Do You Have Professional Marketing Materials?

Not getting the media attention you deserve?

Not attracting new clients?

Not getting speaking gigs?

Speaker Services Team Can help

Services Include:

√  Speaker Listing for the web, social media, calls for proposals and in Speaker Services Online Directory. http://www.speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html

√  One-sheets Made Easy
A one-sheet combines text with colorful photos and graphics to spotlight who you are and what you do. It can be one- or two-sided. Many speakers use one side to promote their speaking and the other to feature a book or product. Great for event planners and talk-show producers because they can quickly “get” what you’ll offer their audiences.

√ Bios and profiles: short, medium, long
Bios in three formats: short, medium and long, so you’ll always have what the media outlet needs.  Also write-ups and listings for corporate publications and professional directories.

√ Interview questions
Talk show hosts and producers love guests who send questions in advance ─ it cuts down their prep time and results in a better interview. We know how to create interview questions that allow you to hit the high points and tell the story you want to tell.

√ Introductions
Show up at your next speaking engagement armed with an intro you actually like!  We can provide short intros for TV, radio, and teleclass appearances; medium-length for speaking engagements.

√  Testimonials
We  can edit testimonials for maximum impact.

√  Pitch letters to editors, reporters, producers
You don’t have to wait for your next event to attract media interest. A strong pitch letter sent to reporters, editors and talk show producers can suggest story angles that generate interest in you, your work, or your product.

√ Press releases
Professionally done to announce an event or the release of a book, film or product; can also be used to link what you do to a local or national news story so the media will call on you as an expert.

√ Videos and Media Coaching
We can provide short, affordable video clips of clients talking about what they do. Great for  websites, blogs and YouTube, and better quality than most Web cams.

√ Website review + write, edit, or rewrite
Make your website copy short, compelling and user-friendly.  We’ll review your site, suggest ways to make it better, and write, re-write or edit the copy.

√ Book Mentor coaching to complete and publish your book
Need help writing or publishing your book? Should you query a literary agent and go mainstream, or is self-publishing best for you? If you opt for mainstream, we can show you how to write a powerful query letter and book proposal and how to play the publishing game like a pro. If you decide to self-publish, we can guide you through the process so you’ll get a great-looking book for the best possible price per copy.

√ Copy for book cover, front and back
Book covers sell books. We can write or re-write your front and back cover copy to make it irresistible.

√  POSITION, PROSPECT AND LAND GIGS NOW taught by Susan Levin & Jean-Noel Bassior (one-on-one or group sessions)

Success strategies for you and your staff. Identify target markets and decision makers. Learn how to leave voice messages that get call-backs.

Session 1
We coach the VA so she/he can market your client as a speaker in a more effective way. We’ll do four sessions. In the first, we’ll show how to make cold calls and get to the right person. We’ll also show how to follow up the first call with a proposal for meeting planners that clearly shows why they should book your client. We’ll coach the VA on how to write the proposal in a way that tailors it to each group’s needs. The VA will send us a draft of the proposal so we can make sure she’s on the right track.

Session 2
We go over the draft of the follow-up proposal with the VA and offer editing suggestions to make it as strong as possible. We make sure she understands how to write a powerful proposal that shows why the group or organization should book your client as a speaker.

Session 3
We show the VA how to prospect for gigs and research target audiences for both speaking and PR. A special report with the information covered will be provided at the end of the call. We will give a homework assignment to choose two or three organizations or companies to call. The VA will make the calls and report back to us in the next session.

Session 4
In the fourth session, we listen to the VA’s experience in contacting meeting planners and sending out proposals. We answer her questions and offer feedback to make sure she understands everything we have covered as she moves forward.

Call for a complimentary session today!

Speaker Services, Susan Levin: 310-822-4922 PT

by Sue Papadoulis via SuccessfulAuthorSecrets.com or LoveYourLifePublishing.com.

Using public relations (PR) is the fastest, easiest and least expensive way to build your brand, increase your customer base, explode your sales and give you expert status. Don’t overlook going after fr^ee publicity in the media – it is far more extensive and influential than a paid for advertisement. As an author, you’re already an expert in your field – now it’s just a case of making sure the media see you in the same light so you can sell more books.

Here’s my 10-step plan to writing a great press release that will get noticed.

Get the layout right. You need:

The date and city of issue
A headline in larger, bold font
An opening sentence in bold
Text that supports your headline and opening sentence
Your contact details

Create a great headline. Just as in a newspaper article, the headline must sum up the press release contents in a concise manner. See if you can mirror what you see in newspapers and magazines. Keep it to one short sentence and remove unnecessary words.

