Tiger Oak Publications Acquires Washington CEO Magazine

The only thing certain is change — especially in the newspaper and magazine scene.  Yesterday Tiger Oak Publications announced that it is acquiring Washington CEO magazine.   The press release said, “We made the decision in these challenging economic times that the best way to preserve a voice was by merging CEO into Seattle Business.  The Tiger Oak people are publishing professionals with enough size and experience that they can take a business magazine to the next level. We think the business community and in particular our advertisers will be well served by this merger.”

In other news, if you are subscribing to Help a Reporter and benefiting from the great media leads, consider posting a query to support your own writing needs.  I posted a query yesterday to ask for the revealing comments clients often share when seeking the services of a publicist.  I received dozens of remarkable and memorable replies from generous PR practitioners from all across the nation.   With those great contributions, I crafted my next Puget Sound Business Journal “Media Savvy” column that should bring plenty of grins.  To follow are a few of the comments that weren’t quite right for the column, but entertaining to read nonetheless:

From Jeff Finkelstein of Customer Paradigm:

“I was hiring a project manager for our interactive agency, Customer Paradigm, and had a candidate tell me that the reason he left his last job was that ‘he made a mistake on a client project, which resulted in a $100 million lawsuit against the firm and was let go shortly after that.’  I told him “Thank you very much for your time!’”

From Rachel Sentes of OutRight Communications:

“…in trying to settle an invoice for completed work with a client, the response we received was, ‘I don’t have any money at the moment and I’m actually looking for work.  Do you have any openings at your firm?’”

From Sabrina Sumsion of Spotlight Publicity:

“I received a web inquiry that said, ‘this is a life changeing fictional novel that talks about a topic that i can’t discuss because i can’t give away my idea because i can’t aford to copy right my book.  Theres tyos in the manuscrypt but it doesn’t interfere in the story.  it hasn’t been publeshed yet.  can you publesh my book?’  I didn’t reply to this inquiry.”

Sometimes, potential clients or hires reveal a lot when they make their approach to engage your services.  The important thing is to take note of the messages and take care in the reply.  Not every opportunity to engage is the right opportunity to advance your business.  When the Puget Sound Business Journal “Media Savvy” column is “live” I’ll let you know so you can read all the other great one-liners to avoid when seeking to engage a publicist.

Two Action Oriented Blog Visitors Win Publici-Tea™-TO-GO! Gift Bundles Today

Congratulations to Cindy Loughran and Pam Blanton, both of whom posted heart-felt messages to the blog about why they would like to win a Publici-Tea™-TO-GO! Gift Bundle to propel their businesses to a new level of fabulous.

Both responded to my October 26 request for action, and both of their stories touched my heart.  Both are winners for getting into action.  They will be even better equipped to earn free publicity, now that they are the proud owners of Publici-Tea™-TO-GO gift bundles to support their success.

As you ponder your own DIY publicity success path and inspired action, remember this.  The highways of life are littered with squirrels who couldn’t make up their minds.   Make up your mind and get into action on your DIY publicity plans.  Great rewards are waiting.

Here is the NWEN Think Tank Presentation that Offers Tips for DIY Publicity Success

Last night, I was honored to speak on a panel with Becky Monk, assistant managing editor for the Puget Sound Business Journal, and Whitney Keyes, publicist, writer, marketer, and video producer, as we discussed tips and techniques to earn free publicity at Seattle University.

To listen to it right now, please click the play button.

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To follow is the text of my presentation, just in case you weren’t able to attend.

These are very challenging and changing times in the media. Newspaper circulation is dropping precipitously. Internet usage is at an all time high. New blogs are launching and earn new readers as others fizzle. Social networks are launching and finding new members as online communities take root and grow. In fact, Technorati — the leading blog search engine and most comprehensive source of information on the blogosphere — indexes more than 1.5 million new blog posts in real time and introduces millions of readers to blog and social media content, and the numbers are growing daily. If your own blog posts aren’t yet among them, they soon should be.

All this is to say that the ever changing nature of the traditional and online media today can be overwhelming to ponder at a time when getting your message delivered seems more essential than ever.

At the same time, the economy is giving everyone a run for the money, adding even more challenge to the prospect of doing business today. The Puget Sound Business Journal reported last week that some entrepreneurs are electing to stay at their jobs, rather than jump into the marketplace with their start-up ideas. Others are finding it hard to secure the angel financing they need to take flight. Still others are downsizing and electing to bootstrap their efforts as opposed to taking on debt or securing equity partners.

These are not easy times, yet these are still very exciting times to share compelling stories with the media that can break through the message clutter, solve problems consumers and businesses are eager to address, and fuel prosperity for those willing to jump into the media relations game.

