February 16, 2010
PR Beyond the Backyard, Uncategorized
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I love sharing stories about how Publici-Tea™ graduates use the lessons they learn from this popular workshop to earn media attention in their own backyards and beyond. Today’s success story comes from Justin Tsang of Netstar Communications.
He writes, “Not too long ago I let you know that we got interviewed by ABCNews.com for expert advice on hidden telecom charges. You can read the article here. There is some bittersweet news. The article makes no mention of Netstar. The writer opted to include some of our insight but refer to us as ‘experts.’ Nonetheless, we still see the whole experience as a positive one. It’s not everyday you get tapped by ABCNews. Again, thank you for your help and support. Your tips and training helped me secure this great opportunity.”
– Justin Tsang, Netstar Inc.
For those of you who want to learn the lessons Justin has learned so well, here are two items that offer even more great news.
- You’ll be able to benefit from the Publici-Tea™ Express Digital Workshop as a gift from March 1 – 7, during my nine-year business anniversary sale when you purchase the Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide during the event.
- And, if you would like to be among five lucky publicity-seeking guests who will gather around my Bellevue, WA dining room table on their choice of three upcoming Friday workshop dates – May 14, September 17, or November 12 – save your preferred date now. The Publici-Tea™ Intensive Workshop is coming back! I’ve decided to bring back these small, focused, and very personalized sessions to give serious publicity seekers the training, brainstorming, and tools they need in a very intimate group setting. Why? Because I love working closely with business owners who are serious about getting the attention they deserve. I’ve also found that those who invest in a quality day of training and tools are very motivated to act and excel.In fact, the majority of Publici-Tea™ Graduate Success Stories posted to this blog are from those who made the investment of time and money to spend at least a half-day with me to learn their lessons well. Since success is what I want for everyone, these delicious, customized Publici-Tea™ Intensive Workshop Experiences are coming back, staring this May.If you want to raise your hand now and tell me this is just the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, give me a call at 425-641-5214 (PST) or send me email to get on the guest list for your preferred date. I’ll have more information to share about what you can expect to learn, invest, and take-away from your Publici-Tea™ Intensive Workshop Experience — including the new DIY Publicity Success System — in future ezines and blog posts, so stay tuned.
December 12, 2009
Information Product Success, PR Beyond the Backyard
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Howard Greenstein writes the Inc. Magazine Start-Up Toolkit Blog, and his December 8 post is entitled “Promote Your Startup – Help a Reporter. Visit this link to read all about it.
As you read, notice that I am quoted within the story in connection with my very recent HARO advertising success story for Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide. What a thrill.
As I often say, one good thing often leads to another, and I couldn’t be more delighted. Thank you Peter Shankman. Thank you Howard Greenstein. Thank you everyone in the USA and the world who is buying Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide and having remarkable success. That’s what this guide is all about.
After all, why have a washed up bio when you can be a rock star fast with a few sassy soundbites and some focused effort? The New Year is coming. Come out swinging with a new bio, and welcome the abundance. If not now, then when? This could be the perfect gift for the entrepreneur on your holiday list.
As for me, getting seen, heard, and celebrated on the Inc. Magazine Startup Blog is an early holiday gift I couldn’t be more delighted to receive. Hurray.
October 3, 2009
Local Publicity, PR Beyond the Backyard
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Did you see the story about Fran’s Chocolates in yesterday’s Puget Sound Business Journal? The White House is now offering custom-label boxes of this local company’s extraordinary chocolates to dignitaries and others. Columnist Patti Payne writes:
“Fran’s Chocolates are right now in a drawer in the Oval Office, in specially created boxes doled out 
by the president of the United States as gifts to heads of state and other visiting dignitaries. You may remember we broke the story, when Barack Obama was campaigning to be president, that his favorite chocolates were Fran’s salted caramels. He tasted one and has been hooked ever since.
Now the story grows. Some time after Obama was inaugurated, Reggie Love, Obama’s personal assistant, emailed Fran’s and asked if they could design a special presidential box for the Oval Office. Fran’s made some prototypes and sent them for approval. The result: two small boxes, both containing a mix of the coveted caramels, some covered in dark chocolate with gray sea salt and others in milk chocolate with smoked salt.
One is a seven-piece box done in deep presidential navy blue, bearing Obama’s signature and presidential seal, both in gold. The other is a smaller, three-piece box, also in presidential navy blue, bearing the presidential seal in color. Both are tied with blue grosgrain ribbon.