Write a snappy opening sentence. Your opening sentence can be just as important as the headline in attracting interest from a journalist who may scan this alone and determine whether or not the entire story is of interest. Remember, these words are also indexed by search engines, so if you’re loading your release onto any online distribution sites add some key words (but not to the detriment of the quality of the content).’

Support your headline and opener with quality text. The remaining text supports your story and must answer the questions of who, what, when, where, how and why. Write the text in the format used by your target media outlet. For example if you’re targeting a local paper, write it as a newspaper article – the sure sign of a great media release is when you read it word for word in the paper.

Use quotations. Quote yourself high up in the release – in the second or third sentence. Keep quotes short, sharp and newsworthy (often referred to by the media as a ‘grab’ which summarizes the main point of the story). Add them as a single sentence at a time, rather than as a paragraph of text. A single sentence is easier to read and scan.

Include an expert if possible. If you can find a third party to support your position it will give you and your release instant credibility and move it away from being a promotional piece into the realm of serious news story. This could be a happy customer who’s willing to be quoted or a representative of an industry association. You could even quote a third party who’s already publically spoken about your issue. As long as it’s in the public domain and you correctly attribute the quote, you are able to include it.

Provide full contact details. Include your name, landline, mobile phone number, email address and web address.

Keep it to one page. More than one and a half pages and a journalist just won’t read it. If you’re struggling to include everything, then make a plan to come up with six angles over six months. Over that period of time you can include all the information you need to about your business. By staying in touch regularly, you’re also building a relationship with a journalist which can be a key factor in generating free publicity.

Offer images and make yourself available for an interview. Often, a journalist will want to do an interview rather than lifting quotes directly from a media release. A media outlet may be happy to use your images, or they may want to take photographs themselves, so make yourself available.

Send it out! Develop a list of targeted media outlets, and don’t overlook online PR release sites such as www.free-press-release.com and www.prweb.com.

© 2010 Sue Papadoulis
Sue Papadoulis is a leading specialist in helping small businesses generate free publicity. She is the founder of the DIY PR Kit which provides step-by-step advice and templates to show you how to score free media coverage on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and online. Access Sue’s special video (valued at $279), How to Generate Free Publicity for Your Business, free at www.diyprkit.com.

Post from Wendy Scharfman
Coaching For Effective Communication
www.wendyscharfman.com

Video is everywhere. YouTube, websites, training and product videos, corporate and marketing videos, media interviews… the list goes on. How do we get ready for our close-up?

Video now gives us the ability to reach vast numbers of people in unprecedented ways. As in any public speaking event, you want to capitalize on the opportunity to communicate your thoughts and ideas with “savoir-faire” – to say it like you mean it all in a sound bite, with confidence, grace, a little panache and some universal humor thrown in for good measure – ALL THIS, without tripping over your tongue, losing your train of thought, or looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Piece of cake? Not exactly. When done well, we make it look so facile and relaxed. But haven’t we all seen those stiff, wincingly uncomfortable, monotone excuses for a video product? Here are some necessary tips for making your video stand out that will place you rightfully in the spotlight.

• Focus. Literally. As in where you look. Remember THE CAMERA IS ALWAYS THE AUDIENCE. So, if you’re talking directly to the audience, tilt your head up slightly (trick of the trade – this will hide a double chin!) and position the camera a little above your eye level. That’s your focus. In an interview, always focus on the person interviewing you, not the camera – make it a conversation.

• Relax and smile. Nerves are nasty little critters. But an inhale and exhale followed with a soft smile (NOT one that’s ear to ear) can really help you fake it ’til you make it. Be sure you’re breathing regularly in the course of taping. Do not hold your breath. Trust me, it will wreak havoc on your ability to speak and add a whole lot of stiffness to your demeanor. Also, blink on occasion. It’s a natural lubricant for your eyes and will help you stay “bright eyed” – you’ll look less “robotic”. Think of it as a smile in your eyes with a little mischief behind them. It will give you confidence.

• Body language. A little movement is fine; too much movement makes you appear nervous. By all means use your hands! But try and keep them below chest level, no wider than your shoulders and don’t flail. Hands can enhance decisive statements and support nuance in your speaking dynamics, but don’t overuse them. And don’t even think about running your hands through your hair. If you’re standing during your taping, watch the rocking back and forth. Try and stand comfortably with your feet about six inches apart, your weight equally distributed and your shoulders relaxed. And don’t stand on the balls of your feet, you run the risk of losing your balance. When sitting, lean just slightly forward, shoulders down and then sit as tall as you can but without stiffness. Breathe…

• Appearance. No stripes, checks, neon colors or optical illusions in your clothing. No white, red (on camera it bleeds, really) or too much black. Solid colors but not uniformed and get out the iron (wrinkles show!). Dress appropriately for the occasion and make sure it fits! As for make-up, ladies, use it sparingly. Avoid a lot UNDER the eyes (none is best) and choose a shade of powder slightly lighter than your skin tone. Gents, a little powder takes away the shininess, which includes any baldpates! And if you button your suit, it will keep your tie in place (Helpful Heloise…).