Those who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get into the media relations game by sharing their stories, ideas, products, and causes with the world can most definitely prosper. No one cares more about your success than you do. With times as tough as they are, now is the perfect time to acquire new skills to advance your success – like the skills of DIY publicity. When you learn and apply your lessons well, you will invite more success with greater ease. And, when your business grows substantially, you’ll be in a much better position to hire out your public relations because you know more than enough about the process to be effective on your own to be sure to engage the right partners when the timing is right to keep your stories in the news in a favorable, ongoing basis.

Just last week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to promote the amazonkindle – Amazon’s revolutionary, wireless reading device that makes it easy to catalog and read volumes of books in one easy-to-carry and operate electronic device. Oprah was so enthusiastic about it that everyone in the studio audience received one as a gift. Viewers were offered a compelling online discount to invite their purchases. Now, the kindle is a “must have” item on the holiday gift lists for millions of people worldwide – even during these challenging economic times.

The folks at Bacon Salt didn’t have the big bucks to launch their new product with the aid and budgets required of a public relations agency. Rather, they took their new product idea to the social media. What began as a half-joking idea – what if there was a spice that made everything taste like bacon – soon become a bustling business that has sold 600,000 units in 18 months, thanks mostly to the harnessing of the word-of-mouth power of social media.

The Bacon Salt marketing story began actually before the product existed. In July 2007, Dave Lefkow, a former executive at online employment company Jobster, posted a MySpace profile dedicated to Bacon Salt. He and partner Justin Esch then spent countless hours mining MySpace data, sending messages and “friending” anyone who declared an affinity for bacon in their profiles. They found 37,000 MySpace members mentioned bacon in profiles. The “spamming” as Esch initially called it, generated a surprising result: not only were people adding Bacon Salt, they were ordering the product even before Lefkow and Esch had ramped up production. Their “cute side project” as Lefkow described it, suddenly got serious. “It was one person telling another persona telling another person,” he said. “It was amazing and scary at the same time. We weren’t prepared for the onslaught.”

Stacy’s Pita Chips is another example. In 2007 with big intentions and a small budget, the company reached out to 133,000 people named “Stacy” in America by sending each one a party kit of Stacy’s Pita Chips to enjoy, just in time for a big football weekend. The company researched the top 10 Stacy’s hot zones with the highest concentration of people named “Stacy” and did a mailing with this message included:

“We hope you enjoyed getting your free box of Stacy’s Pita Chips as much as we enjoyed sending them to you. If you did, why not share the joy by sending a FREE gift box to a friend? Since we’ve already sent them to every Stacy, you’re free to send them to Bill or Mary or Cheryl or John—or whoever you think would enjoy Stacy’s chips the most.”

That got a lot of people talking and blogging about the company’s targeted efforts to reach out. Soon, Stacy’s Pita Chips was enjoying dramatic sales gains. Not long after, the company was purchased by Frito Lay, and Stacy is – no doubt – living the life uncommon.

Now is the time to find your authentic story and consider the best ways to share it. Now is also a great time to avail yourself to abundant and often free resources that can help you get a handle on what is changing in the media and figure out the best way to share your story.

In 2001, I got inspired to serve as a DIY publicity resource for small business owners everywhere. Today, if you “Google” the term “do-it-yourself” publicity, my name and blog show up on page one of the search. By taking my own DIY publicity advice, I’ve earned a solid reputation for serving this need. I haven’t spent money on advertising. I have no debt. I don’t answer to partners. I just serve in the way that I know now. If this is what has unfolded for me by deploying the power of DIY publicity, what else might be possible for you when you get into the media relations game and play to win in only the ways that you can?

Consider these questions:

How much of the story telling responsibility for your product, service, idea or cause can you embrace on a do-it-yourself basis?

Can you apply an hour a day to telling your story by writing articles, making story pitches, or sharing quality press releases with the world? That is a great place to start.

Can you visit informational websites like www.theblogsquad.biz and www.blogging101.com to show you the way to blogging success?  Or, can you “Google” the terms “how to blog” and follow the easy links to learn essential information to empower your success?

Can you sign up on at least one social network and make authentic contributions and connections that make sense for the ways you are serving the marketplace? Examples to reference include www.linkedin.com, www.biznik.com, and www.plaxo.com.

Can you sign up today for www.helpareporter.com and begin responding to media queries that could put your ideas and expertise into the media spotlight?

6) Can you attend a do-it-yourself publicity workshop or avail yourself to free publicity tips, ideas, and resources to grown your knowledge, advance your confidence, and get into action? To that end, if you would like to receive 25 newspaper columns to empower your DIY publicity success, I invite you to sign up to receive my free Media-Savvy-to-Go ezine at www.mainstreetmediasavvy.com. If you would like to avail yourself to the tools and workshops I have created to empower your DIY publicity success, I would be honored to be of service.