CEO Andrina Bigelow credits three factors for the company’s 20% increase in sales this year: a new retail store at Seattle’s Four Seasons Hotel,
significant national press exposure, and the feel-good factor.
Earning the loyalty of the President of the United States to your brand is a pretty big deal that makes a difference in the media and at the cash register.
August 27, 2009
Be Heard, PR Beyond the Backyard
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Paul Casey hosts a radio program called Small Business Innovators on 1150 a.m. in Seattle, and I am his guest today at 2 p.m. The program airs again tomorrow at 2 p.m. Tune in to learn how to say “Bye Bye” to your boring bio and “hello” to a magnetic bio that helps you attract more perfect opportunities your way.
Speaking of radio, I’ve been digging in to study how to pitch national radio stations. So much of my publicity work is local in nature or print-focused, that I recognize the need to study best practices to grow my skills.
One of the resources you might investigate is Radio-Television Interview Report – The Magazine to Read for Guests and Show Ideas. I received the mid-June 2009 information in the mail just days after requesting it, and it is chock full of great tips, examples, and testimonials from nationally known authors and experts who swear by this service for the impact and results it brings about for their businesses and how they serve the world. Visit this link to request your information packet so you can learn more about how national radio can contribute to your success.
After studying the various pitch formats illustrated powerfully in the Radio-TV Interview Report, here is the pitch I’ve come up with to help share my expertise with the world:
Are You Ready to Kick Your Boring Bio to the Curb?
Tips to Transform Your Bio from “Boilerplate” to “Really Great”
So You Can Get On with Your Life’s Work Fast!
Labor Day is fast approaching. The Department of Labor reported last week that 15 states are reporting double digit unemployment. Since many business owners and job seekers are still desperately seeking work, the timing is right to share the four things your listeners MUST share immediately in their bios when inviting clients, the media or hiring managers to pay attention to them. Now that social media is changing the way people connect and do business, getting the message tight and right has never been more essential.
Do-It-Yourself Publicity Expert Nancy Juetten is on an inspired mission to help people tell their stories so they can attract more of the right publicity and business opportunities. She’ll empower your listeners to turn their bios from “boilerplate” to ”really great” in record time so they can get back to work and on with their lives.
Nancy will share:
- A surefire way to wake up decision makers fast
- How stunning results, succinct stories, sassy sound bites, and social information to help ideal clients connect combine to create a delicious bio recipe that makes others take notice;
- Why going the DIY route with your head shot is the fast track to the round file;
- How to be memorable and remarkable with a few chosen words to attract more perfect clients and more success with greater ease.
Credentials:
Do-It-Yourself Publicity Expert Nancy Juetten is fiercely committed to helping business owners everywhere quickly get up-to-speed on the best ways to use do-it-yourself publicity so they can get seen, heard, and celebrated in their own backyards and beyond. She has contributed engaging DIY publicity tips to the ABC Radio Network, The Dr. Pat Show, and the Chat with Women Show. She is a frequent “Media Savvy” guest on the Small Business Innovators radio show with Paul Casey. Her “Media Savvy” column for the Puget Sound Business Journal empowers business decision makers to earn the publicity they seek under their own power. She contributes to teleseminars, podcasts, Publici-Tea™ Workshops, and virtual media summits worldwide about DIY publicity. She is the creator of the NEW Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action eGuide that has earned raves from business owners and publicity experts from all around the USA. Visit www.byebyeboringbio.com to learn more
Contest Giveaways: Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action eGuides are available for give-away on-air!
Reviews of this Book are Fabulous:
Here is a link to a stellar example:
Availability: Seattle, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone.
Contact: Nancy Juetten, (425) 641-5214 (WA); nancy@nsjmktg.com; www.byebyeboringbio.com
What Do You Think? I’d love to learn how this radio pitch lands with you, my loyal blog readers. And, I challenge you to follow the format to come up with a radio pitch that is even better for how you serve the world. Create your pitch, and share it on this blog. I’ll be happy to return the favor and share my upgrade suggestions to support your future success!
July 22, 2009
Media Savvy 101, PR Beyond the Backyard, Seattle Chocolate Company
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I love ProfNet. The media queries come to my in-box. I reply to those that are a fit for my commentary. And media results flow. This time, my own name and company name got the ink in the Washington Post and well beyond, thanks to a story by a reporter for the Associated Press.