• Delivery. This is when you get to play with your voice and your style of speaking. Add some energy, dynamic and nuance. No monotones allowed. Remember, it’s also a conversation with some great storytelling – you and the audience or you and the interviewer. Add some universal humor (not a joke) – if you make us laugh, we’ll listen better. Also try out a few analogies, quotes and action words. And make sure you have a positive perspective. After all, you want to be seen as the expert at what you do by effectuating positive change. Be sure to hydrate but do your lip licking before the camera is turned on. It’s very distracting.

• Hire a media trainer. The rehearsing, practice and ultimate camera performance can be greatly enhanced with a coach. A coach or trainer will have the skill and expertise to lead you in the right direction, provide you with content suggestions and delivery techniques, and help with the tough questions you may not ask yourself. The video is out there for all to see – invest in making it a great one.

If you would like to sign up for Wendy’s blog please visit: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001Vjt3cCjZco_UHnxe90vk-g%3D%3D
E-mail: wendy@wendyscharfman.com

Susan’s note: In Los Angeles?  Web Video and Marketing Workshops, You On Camera http://www.speakerservices.com/web-video-workshop.html

PR is vitally important to your marketing strategy is often overlooked by speakers, coaches, authors and experts.

Listen to a short video of how you can benefit from it.

Get the drift? Check out how you can obtain up to date media lists in your target market and contact reporters directly. Plus learn how to write PR releases and Pitch Letter. Click here .

Related posts on the blog

www.speakerservices.com

Feb 2010 E-Zine

Boy was I blown away when I saw that over 1,200 people downloaded the complimentary preview teleclass mp3 call for the Speakers Summit http://ping.fm/thJw8 Get Booked at Colleges with Brent Scarpo, Jack Barnard and myself last week.  It’s a hot topic and Brent and Jack gave us great content. We learned what topics are hot in the high school and college market.  This was just the tip of the iceberg.  Brent promises to share more with us on how to get paid gigs in the college market and who to call on.

Are you investing in your speaking/marketing career?  You can transform your speaking as training does make difference  The Speakers Summit10 The theme is Position, Prospect, Prospect- The Road Ahead is our annual event and here are some of the topics our experts will be sharing with the audience so that you can bring your message to the heart and mind of the audience.  BTW:  No hard sell, we are content driven and reasonably priced.

- Discover your niche that suits your passion and skills
- Create content that meets the needs of your audience.
- Leverage Social Networking skills to grow your business
- Get Paid to speak at High Schools & Colleges
- Make an extra $250,000 to $1,000,000 a year with high impact coaching programs
- Repurpose, produce and distribute content that can be shared and extends the voice of your brand, product and company
- Prospecting for speaking engagements: Systematize the booking process
- Bypass Gatekeepers and Voicemail & Reach Your Prospect Directly
- Explore why video is one of the best forms of viral marketing
- From Passion to Profits
- Think and Grow Rich

Expert Presenters: Jack Barnard,  Brent Scarpo, Greg S. Reid, Sabrina Gibson, Joel Bauer, Adam Urbanski, Ursula Mentjes, Susan Levin, Barbara Niven, Nancy Solari, Michael Macfarlane, Mark Mikelat, Deborah Deras, Keith Ivey.

Read the program/register.  Save $100 sign up by Feb 26.

Today I am sharing to articles with you one from Ursuala Mentjes, Why Didn’t I Get That Sale? Ursula will be speaking at the Summit PROSPECTING FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, Master the Art of Speaking and Selling with Intention.

Let me know how I can assist you.  Give me a call for a comp session.

