your wick and scented oils the focus of their article won’t be on your candles. Same goes for almost every magazine you want to target unless you are Oprah, Bill Gates or the president – of the U.S. not Trixie’s Organic Dog Snacks. So don’t blame your publicist if your story is axed or postponed. They will try another publication.

There’s a great big world out there. Newsweek reaches over 3 million homes each week. They receive enough trash worthy press releases and media kits to fill a broom closet. Sometimes what you think is news… isn’t. And you just have to trust your publicist to alert the media when something of interest is happening with your company. Or you run the risk of an editor never taking your releases seriously when you do.

Understand your target market. I know you think it would be the coolest thing since Nobu Next Door to be on the cover of Cosmo but you sell a highend baby stroller. Cosmo readers don’t have an interest in that. Trust me. They won’t and the editors don’t have time to wade through releases of no interest to their readers. Publicists know the publications’ target audience and with the help of editorial calendars, they can figure out if you will fit in a certain issue they are preparing. So don’t get upset when your publicist tells you they got you into a different publication because the one you wanted said ขNOข to your story over 10 times. When they just aren’t interested, publicists move on.

Sometimes the more is not the merrier. Just because we have an editor contact database of thousands doesn’t mean each of them should receive your press release or an invitation to your launch party. It might sound great to you to say ขOur company press release just went out to over 10,000 editorsข but if they aren’t targeted to the right editors they will only end up in the recycling bin. I’m positive Janice Huff at Channel 4 doesn’t care about your gelato shop. She only covers the weather.

When it’s time for your company to retain a public relations firm, remember to have realistic expectations. Your publicists know what publications are good targets and they know that providing you with the results you want is going to make you happy. And all publicists want to make their clients happy.

About The Author

Roman Pericon is the CEO of NakedPR (www.NakedPublicity.com), a public relations and event planning firm in New York. Subscribe to ขThe Naked Truthข, his free monthly PR newsletter, by emailing [email protected]. NakedPR specializes in entertainment and lifestyle clients.

This article was posted on November 12, 2003

by Roman Pericon

Wiki Reeky Havoc

Wiki Reeky Havoc

by: Val Halla

The Vandals are coming! And this time they’re after your wallets.

Itกs a new form of insidious spam and like its inbred email cousin, itกs staggeringly stupid.

People are vandalizing กWikisก in an attempt to get free advertising for their business.

First, whatกs a wiki?

If you’re not familiar with this little web phenomenon, you should immediately dig in and learn. กWikiก (pronounced กwee keeก) is Hawaiian for กquick.ก And quick it is. The word is used on the web for a page that *anyone* can edit.

When I first heard of this concept I immediately thought ‘there is no way it will work it will be utter chaosก but the mass proliferation of wikis and their clear success have proven me wrong.

The medium lends itself to some amazing ideas. For example, the กwikipediaก project is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Itกs surprisingly accurate and useful.

Alas, as with all great things on the Internet, there are forces out there ready and willing to muck it up for everyone.

A กwiki vandalก is someone who goes to a wiki and posts erroneous information. Sometimes this is for fun (like posting your bossกs phone number and sexual habits under a wiki entry about กbondageก hehe), sometimes itกs for damage (like totally erasing an entry just because you are bitter about life), and sometimes itกs for advertising (like editing an entry with links to your bazillion dollar business กop*ortunityก).

Luckily, there are people out there watching the wikis who will change erroneous information quickly. However, sometimes the vandalism is hard to catch and it sticks.

Now, if the wiki vandals were smart, theyกd create a relevant encyclopedia entry about themselves and link to it from other wiki entries.

Do it relevantly and intelligently enough and it may just stick and bring you some appropriate attention.

But, of course, we’re talking about spammers here, and there is already an encyclopedia entry for กDownกs Syndrome.ก

Copyright 2004 Val Halla

About The Author

Val Halla researches Internet Marketing Oddities. You can be alerted when she discovers something odd enough and important enough to merit your attention when you visit her site: http://www.webgodessvalhalla.com. She may be reached at: [email protected]

This article was posted on April 28, 2004

by Val Halla

Testament to Testimonials

Testament to Testimonials

by: Cal Hyslop

Should You Use Testimonials on Your Website?