The New York Times once said that good publicity lasts forever. I always like to say that bad publicity lasts even longer. What is it going to take to compel you into action, and won’t you start today? Speaking of getting into action, there are just eight spots left for the November 14 Publici-Tea™ Half-Day Workshop at The Village Bellevue. Why not treat yourself to the gift of the Publici-Tea so you can get your story ready to broadcast to the world in the winning way that will make you proud? Register at this link. And, just one person has posted a comment so far to win a Publici-Tea™-to-Go! Gift Bundle at the blog post below about getting into action. Why not post your own comment and get into the game to win? I can’t wait to read your post.

Tips to Enlist Bloggers’ Attention in Your Story from Wasabi Publicity

Check out these useful tips to make sure your attempts to earn online buzz through bloggers are successful.  These tips come from Michelle Tennant Nicholson’s Wasabi Club Newsletter.  She is chief story teller for Wasabi Publicity. 

1.    It’s never appropriate to demand that a blogger cover your company and the personal touch goes a lot further than the full court press PR agency tackle!

2.    DON’T BLOG-BLAST! Do your research. This is the time of old PR, new PR, and Web 2.0. Don’t “blog-blast” a bunch of bloggers that have nothing to do with your news.

3.    Don’t try to fake out bloggers. They’re smart and they’re dedicated and above all they are really good researchers and savvy about the Web.

4.    Make the virtual connection via your blog first. Send a note to the blogger making them aware that you covered their blog. But always keep Tip#2 in mind. Do your research and don’t note bloggers on your blog if there is no relation between the two.

5.    Utilize Technorati.com to build your list of blogs to target.

6.    Send your news on a timely basis in relation to the blogger’s schedule, not yours. If you know for instance on Thursdays they always review new technologies, new books etc. then keep that in mind when sending news. (Tip - Don’t send it the day you want it covered!)

7.    Let bloggers know about the beta! What this means is it’s good to give bloggers the scoop on things early and count them in as part of your PR push. It’s a mistake at this juncture of relationship focused PR and marketing to do anything but!

8.    Don’t send out the same old approach letters! Be creative and above all be brief.

9.    Don’t ask a blogger to highlight your company or its Web site unless they offer to.

10.  Don’t send anything to a blogger that’s not newsworthy and don’t ask the blogger if you can preview their post!

Two Radio Interviews to Empower Your DIY Publicity Success - Listen in and Be Inspired

If you missed the radio interviews “Get Booked on Oprah” Expert Susan Harrow and I did recently on the Chat with Women Radio Show and the Dr. Pat Show, let me make it easy for you to listen in after the fact. You’ll learn some useful tips to support your do-it-yourself publicity success journey just by listening in.

Here is the interview with Dr. Pat. Please click play button below.

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I can tell you that my 11 year old son Kyle listened in to this interview, and he was very impressed. That makes me proud.

Here is the Chat with Women Show. Please click play button below.

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Between the VIP and Grande Sized events, Susan and I had the wonderful opportunity to work with more than 60 guests to share useful information and insider secrets to empower their DIY publicity success. What a fabulous time was had by all. I’ll be sharing photos and other highlights in the coming days, so stay tuned for those.

The next Publici-Tea™ Workshop takes place November 14 from 12:30 - 5 p.m. at The Village Bellevue. I only have room for 13 guests because we are keeping this session intimate to allow for plenty of laser publicity coaching on the spot. You can learn more about my special guests Social Networking Guru Michelle Price and Practical Small Business Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas, and register at www.publicitea.com. These events are my joy, and folks sure do get a lot of inspiration and ideas to tell their stories and build their businesses. If this sounds like what you need, treat yourself to the gift of Publici-Tea™.

Learn about DIY Publicity at This Free Event at Seattle University. Check Your Calendar for 10-28 at 7 p.m.

If you are hungry to learn about the power of publicity and want to connect with members of the Northwest Entrepreneur Network at the same time, mark your calendar now to attend this 10-28 Think Tank Session that starts at 7 p.m. with me, Puget Sound Business Journal Assistant Managing Editor Becky Monk, and Whitney Keyes as your guides.  Here is the link to learn more and sign up for this session that will take place at Seattle University in Schaffer Auditorium.  This is a FREE event, and right about now, that is a fabulously great deal. Networking starts at 7 p.m. and the panel discussion begins at 7:30 p.m.

Now is a fabulous time to shake up your business networking to reach new audiences.  Why not take the opportunity to attend this event, and bring your friends.   You’ll learn quite a bit — from a seasoned editorial decision maker and two publicists who work in the trenches every day to bring about results that matter for growing businesses all around the Puget Sound.

Money Wi$e Business Women Conference
A Safe Place to Learn About Money
Saturday, October 25^th 2008 from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm

North Seattle Community College
Seattle, WA

And, if you are ready to shake up your business networking still more, consider attending the Money Wise Business Women’s Conference on Saturday, 10-25.  Here is a link to tell you more about that.  I’ll be speaking at the 11:45 session on DIY publicity, and there are other equally interesting and compelling speakers on the agenda to help you learn more about money.  This is certainly a timely topic, and I hope to see you there.