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, 310-822-4922 PT

PS   Feb  8 – Comp preview teleclass for Speakers Summit discussion:  Online Video Strategies Register here

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New Speakers for Feb 2010

See all Speakers

Anastasios Nestoras, Ph.D.
Sports medicine expert presents The Training Revolution, a streamlined, cutting-edge system that takes the drudgery and guesswork out of fitness and brings back the fun.
Fitness, Health, Healthy Lifestyle

Barbara Flood
Business Executive Life Coach shows how to hear and accept life’s call to embark on your personal hero or heroine’s journey, tap your greatest strengths, and find balance between personal humility and professional will.
Baby Boomers, Business Spirituality, Inspirational, Motivational

Wade “Biskit” Hatch
Motivational Wrangler shows how to break free from the herd mentality and head down the freedom trail to the life you deserve.
Change, Motivational, Time Management, Work/Life Balance

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Speakers Community Teleclass

Teleclasses are free for Speakers’ Community Members. Not a member? Join Now to access the calls with my special FREE 2- month Speakers’ Community trial.  Past members can re-join at regular monthly rate

Feb 11 Media Interviews that Gets You Gigs, Clients with Gayl Murphy

What if you go on TV and you don’t know what to do?

Can you “tell it to sell it?” If you can’t tell your story (who you are and what you do) to one person in 10 seconds or less, how can you tell it to a million?

Did you know that business networking is exactly the same as being on the “Today” show?

What if the Rachel Ray Show called you today, for a last minute replacement slot on the show for tomorrow, would you be prepared?

Can you pitch your business to anyone, any place, anytime or anywhere, regardless of whether or not they fit the profile of your typical target consumer? If not, why not?

Learn more/register

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Introducing Seed Nurturing post from Modern B2B Marketing

One thing you’ll notice about most lead nurturing campaigns is the fact that they usually take place after prospects land on your site and enter your database. However, what happens when qualified prospects visit your site or social media sites anonymously where you don’t necessarily have their names or e-mails?

This is where seed nurturing comes into play. Seed nurturing is the process of building relationships with qualified prospects before you have their contact information.

It comes down to is this: prospects are educating themselves long before you actually identify them by landing on your corporate Web site as anonymous visitors, and researching your products and services through third-party resources, word-of-mouth recommendations, and social media sites. Just because you can’t identify these individuals doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified prospects — and because of this, you must nurture them just as you would the known contacts in your database.

If you succeed at this, you will stay top of mind with your prospects as they educate themselves and move through the early stages of their buying process. As a result, they will come to you when they are ready to engage with a sales rep, and you will create a steady flow of highly qualified inbound leads. If you ignore the requirement to build relationships with these very early stage prospects, you’re yielding this opportunity to more agile competitors who will scoop these savvy prospects out from under you.

Seed nurturing best practices

Personalize interactions with anonymous visitors
When prospects visit your website anonymously, you can and should still take advantage of the visit to deepen the relationship with them with relevant and personalized content. You may not know their name and email address, but you certainly can know a great deal about their interests and behaviors. First time visitors can see different offers than repeat visitors. Visitors that use specific search terms can see different promotions that generic visitors. Visitors who visit specific pages and show specific interests can see even more specialized content and offers. Using these techniques, you can design “drip marketing” campaigns that help buyers educate themselves before they ever share their contact information with you. For more on this, see the on-demand webinar Supercharge your Demand Generation with Personalization (an oldie but a goodie).

Make valuable content freely available on your site and over social media.
By eliminating the need for registration in order to obtain your whitepapers, eBooks, and other valuable content, you are making the effort to build relationships with people before you have them in your database. You may be thinking to yourself, “If I do this, I’ll be wasting valuable offers on people I’ll never be able to identify.” On the contrary, you will strengthen your readership, and these dedicated yet anonymous leads will likely come to you as inbound leads once their levels of interest are high enough. Moreover, whether you like it or not, in most cases the information is already out there on social sites, so you may as well embrace the trend rather than fight it. David Merman Scott writes more on this topic in Say NO to squeezing your buyers.

Use social media to build a rock-solid reputation that builds credibility and trust with prospects.

One of the biggest obstacles in the B2B purchasing process is the feeling of risk that overcomes B2B buyers, causing them to behave irrationally during the decision-making process. Seed nurturing plays a key role in diminishing this risk by acting as a vehicle for you to build your reputation as a thought leader and gain the trust of early stage prospects. For example, you can use Twitter to inform people of your views on developments in your industry or show your ability to solve specific business pains by becoming an “Expert” on LinkedIn. B2B buyers trust thought leaders who can demonstrate they understand buyer problems and how to solve them. While a reputation of thought leadership will never be as “risk-reducing” as a personal referral, it is a great way to build awareness and increase your chances that the prospect will respond to future demand generation efforts.

Conclusion
While these ideas represent a departure from what you may consider traditional lead generation techniques, they will help you plant the seeds for highly qualified prospects to reach out to you when they are ready, and once this happens, you can rest easy knowing that you’ve nurtured them appropriately and gained their trust as you would through a traditional drip marketing campaign.
How have you incorporating seed nurturing into your marketing mix?