We have all seen websites showcasing their testimonials either spread strategically throughout the site or all together on their own glorious page. They’re there with the intent of leading us toward that high dollar purchase or convincing us of something’s legitimacy. Sometimes we read them and sometimes we won’t. Sometimes we believe them and sometimes we don’t. Well, are they really worth all the time and effort?

The quick answer: Only if you do it right. When done correctly, testimonials can really serve you in establishing your site’s credibility. Testimonials give you an opportunity to back up your claims. Believe it or not, as soon as someone visits your site you have immediately begun a relationship with that person. Your site will be one of the determining factors in solidifying that relationship and your testimonials can be a key component in building their trust. When done improperly, you might actually drive people away from you and what you have to offer. If your testimonials aren’t believable and honest then you probably don’t want them posted in the first place.

Here are a few guidelines to follow if you decide to use testimonials on your website.

Testimonials Should be Brief. You want your reader to get the point quickly and read the entire quote. You might have a great testimonial, but it is a page long. The odds of someone reading it in its entirety are pretty small. A good idea would be to break it up into sections.

Don’t Fake It. Your testimonials should be believable and the best way to assure yourself of that is not to make them up your self or have someone else do it for you. Honesty is always the best policy. Phony testimonials will ruin your credibility immediately. Say ขadiosข to your customers if you want to fake it.

Specifically Identify. Testimonials should be signed with a full name and a specific title. Don’t use something like ขBusinesspersonข or ขProfessionalข. People wan to see a name and area of expertise. It is also a good idea to put a link to their website. This will help establish the legitimacy of their testimonial.

Ask Permission. Before you publish someone’s comment make sure that they are aware of what you are going to post and that you have their consent in doing so. It is easier to ขsellข the idea if you agree to post a link to their website beneath the quote.

Address a Specific Benefit. A specific positive result has much more impact than something generic. It is better to post something to the affect of ขYour product helped cut costs by 18 percent last quarterข as opposed to ขYour product is greatข.

Spread Them Out. You can have a page dedicated to testimonials. It’s a good idea, but you can’t guarantee that a visitor will visit that page. In addition to your testimonial page why not post a testimonial or two on each page throughout your website. You can even interweave your quotes into your content. This can most likely increase the strength of your message as your visitors peruse each page.

SPECIAL TIP: Anytime you have a good experience with a website or online purchase send your own testimonial adhering to the abovementioned guidelines. If published, you’ll probably get a link to your website. Over time that can add up and increase traffic to your site.

When it comes down to it, testimonials help provide an independent and unbiased medium to promote you and your website. You have the option to use them or not. If you decide to use testimonials on your website then use them properly. Wellpositioned and authentic testimonials can easily make a positive impact and strengthen your site.

About The Author

Cal Hyslop has a background in business and technology with a Masters in Business Administration and is an owner of a website design firm located in Houston, Texas. The mission of his company, WebChrysalis, is to help individuals and businesses look like a million dollars online through the use of web templates and expert design.

[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 23

by Cal Hyslop

10 Benefits of Being a Blogger

10 Benefits of Being a Blogger

by: Nicholas Dixon

I have been a blogger since September 2004 but only began to take it seriously this year. My blogging journey began when I stumbled upon a company owned by Google named Blogger.com that offered free tools to build a website.

In fact Blogger provides you with free several templates which you can customize in addition to a domain name hosted on their server. You can host your blog on your domain if you like to. Here are some benefits I found while blogging:

1) Easy to manage. A blog can be set up by even a novice in no time. All you have to do is post and publish. Blogging can get as simple as that or even more complex.

2) Easy to update. Blogs can be updated weekly or daily instead of sometimes monthly for a static website. Even adding a few paragraphs a day can be done in no time and can be beneficial to your search rankings.

