I haven’t personally invested any time working with the new tool but if you know me, you know I’m a BIG Google tool fan and I’m sure this will enhance your opportunities to connect, grow and promote.  I’ll be spending time over the next week jumping in and growing my circles and I’ll be anxious to see what you are doing and hear what you think.

If you’d like me to send you an invitation to Google + send me an email or sign-up for the Web Savvy PR & Marketing newsletter. I’ll be submitting requests from both sources to Google over the next few days and from what I hear, it can take 24 hours for them to respond.

Be sure to send me a gmail address. Don’t have one yet?  You can easily get one here http://mail.google.com/

See you inside Google +

-Laura

“HOW and WHERE can I easily find media to contact on my topic across the web?”

Here is a free  tool from mBlast that will show you who is talking about your topic across the internets.

http://www2.mblast.com/   Be sure to try several of  your keywords for best results.

Enjoy!

Keep it relevant, timely, and easy, no matter what the message – Laura

Enjoy! And if you need help, drop me a line.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-customize-your-facebook-page-using-static-fbml/

Once you walk through the process, send me a link to your page, I’d love to see it.

@barbdelollis Homewood&Hampton fans: Send me yr Qs for the brands! I’m meeting with Hilton’s exec in charge at abt 2pmeast. Will brief you this afternoon.

Reporter  USA Today
http://twitter.com/barbdelollis

Responding to this Tweet may not bring you immediate publicity results but if you have something relevant to ask, it could be an introduction and give her the opportunity to learn more about you when she looks at your Twitter profile, website, or blog. The next time she’s pulling together a story and needs a source with your expertise guess who will be top of mind, maybe you!

If you don’t have anything relevant to offer, you could help her by ReTweeting this request to others on Twitter or by emailing your friend that has a relevant question.

Not only should you follow media people on Twitter but also get to know them, their work, and the kinds of things of interest to them. This will help you craft a perfect pitch for your message and creates the win-win relationship for you and the journalist you hope will pick up your story. You craft a perfect on-topic and relevant pitch to their beat, this goes a long way!

Journalists are under a lot of pressure and have their own deadlines, editors to please and a competive audience to serve. They need your input, breaking news or story sources to provide relevant and timely coverage.

So follow, follow, follow! And remember, interact, offer the media another source if you can’t help them and be an asset in any way you can. It’s all about connecting and helping them to do their jobs with ease.

Here is a recent blog post with an excellent resource for finding media people on Twitter to follow: www.laurasolop.com/media-people-on-twitter-for-authors/

Turning a Page for the Economy 

” We’re inundated right now with  stories about the death of publishing, the demise of the book, and the woes of the author. Print publishing is suffering, and no amount of DRM (digital-rights management, for the happily uninitiated) can bring us back…’”  

Here’s the full link: http://bethannethebookmaven.typepad.com/stilllifewithbookmaven/2009/02/tk.html

-Laura

The group Straight No Chaser lands an Atlantic record deal after posting a short video on You Tube. Then …CNN’s Shanon Cook interviews the group about their surprise success.

PR and the media aren’t changing, they have changed. Web savvy PR is the catalyst that brings you the level of success you deserve.

Take a minute to watch this CNN video-

Straight No Chaser lands an Atlantic record deal after posting a short video on You Tube

Do you need web savvy publicity? Our free monthly newsletter will provide you insider tactics that will get you noticed by the media, your prospects, and deliver real results for real people.

Have a book coming out soon? I hope you’ll contact us today.

We know what works…we know how to use it.

I didn’t sit in on this call, but I did go and listen to the free replay, and all I could think was, great job Nancy! That’s exactly what I do or… exactly what I tell my clients!

I have a lot of respect for Nancy and her well packaged intellectual property. She and her DIY products are PR savvy.

I purchased her publicity toolkit last summer just to do a professional review for myself, and I can say that I was very pleasantly surprised. Her products break down the publicity placement process in clear and concise how to’s that any business owner can apply with ease.

As you can see from the teleseminar title, the focus is  press release best practices. I am personally a HUGE proponent of well targeted pitches, scouting the editorial calendars and reporter’s queries for maximum publicity opportunities, but press releases still have a place in every PR campaign.

This is especially true with the digital revolution, SEO, and online distribution capabilities.

If you need expert press release HOW, here is the link to the free replay: www.prleads.com/pressreleases

   To increase your press release know how- Laura

Here is a list of my favorite free online press release distribution sites. In doing my client work, I always send to newspaper and radio news desks in addition to online venues but the list below is a good way to get started if you aren’t working with a publicist or don’t have your own media lists and contacts.

http://www.theopenpress.com

http://www.prlog.org

http://www.free-press-release.com

Be sure to use good SEO practices and report the news, not sales copy!

If you need help writing press releases, editing your press releases, or distributing your press release, contact Laura Solop today.

Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston

Here is an example of a great author publicity photo, Julie A. Fast with co-author John D. Preston, PSY.D.

Keep your websites up to date, professional and media friendly by providing everything a reporter might need to feature you. A hi res professional picture of you and your book are musts! 

Remember, your job is to make it easy for the media to choose you.

 Tip: Use Craigslist.org to find professional photographers in your area. Great pictures don’t have to break your budget.

 I always highly recommend commenting or posting reviews on various sites to my clients for purposes of promotion. Even if you are posting a review for the latest greatest socks in your wardrobe, speak up and use your URL where you can, it’s a win-win.

Always add valuable content in your posts, don’t just post to beef up your back links.

Anything you post on the internet can be found by your potential clients, customers and the media. Make sure you are not only providing great content but that you aren’t sharing anything that you wouldn’t share with the media.

If you are commenting on a blog you will most likely have the opportunity to submit the post to various social networking sites using a “share” feature, do it!  This not only helps the original poster’s following but…it increases the value of your backlink in Google love.

Refer back to number 1! I never ever suggest you participate in this activity just to create more backlinks. Use these tips as a way to provide valuable and sincere content as you visit various places on the web and every body wins.