Posted by Jon Miller on January 27, 2010 in Demand Generation , Lead Nurturing , Modern B2B Marketing , Social Media | Introducing Seed Nurturing

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Why Didn’t I Get That Sale? By Ursula Mentjes

Throughout my years as a Sales Coach, one of the questions that my clients will sometimes ask me is, “Why didn’t I get that sale?”

I say, “sometimes” because no one wants to really talk about lost sales. We don’t even like to admit that we didn’t get the sale.

But I want to tell you that sometimes not getting the sale isn’t a bad thing. And, there are things you can do to reduce the amount of sales you don’t get.

The reality is you aren’t going to get every sale. Nor would you want to. It is important to remember, though, that selling begins in your mind.

When I wrote Selling with Intention, my primary goal was to teach Sales Professionals and Entrepreneurs that they had a lot more control over selling then they thought.  And that was the key-more than they thought. Selling begins in your mind, and when you “get that” at a deep level, selling can become effortless.

Think back to the last time you didn’t get a sale. How did the interaction begin? How did it end?  My guess is that it was one of the reasons I am going to share with you below.

Four Reasons Why You Didn’t Get the Sale:

You didn’t ask.
Let’s face it. Sometimes you can have a phenomenal conversation with your prospect, and it feels like everything is going perfectly until the  end of your time together.  You can feel the time creeping up on you, the hour is almost over, but you haven’t asked for the sale yet.  Fear creeps up, strangling your vocal cords, and before you ask for the sale you find yourself scurrying out to your car, trying to get your key into the ignition as quickly as possible.  Looking back you know you could have had the sale, but you didn’t ask.

Next time you are wrapping up a great appointment with a prospect, save time at the end to take a breath and then simply offer at least three solutions for them to choose from. You will probably be surprised to find out that by simply offering choices, you WILL get more sales. I promise!

You didn’t set your intention.

Not setting your intention is a lot like not asking for the sale.  I always encourage my clients to set their intention ahead of time and actually visualize the sales process from start to finish.  Being intentional about selling is like “assuming the sale”-or expecting that you are going to get it.  Notice how you feel when you “expect” something to happen versus just “thinking” or “hoping” you are getting it.

I recommend that you expect the sale only when you are working with your Target Clients. Otherwise you will feel like you are just forcing the situation rather than letting it unfold.  Set your intention and expect to get the sale!

You didn’t really want it.
Deep down, at a gut level, you KNOW when a prospect who is sitting in front of you isn’t a Target Prospect.  A Target Prospect is a prospect that fits your ideal client profile and needs and or wants (or both) what you are selling. One of the main reasons you set an appointment with a prospect is for you to get to know them and for them to get to know you. During the process of assessing their wants and needs, you will figure out whether or not you really CAN solve their problem or help them with their products or services.

Maybe the last time you didn’t get the sale was because you didn’t really want it.  You recognized that for whatever reason, this prospect wasn’t a good fit.  And that’s okay.  In fact, it’s better than okay because you did what was in the best interest of the prospect.

You didn’t build rapport.
People buy from Sales Professionals they LIKE, KNOW and TRUST. It takes a different amount of time to build rapport depending on personality types. My friend, Laura Bruno, of The Referral Institute, teaches a great class called Room Full of Referrals. This class teaches you the different personality types and how to sell to each one. One of the reasons you might not have gotten the sale is because you didn’t take the time to build rapport with your prospect.. You can tell whether or not you have built rapport because they will either seem completely disconnected from what you are talking about, or they will be engaged. Taking time to build rapport can often be the difference between gaining a new client, or shaking your head and walking away wondering what just happened.

Action Item: Think back to the last time you didn’t get the sale.  Which reason above most accurately describes it? What could you do differently next time? Can you think of a client that you think might have said yes if you had asked for the sale? Make a commitment to yourself to call that client and set another appointment.  And then ask for the sale!

Not getting the sale often makes room for the next “big client” that is trying to get to you.  The next time you don’t get a client, and you know it was because they weren’t a fit, just be grateful. I can almost guarantee you that the next one is right around the corner!

Ursula Mentjes, M.S., ACC is the founder of Sales Coach Now, and the author of Selling with Intention and One Great Goal. Ms. Mentjes has helped clients double and triple their sales revenue in as short as two months! If you want to do the same, then visit her web-site at www.salescoachnow.com

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Gayl Murphy, Hollywood Correspondent and Media Expert

A rather shy woman named Elaine – with a background and expertise in marketing – telephoned me the other day to talk about hiring me to media coach her in her quest to land the perfect client, so she could do a job she could really love.