3) Get spidered quickly. Search engine spiders crawl blogs with greater frequency than static webpages. I have had webpages that took over eight months to be indexed in Google where as Yahoo sometimes index my blogs in weeks sometimes days.

4) If you write articles then you can post all of them on your blog in addition to free reprint content that is widely available everwhere. The more content you have the better.

5) You can get your website indexed quicker. An article or a piece of news about your website with an optimize anchor link will send the spiders your way in no time.

6) Sell advertising space. If you have a popular blog then you can create a revenue stream by selling ad space. Blogads is one of several places where you can sell your ad space to major companies.

7) Similar to offering ad space, you can add Adsense to your blog to monetize your content. What I love about Blogger is that once you plug in the Adsense code into your main template, a new page is created and Adsense is automatically displayed when you make a post.

8) Review your affiliate products. If you have a blog that is in a niche then you can find affiliate programs for that niche and do reviews of them for a commission. Every time someone purchases the product or service through your link you make money.

9) It is still early to catch on. Blogs and RSS feeds are used by the minority of internet users which makes it excellent for you to start blogging right now. Less than 10% of the Americans which is the biggest online market use this emerging trend.

10) Can be syndicated. An easy way for your readers to stay in touch with updates is to add your blog to their My Yahoo and My MSN. They can see the latest information and how long ago it was added.

11) Yes a bonus! Savvy marketers know that if you add your blogs to My Yahoo you can have it indexed in no time by Yahoo. You can use these two websites to inform blog directories that you have updated your content.

a) http://WWW.Pingomatic.com

b) http://WWW.Rssfeedpromoter.com

So with all those benefits in mind there is no reason you should not start your own blog. So when do you decide to go blogging?

© Oceanroc Web Publishing

About The Author

Nicholas Dixon has successfully use free articles as his primary source of marketing. Subscribe to his Free Four Day Email Course on how to use free articles to generate business and traffic at [email protected] or visit http://WWW.Oceanroc.Blogspot.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 14

by Nicholas Dixon

I’m Gettin’ Really Torqued!

I’m Gettin’ Really Torqued!