The media query was seeking people to comment on the adjustments to be made when managing kids and pets, while running a business from home. Here is how I replied:
I started my boutique PR and DIY publicity training and tools company in February of 2001 during one of the toughest recessions on record in the USA. Because of the recession, the PR firm I worked for eliminated my position. At the time, we were working with a lot of high tech companies that failed when the dot.com bubble burst. Undaunted, I put out my shingle in pursuit of clients in the “comfort and joy” space, including Fran Bigelow of Fran’s Chocolates Ltd., Olympic Hot Tub Company, Affirmagy, and Seattle Chocolate Company. When folks aren’t buying high technology, they are most certainly comforting themselves with premium chocolates hot tubs, affirmation blankets, and the like. Business is still going strong, almost nine years later, as we face a recession even more daunting than the last one. There have been powerful lessons learned along the way.
* You have to build a “dream team” of players that includes someone to support your information technology (IT) needs, a webmaster to manage website issues that require expertise you don’t have, a lawyer to set up your business properly, a bookkeeper to keep track of the money, and a CPA to make sure you are doing the right things consistently.
* Working alone can be isolating. It’s important to join a professional networking organization or trade group so you can connect with other like-minded professionals, access quality referrals to clients and service providers, and have your pulse on the marketplace so you can invite the right opportunities to serve and contribute. It’s also important to apply discipline and focus to your goals every day because your success or failure rests squarely on your own shoulders.
* If you’ve worked in a corporate office for any length of time, you have to get used to the fact that there isn’t anyone waiting to take your calls for help. You have to learn to do a whole lot of things on a DIY basis, and that can be daunting at times. Be patient with yourself, stay with it, and be sure to keep your eye on the revenue generating ball at all times.
* Never tell a client you have childcare issues to contend with. Rather, offer several windows of availability to meet by phone or in person, without offering detailed explanations about why. Clients want their work done in a winning way on the timetable that suits their needs. As long as you meet their needs in a timely manner with quality leading the way, you and your clients will be well served.
* If the dog barks, simply laugh and say that having your golden retriever by your side is one of the benefits of working independently.
* The buck starts and stops with you. That means you have to evaluate every expenditure carefully, being mindful that earning return on that investment is a priority as a result of the impact you create in the marketplace with whatever it is you are bringing to market.
Most businesses fail within five years, Michael Gerber – author of the E-Myth Revisited — has written. Most people “Escape from Cubicle Nation” — with credit to Pam Slim — with hopes that they can specialize on their genius. What many soon find is that running the business is equally as important as exercising the genius. One without the other isn’t good enough. Almost nine years later, I am still running a profitable, home-based business that serves clients in my own backyard … and beyond. I’ve learned to work on and in my business, and there are still new lessons to learn every day. If I can be of more help to the story you have brewing, it would be my pleasure. You can learn more about me and my company at www.mainstreetmediasavvy.com.
My telephone number appeared in the signature line of my email. A day or two later, the reporter called me. We had a nice chat, and some of my comments earned a place in her story.
For this business owner who would very much like to welcome awareness about Authentic Visibility among publicity-seeking business owners well beyond my own Bellevue, WA backyard, this is a very good thing.
Study the pitch above to see how it addressed the needs of the query at hand, and then start responding to HARO, PR Leads, or ProfNet queries following a similar recipe. The next thing you know it, your comments will traveling beyond your own backyard through the power of free publicity. People will check your website to learn more about you, and wonderful new opportunities will be yours to make the most of.
July 14, 2009
La Panzanella, PR Beyond the Backyard
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One taste of La Panzanella gourmet Italian snack crackers, and most people are hooked immediately. Here is a link to the latest blog coverage about this delicious, artisan-made line of flatbreads and how they add delight to the cheeseboard.
Examiner bloggers can be a great resource for sharing your new product news. Visit Examiner.com and search for bloggers who write about your particular product, expertise, or niche. Then, make a pitch to suggest why your story is a perfect fit for how they serve their readers.
You just might find — as I did with Long Island Grocery Examiner Stephanie Schandler — that your Seattle area new product news can travel all the way to passionate grocery shoppers in New York. Pitching all the holiday gift guides about the new Fieri line of gourmet crackers with sassy world flavors has been fun. I heard from Real Simple magazine that samples of Fieri are requested. Another prominent local food writer is asking for samples, too. Tasting Fieri is believing that the cheeseboard will never again be quite the same and all the better.
If you are a food writer, food blogger, or someone in the gift basket business who is looking for something delicious, sassy, and new to taste and share with your readers or your customers, let me hear from you. My email is nancy@nsjmktg.com. My phone number is 425-641-5214. It will be my pleasure to send samples your way because tasting is believing.