Elaine explained, she’s been on the interviewing merry-go-round for so long, with so few nibbles on the brass ring, that she’s really starting to doubt her ability to ever land something (anything) really great.

Elaine called me because, she said, “Being at the end of one¹s rope offers options that being on the top of one’s rope doesn’t.” So she wanted to hire me to help her better sell herself and her skills in the client/job market. Fair enough.

Now from an outsider’s perspective, the combo of a marketer and a Hollywood Correspondent teaming up to land a client might seem like apples and oranges, but it¹s not. And I told her that she came to exactly the right person by calling me, and I¹ll tell you why.

My area of expertise is the “Media.” I’m a veteran Broadcast Journalist, Celebrity Interviewer, Media Coach, Speaker and Author. And when I’m not in front of a camera, or in back of a microphone, I coach businesses of all sizes, including experts, authors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and celebrities on how to work with the media and get their message out and how to tell it to sell it on TV, radio and it print. My book is “Interview Tactics! How To Survive the Media Without Getting Clobbered! The Insider’s guide to Giving a Killer Interview,” and that’s what I teach, coach and speak about.

So how does interviewing for a dream client, or dream job, relate to shinning on TV, or nailing a great radio interview?

Contrary to what you’ve heard, there’s more than one class of media, there’s two. The little media; you, me and everyone we know — our circle of friends, our family, associates, employers, employees and colleagues. You get the picture.

And then there’s the big media, or mass media, which is everything else; TV, radio, online, newspapers, magazines, books, satellite, commercials, infomercials, on-demand, cable, pay-per-view and so forth.

You’re a medium, and I’m a medium. This story and the website you’re reading it on are media. Every time you share your story with another person, or in a group, you’re talking to some form of the media ­ one-on-one, telephone, microphone, camera, computer, etc., because the “Media” is anyone, or anything that has the ability to take your message and move it forward — be it one listener, or one billion listeners.

And that’s the good news, because it means the rules for broadcast media darlings and non-broadcast media darlings are exactly the same! Murphy’s Law: “If you can’t tell your story in a concise and succinct way, with confidence, commitment, color, energy and detail, you can’t sell your story to anyone or anything. You’re not moving it forward.”

In the words of Steely Dan, it’s not enough to just “smile for the camera” anymore. You must have an inner mechanism ­ or “Interview Tactics!” ­ that enables you to flip your “media switch” and deliver your message, or pitch with the media-savvy knowingness of a two time Oscar winner, regardless of who is listening.

So how do you take your message and craft it in a way that people will hear it, take it in and move it forward?

As a veteran Hollywood Correspondent, I’ve interviewed over 14,000 celebrities and newsmakers, and I’ve had the unique opportunity to observe, not only how people successfully deliver their message, but how those on the receiving end listen and take this information in and process it.

The truth is, if your story is well-crafted – meaning it’s compelling, succinct, has energy, is well-constructed (beginning, middle and end) – and captures your listener’s imagination and attention in the shortest amount of time, your listener can¹t help but pass it along. They will tell someone else (maybe even the world) about you.

What this says is: what works in big media, works in little media. What works on TV and radio, works in the boardroom, the conference room, a job interview, a client interview, a trade show, even over the phone. These are “Interview Tactics!” and I’ll tell you what I told Elaine.

When you’re telling your story, bring your energy with you. Relax and enjoy.

In business, your product and service is your story (even if it¹s someone else’s business). You created YOUR brand of it, so your perspective is unique. You live it, so have a good time telling it.

Being interviewed is supposed to be fun. You get to be the star of the “Me Show,” starring “Me” (in this case it¹s YOU!).

When telling your story, your job is to capture your listener’s attention and imagination with your message. One of the best ways is by using color and detail. Don’t just tell me about that how rough and rocky the road to success was, describe how big the boulders were.

Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Know in advance what you’re going to say, just don¹t write a script. Think bullet points. Your story will flow easier that way.

When you can, connect your message/story/product/service to a news story, or trend in the headlines to make it relevant and newsworthy. The press and lay-people love to hear, and pass along, stories that are “ripped from the headlines.”

Stay on topic and stay focused. Be specific. Give facts, details and information. Do your research.

Keep people engaged so they’ll continue to ask you questions about what you do and how you do it. This makes you more dynamic and your story more compelling.

Speak up and speak well. If your voice is thin like Elaine’s, your message is thin. Listen to good speakers and hear how they sound. Confidence lives in your voice as well as the words.

Get a feel for your listener. Do you tell the epic version, or the Reader’s Digest version? Which ever you decide, get to the point and stay there. Don’t worry about leaving things out. Once you’ve opened the door you can always add more information on the back end.