by: Gene Simmons

For those of you who have been living in a cave for most of your lives, you can translate the ขtorquedข in the heading of this article to ขmadข or ขangryข. For today’s discussion of anger, let’s quantify the intensity of our focus with the words ขdownright, PO’d!ข I think that’s quite clear. Let’s proceed.
The first question is ขWhat makes you really angry (as in PO’d)?ข
Inconsiderate, rude people? Bad drivers? Lousy service? Brainless bosses? Dumb subordinates? Idiot lawyers? Answering machines? The government? Waiting in line? Foreigners? Big business? Potholes? Traffic jams? Airports? The news? TV programming? Your significant other? Your kids? Your neighbors? Uncle Harold? Aunt Edna? The stupid dog? The dumb car? The danged washing machine? Your lost keys? The toilet? The pillow? Your socks?
Wanna know what makes me really, really mad?
Nothing…
Hmmm, OK – how about what sometimes makes me upset and sort of irritated?
That would be me.
Huh?
Me. Just me. I’m the one who ขmakesข me upset and sort of irritated once in a while. I’m the only one who can ขmakeข me do that. No one else, no event, no situation can make me get mad. Our anger doesn’t come from the outside. It can’t. It’s strictly an internal emotion that surges – and sometimes even erupts – as the result of our perception and feelings about an ขoutsideข situation.
From the way it looks, we humans are probably designed and assembled with the brain wiring and foundation programming it takes to feel and express anger. Although experts disagree on the ability to logically differentiate between anger and distress in very young infants, we parents can all remember the early signals of displeasure to varying degrees in our youngin’s. Spitting the strained peas in Grandma’s face is a good example.
How did we learn how to be angry? From our exposure to anger around our humble abode and in the rest of our environment in our early years, we learned that getting hacked off is just what we humans do when we’re not pleased with a given situation. We learned that it’s OK – and sometimes even expected – that we make a yucky face, clench our fists, stomp our feet, beat on the table and scream obscenities at the top of our lungs (another strange expression that I suppose is not to be confused with using the middle or lower part of our lungs…our language is weird…). We learned – and duly programmed our subconscious – to react to the displeasing events in our lives with the appropriate (or for us personally – applicable) level and intensity of anger.
Guess what? It doesn’t need to be like that. We all have the ability to reprogram our little minds to respond to the displeasing events in our lives in a less stressful and much quieter manner. No, it’s not necessarily easy to do however, once we recognize and admit that our megaanger is not something that is just normally a part of human nature – and that we do have the ability to consciously control it – we have completed a huge step in the right direction. Becoming hacked off is an automatic decision our minds make for us. Not becoming angry then, must be a conscious decision we make that will override our automatic one.
You might try this. The next time you feel the anger starting to surge, take just a couple of seconds – or a few minutes or longer to realize what is happening, think briefly about the event or person who is triggering the anger, then decide if you really want to let your subconscious continue on it’s programmed path – or if you want to consciously step in and modify this effort. Anger toward a person or situation can be expressed assertively – not aggressively at a reasonable volume while being respectful of the rights and opinions of others. This can lead to open communications and a resolution of the problem. Will it? Who knows but it’s worth a shot. Sure beats knocking somebody’s skull in.
In the coolingoff period, you might just discover that the situation was not nearly as critical as you had first imagined. Perhaps someone (maybe you?) didn’t have all the facts and the conflict was the just result of a misunderstanding. Maybe once you stand back and see the circumstances from a slightly different perspective, you might decide the whole thing was pretty silly to start with and there is nothing really worth pursuing. Or, you may even admit that entire situation was completely out of your control (influence) so getting angry is just a futile waste of energy.
Probably the worst thing anyone could do is suppress the anger. To tuck it away deep down inside. This could lead to major problems later either in a potential catastrophic confrontation, in a ขtorpedoingข of the other person – or in an eating away of your mental/emotional stability or deterioration of your physical being. Not a good thing to have happen.
Anger toward an object (car, refrigerator, keys) is pretty much a waste of effort and energy. It’s likely a situation (danged car broke and I don’t have the coins to fix it) or ourselves (I don’t know how to fix the danged car) that we’re angry at. Stuff happens – and sometimes we even help it happen by ignoring signals that sooner or later we’ll need to do something to take care of an impending problem. So now it’s ขlaterข – and we need to fix something.
Anger, at a considerably lower intensity than downright PO’d, can be beneficial in that it can help us identify situations that we might want to address – either in an external situation or within ourselves. Anger is not all as bad as some folks would lead us to believe. The important thing is that we recognize its source (that’d be us) and take whatever steps are needed to bring it back under our conscious control. This includes professional counseling if necessary.
Life’s too short to for us to eat up a bunch of time being angry. Why don’t we all just have a superduper triple sized banana split instead? Just a thought…

About The Author

Gene, through NuPathz.com, provides an easy reading selfhelp blog along with affordable books and materials written to help folks find the road to a more enjoyable lifestyle, to pass on some of life’s ขsecrets for survivalข in a chaotic world & offer a few smiles along the way. Itกs a downtoearth, simple approach to discovering a better life. You can visit Gene at http://www.nupathz.com/

This article was posted on June 03, 2004

by Gene Simmons

Dating Site Review: Udate

Dating Site Review: Udate

by: Matt Matcherson

Udatians often complain about the slowness of Udateกs messenger กwhispersก, but it’s always been one of my favorite dating places! Iกve simply had the best luck connecting with this format…and the old twin site kiss.com.

Kiss.com was absorbed into match.com, touted for a while as the กNew kiss.comก. I mention this because for a while Kiss and Udate were identical style sites with different members. Now the match.com site has กpowered by udateก tacked up here and there. I have no inside scoop, but it does make you wonder if Udateกs days are limited. I would hate to lose this site because it is really a fun and simple place to connect.