Want Nuts and Bolts of DIY Publicity - Listen to This Radio Interview

Kevin Henry of the radio show Bellevue Today invited me to share useful DIY publicity tips on his radio show.  You can listen in with convenience and ease by clicking on this link.

He also offered me the opportunity to talk a little bit about the new Publici-Tea™-to-Go! Gift Bundles that help business owners build buzz and return a portion of net profits to the NW Hope and Healing Foundation.  Since I live and work in Bellevue, Kevin’s invitation to contribute to his program was quite welcome. I hope you’ll listen in.

In somewhat related news, I hosted with Susan Harrow the Grande Sized Publici-Tea™ Workshop last Frday from 12:30 - 5 p.m. for a group of 26 business owners, and I hosted the VIP Publici-Tea™ in the morning for 34 business owners from 9 - 11 a.m.  The fee to attend the afternoon session was $297 and included plenty of high value bonuses.  The fee to attend the morning session was $97 and included two high value bonuses.

This is just a gut feeling, but It seems that a shorter event packed with valuable information, tools, and connections for a more modest investment of time and money is something that resonates, now more than ever.   I am considering the creation of a Mini Publici-Tea™  Workshop to fill this need.

Does this idea resonate with you?  If you have a comment to share about this idea, I would be thrilled to receive it as I plan how best to be of service as we all make plans to navigate the current economy in the best possible way.   Thank you.

Want 25 newspaper columns about do-it-yourself publicity in one easy to read file?

I just created a new, improved, and FREE e-book that includes all 25 “Media Savvy” newspaper columns I’ve written over the last two years.   If you would like to receive it and are already a subscriber to my free Media Savvy to Go ezine, send me an email at nancy@nsjmktg.com this week, and I’ll gladly send this to you by return email.   If you are not yet a subscriber to the free ezine, please opt-in today by entering your email address into the sign up box noted on the right hand side of the navigation (the fifth graphic box down) to receive all 25 newspaper columns in one convenient PDF file.

With the economy giving everyone a run for the money, the timing has never been better to deploy the power of do-it-yourself publicity to your buzz and business building advantage.   Why not request your copy today?  And, please share your copy with others so they can benefit, too!

If your story doesn’t relate to the economy or the election, then what?

Melanie Rembrant is a colleague who has some great things to say about DIY publicity, so today I am going to direct you to her latest blog post about what to do if you don’t have stories to tell right now that are about the economy or the election. 

And, check out this guest blog post I was invited to make by Publicity Hound Joan Stewart about a story hook that delivered the goods for my client — Zook Hooks Inc — at the perfect time.  There are some useful lessons there about do-it-yourself publicity.

Finally, this is your last chance to register for either the VIP Publici-Tea™ or the Grande Sized Publici-Tea™ taking place tomorrow from 9 - 11 a.m. and 12:30- 5 p.m. respectively.  Jump down to my prior blog post for all the easy registration links which are working perfectly now.  We’ve got a fabulous group of publicity seeking business owners joining together for both sessions, and we have room for more.  Why not escape the day-to-day trials of of running your business tomorrow and treat yourself to either Publici-Tea™.  Susan and I would love to have you join us.

New Tech Pub Offers Media Opportunies at the PSBJ and the Seattle PI

This blog post comes to you from my trusty team member Sharon Baker, and its a good one.

She writes:

Enterprising do-it-yourselfers playing in the technology arena will want to take note of a surprising change at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Microsoft reporter Todd Bishop and venture and startup reporter John Cook left the PI Friday to create a new online technology venture in conjunction with the Puget Sound Business Journal. The news was first reported by Brier Dudley at The Seattle Times.

Their departure wipes out the technology coverage at the PI, and opens a window of opportunity for publicity seekers with news tips and story ideas. If you have a technology story to tell and would like to see it appear in the PI, send your pitches to Business Editor Margaret Santjer at MargaretSantjer@seattlepi.com.

The new PSBJ tech site won’t be up for a few weeks, according to information posted on a temporary holding page, which provides a form to sign up to receive updates on the new venture. Visit it here: www.pugetsoundbusinessjournal.com/tech.

It is interesting to note that Bishop and Cook have co-founder titles, a good sign that the new venture is going to be controlled locally. With their years of experience, professional blogging credentials and large following, the new site will be a good place to learn about start-ups, financing and entrepreneurship. While the focus will be on technology, the venture will offer plenty of tips that are useful to all industries so wise do-it-yourselfers will want to tune in.

Enterprising DIY publicists wishing to get in touch will Cook and Bishop can do so at johnharoldcook@gmail.com and toddbishop@gmail.com.