All interviews are a give-and-take proposition. So listen carefully to what’s being asked of you. If you do your homework and you’re prepared you won’t need to anticipate. You’ll KNOW!

Have some solid sound-bites ready at a moments notice. Sound-bites are great because they’ll help you tell your story and keep it attention grabbing.

As for Elaine and her quest for the perfect client, she’s currently working on her voice and reworking her message and her pitch, so that when she throws it out there, she’ll be compelling and dynamic to listen to. And maybe, she’ll even get the brass ring!

Gayl is a Presentational Coach, Speaker and Author of “Interview Tactics! How to Survive the Media without Getting Clobbered! The Insider’s Guide to Giving a Killer Interview!”

As a Media Expert, Gayl Celebrit-izes CEO’s, entrepreneurs, authors, entertainment industry professionals, experts, inventors, investors and celebrities in business and entertainment to CELEBRITIZE themselves and their brands so they can TELL IT TO SELL IT! http://www.InterviewTactics.com

As a veteran Correspondent, Gayl’s has reported the news for ABC News, SKY News, BBC Radio, BBC TV, E!, HollywoodToday.net and BigMediaUSA among others. She has personally interviewed over 14,000 of the biggest celebrities and newsmakers in the world.

Jean-Noel Bassior & Susan Levin

Orange County Workshop, Sunday, November 1, 1-5pm
$99.00  Register Now

In this workshop you will learn now to:

- Contact reporters, bloggers, talk sho producers and other media people directly, using the language they understand

- Link your product, service or story to news of the day or issues on the national stage.

- Practice writing a powerful pitch letter that hooks the media and makes them want to know more about you and what you do.

- The difference between a pitch letter and a press release and how to know which one to send when you want publicity.

Does a good pitch letter guarantee an interview tomorrow? That depends on the media person’s needs, but it does put you on their radar and establish you as an expert they can call on for upcoming shows and stories. It makes them think: “This guest knows how to help our readers or audience solve a problem that matters in their lives.”

You’ll leave this class knowing how a well-written pitch letter can breathe new life into your book, film, product or service by showing the media why what you do − or have done − will fascinate readers and listeners, and why they should care.

and more
- Translate your story into the language of the media
- Tie your topic to what’s topical and gain maximum exposure
- Entice the media to write about your new product or service
- Discover how reporters build news stories and what they’re really after
- Communicate your key message to the news media, audiences and clients
- Craft a stellar angle that the media will embrace it

Susan Note: Great post it is all about relationships.  All about the connection.  And connection is the new currency.  Read on…

BTW: Speaker Services offers up to date media lists so that you can reach reporters directly with your pitch letter.  See http://www.speakerservices.com/services/media-lists.html

This post was co-written by Len Kendall and Dave Fleet. Dave heads the Social Media Practice at Thornley Fallis Communications in Toronto, Canada. You can find him at davefleet.com or @davefleet on Twitter.

As a public relations professional, it’s easy to get caught-up in the importance of a news release. You spend hours writing it and tweaking it; the client obsesses over every word of it; it becomes the focal point of your announcement.

This tends to apply to any document that gets put into formal writing in PR. News releases, social media releases, letters to editors, you name it. If it’s going across the wire, or into a journalist’s hands, it gets attention.

The reality, however, is that the formal materials are only one piece of the media relations process. They’re important, but they sit alongside many other aspects of the media relations function. Your pitch, your story angle, your careful timing and more all play a role.

Perhaps the most important of these other aspects is the relationship you have with journalists (or bloggers). A good relationship will get your email read when it might have been deleted or your call answered instead of sent to voicemail.

In this respect, the ideal pitch isn’t really a pitch; it’s a timeline. It’s a long-term process of building a relationship; identifying the journalist’s needs and preferences, and building familiarity so you can make their life easier while achieving results for your clients. The pitch is just one stop along that road.

Who has time to do this?

Developing a relationship takes time. Developing relationships with many people takes even more time. And time is not something that agency folks have much of. So how does a person in PR manage the task of gaining the support of influential entities without dedicating unrealistic resources?

Be Informed:
Whether it’s travel, consumer goods, auto, etc, you NEED to be up-to-date in the latest trends in the industry you’re helping promote. Use tools like Snackr, Google Reader, or FriendFeed to know what conversations are taking place within your category. By passively using the tools above you’re not going to become an expert, but you are going to be aware of the major news that affects the people you’re going to be pitching. First of all, it will help you avoid making ignorant statements when approaching a blogger (if they see you’re not informed, they aren’t going to spend time to hear you out) and secondly, by being informed you have something in common to speak to. Without a common item of news to discuss, you’re just another PR person pitching.