July 13, 2009
Event Promotion, PR Beyond the Backyard, Seattle Design Center
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Join me this Thursday at Seattle Design Center for a presentation at the Conference Center, Suite 370. I’ll be talking about how to pitch an article the media can’t resist and why you should. My presentation takes place from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
And, while you are at Seattle Design Center, plan to arrive early or stay late to see all the beauty and and bounty that this top quality, regional design center has to offer. Parking is free and plentiful. If you are not a member of the design trade, just call Nancy Knowlton at 206-957-7018 to arrange your complimentary event registration. Seats are limited and 54 of them are already claimed by members of the design trade. We have room for a 46 more.
Speaking of which, If you’ve been hoping to meet the ideal interior designer to help you bring your dreams to life, this is certainly a fabulous opportunity to do that. You can read all about this the “Third Thursday” event at the home page at this link.
Hope to see you there. As always, I’ll have an abundant selection of my DIY publicity tools available for purchase. Speaking of which, the “Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide” got a nice write-up today in the Bellevue Business Journal. Read all about it at this link.
May 28, 2009
PR Beyond the Backyard
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If you have been curious about the effect that appearances on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show or even passing mentions by Winfrey can have on entrepreneurs and their businesses, watch “The Oprah Effect” tonight at 10 p.m. (PST) on CNBC.
How thrilling for my colleague and “Get Booked on Oprah” Expert Susan Harrow to be one of the people interviewed for this enlightening broadcast. She has written “The Ultmate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah.” It’s a must-have resource for anyone truly serious about inviting major media attention — especially from Oprah.
I often tell my clients to aim high with their pitching and to pitch every media outlet as if they were pitching Oprah. The quality shows, and your stories and your growing business success will be well served by taking this approach.
When you earn one fabulous media placement in the media outlet of your choice, based on the outstanding lessons Susan teaches in her super training kit, how many more of your perfect clients will emerge to do business with you, and how much will that matter to your bottom line? It’s best to learn from the experts, and Susan is the best in that regard. I followed her advice and earned a media placement for Seattle Chocolate Company in O The Oprah Magazine. You can, too.
For my money, tonight’s broadcast is “must see TV.” And Susan’s kit is among the best DIY publicity tools on the market today. I hope you will be watching, taking notes, and making your own winning plans to invite the media attention you and your growing company deserve. 
By the way, you can enter a contest on Susan’s site to win the Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah: Super Training Kit. Just visit her site and follow the easy instructions. And invite your do-it-yourself publicity seeking friends and colleagues to enter, as well. You have nothing to lose and a great deal to gain.
March 3, 2009
PR Beyond the Backyard, Seattle Chocolate Company, Video PR
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Not everyone learns best by reading, so today I am offering a quick YouTube video to make it easy for you to learn essential do-it-yourself publicity tips and tools to help you earn a media placement a widely circulated magazine such as O The Oprah magazine. This video was taken by Get Booked on Oprah Expert Susan Harrow at the Grande-Sized Publici-Tea™ Workshop last October. If you haven’t yet read Susan’s books on how to earn Oprah’s attention, I promise that your DIY publicity effort will be very well served by doing so. I know mine has. Check out her high-value offerings at the link above. The media placement in O The Oprah Magazine happened with speed and 
impact because I purchased a subscription to Gift List Media and used it to find the perfect editorial opportunity to share the Seattle Chocolate Company story. The lessons I learned reading the Susan Harrow book definitely contributed to my success. If you have products that are ideally suited for spring or holiday gift guides, you owe it to yourself and your company’s success to take a look at Gift List Media.
Based on the placement success my client enjoyed as a result of our 2008 subscription, I can tell you that the modest investment required to benefit is well worth it.
February 27, 2009
PR Beyond the Backyard
2 Comments
I wrote a column for the Puget Sound Business Journal this month about do-it-yourself publicity and was pleased to find out that my latest column (entitled What DIY Tasks Should You Do Yourself) has been picked up by the Sacramento, Houston, and San Antonio editions of the paper.
When I started writing this column about 18 months ago, my intent was to write quality content that would earn the attention of the other editors within the American City Business Journal family. I knew I had my work cut out for me because editorial decision makers for each paper naturally prefer to feature writers from their own backyards. The latest column apparently broke through because the topic was especially timely and relevant to readers across the country. What a thrill for me and what a service to the readers. I hope you’ll click on the link, read the column, and get inspired into DIY publicity action.
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