Itกs easy to see who is online matching your criteria or who browsed you. You are also notified which ขfavoritesข are online. It is so easy to get into spontaneous live whispering here that many members hide their photos from nonfriends when the number of contacts becomes a nuisance. Then if things slow down for them they make the pics visible to all again. A technique Iกve noticed women using anyway!

If you haven’t visited Udate lately…

You may want to give Udate another look. They have fixed the whispers system and you can quickly exchange words now without waiting. With the old system I would sometimes say something stupid and the box would go dead! No chance to further explain. Also in the flow of a narrative one person and then the other may go on and on with a story. It’s nice to let that happen and be able to interject other comments freely. A much more natural way to whisper!

The new look is bolder looking with brighter graphics.

The encounters page has been broken into a couple tabbed pages. กWho has been looking at meก and กwho you Iกve been looking atก The number of results per page is also more limited, but yes the site is much faster now!

Udate isn’t the biggest site out there but it remains a great place to meet people.

About The Author

Matt Matcherson is a writer musician and humorist. Sometimes he even writes funny music. His site Match Tales brings dating stories, site reviews and free dating support forums to the web.

http://www.matchtales.com

This article was posted on February 15

by Matt Matcherson

Great Games Youกve Never Played

Great Games Youกve Never Played

by: Chris Campbell

Do you know what you’re missing?

Some of the best computer games ever made are likely games youกve never heard of. Created by individuals and small companies working in relative obscurity. They don’t have million dollar budgets, some don’t even have hundred dollar budgets. They don’t have dedicated marketing departments, research analysts, sales teams, fancy offices, and cutting edge tools. They scrape together whatever tools they can, often discarded by the ultra rich game designers of big shiny game studios.

Making Miracles.

In spite of these deplorable working conditions, they create some of the most amazing games around. How do these game gems get created, and who are the miracle workers creating them. They’re independent game designers. Sometimes called Indies for short. Working out of their bedrooms, garages, spare offices, and basements. They have a passion for what they do. They love games, they love the act of creation, and are relentlessly committed to their vision of what a game should be. They often build games they themselves would love to play. Simply because no one else will. These kind of games you won’t find at the big box electronics store casting itกs shadow over your end of town. These passionate Indies could care less what the marketing boys up on the 26th floor have to say about the latest game trends. Probably because their garages don’t have 26 floors. They just know their love of games, and how much they enjoy playing.

Where do Indies come from?

Indie game developers come from all different areas. They’re often former artists, programmers, or designers of some big name software companies. Maybe that quiet little programmer in that tiny corner cubicle dreams of being an Indie one day. Tired of the corporate rat race, and looking to express themselves creatively they become Indies. Some of been lucky enough to avoid the corporate avenue altogether and make a living doing what they love from the beginning. Regardless of their origins, they all have the passion and desire to create. To be able to put their name on something really great. They want to be recognized for their abilities and worth. But more than that, they want you to play their games, and have fun doing so.

Why are Indie games so good?

Indie games are good first and foremost, because they’re fun. Itกs a game after all, and if itกs not fun from the get go, then whatกs the point. They’re also highly original, sometimes mainstream funny, sometimes just weird funny, sometimes morbid, sometimes creepy, and sometimes just downright gross. But, thats OK. Games should be a departure from the everyday. They should make you think in different, fantastic ways. So many big name games are just rehashed ideas done a thousand times before. Another sequel of the same old games from last year. Indie games are adventurous and risky. Indies take chances and devote their time to making something unique. So, take a look around, and try a few, till you discover the one that matches your own bizarre and fantastic interests.

About The Author

Chris Campbell, is that quiet little programmer in the tiny corner cubicle harbouring dreams of an Indie life. He likes to surround himself with his gaming masterpiece and those of other Indies at his website http://www.SunAndGames.com.

This article was posted on January 31

by Chris Campbell