Optimize:
Being informed is a precursor to streamlining your search. When forming a consideration set for an outreach program, a significant amount of time goes to taking a large group of subject authorities and shaving them down to a more refined set. If you’re staying active in the niche you’re promoting, instead of starting with a list of 200 bloggers, you’ll be able to start with 100. Anyone who has gone through this process will know that focusing on a well targeted group of blogs can get better results and avoid negative feedback from a broader outreach.

Contribute:
In the past, many PR Professionals traditionally went to Journalism school and thus were better equipped to talk to Journalists. Unfortunately there’s no such thing as “Blog School” and because of that it’s important that the industry takes time to expand its own curriculum. It isn’t necessary to be a full scale blogger in order to know how to communicate with one, but some involvement is needed. Commenting on other’s work or spending time with microblogs or lifestreams will help familiarize you with the attitudes and culture of the blogging community. The more familiar you are, the less time you’ll need to spend getting caught up when you have timely campaigns to launch.

Automate:
There are times when an all-encompassing press release or social media release makes sense but don’t let them take up all your time. Tools like PRWeb or CNW Group help in expanding your reach and are built to reduce the effort needed to create what once was a very time-consuming task. This isn’t going to eliminate the legal review of course, but it will help streamline your structuring, seeding, and measurement. However, this shouldn’t detract from the next point…

Customize:
The bulk of your time doesn’t need to go to building a press release (as we discussed above) but building a connection in the playing field that makes the most sense for the person you’re trying to engage with. The idea of “Blogger Outreach” has picked up steam over the past few years in PR and has caused us to sometimes forget that although a person might be a blogger, they might be heavily invested elsewhere. Instead of spending time to make sure your release gets seen everywhere, it may serve you better to make sure it gets heard where a blogger spends most of their time. If they’re a heavy Mahalo user, try initiating a conversation there, if they spend much of their time within a specific Ning network, try that. You may discover that the place that your key blogger spends a fair chunk of time, may be a place where the masses don’t. Forutnately for you, that means a better chance at grabbing their attention.

The Perfect Pitch is a Timeline
What ratio of time do you spend on your final release vs. establishing relationships with the audience of those communications? Because the PR business is built on a framework of Journalism majors, we often forget that our job isn’t to write the news, it’s to encourage that others do it on the behalf of our clients. This means focusing your energy and time where it matters. Use the amazing tools you have to your disposal in 2009 to deal with the aesthetics. Devote the majority of your resources to the aspect of the business you’re an expert in: people.

Here’s an interesting post by David McDermott which I found on Bytestart out of the UK.  It all comes down to being prepared so that you have a fighting chance to have a winning pitch.

Speaker Services Team is available to support you in creating a winning pitch whether it be for speaking, media or winning a contract.

Having worked on thousands of pitches over the years in all sectors and market conditions, I’ve carried out a lot of research into what makes a perfect winning pitch.

But here I want to put a different slant on this and share 10 key reasons why pitches go wrong and the important lessons to learn from these. Critically, do you pass the “so what” test?

1. Poor answers to questions

It is fair to say that many companies and individuals are getting better at preparing and rehearsing pitches these days. The question and answer session however is often just left to chance.

Presenters usually find themselves in the situation where they say: “thanks very much, that concludes the presentation, any questions?” and then find themselves with their fingers crossed, hoping nothing too difficult is asked.

This is not an ideal situation to find yourself in and one that is easily avoided. When you prepare a presentation an integral part of this should be to ask three key questions.

What questions does my presentation not answer?

What questions does my presentation stimulate?

What questions/concerns does my audience have?

Having asked these questions, it is now vital to prepare and rehearse the answers.

2. Telling your audience how good you are.

Remember you are deemed capable of doing the job otherwise you would not be pitching.  A trustee of a large pension fund, who listens to many presentations, once gave this direct feedback to a pitch team. “I know you are good, otherwise I would not have invited you to pitch to me”.

Therefore, spend more time addressing your audience’s issues, objectives and concerns. Talk about “you” (the audience) and stop “we-ing” throughout your presentation. Remember, questions about your company are easily answered!

3. Looking disinterested

A fairly obvious one this? You would be surprised how many pitches are lost because presenters come over as indifferent about the mandate.

Often a key factor in the decision making process is showing enthusiasm for wanting the business. So, tell your audience you are excited about working with them. Be passionate.

Your desire to win and confidence in your proposal needs to come across.

4. Poor team coordination

Often team presentations come across as badly planned and ill coordinated. This is especially the case during the question and answer session where it turns into a free for all.

A CEO of a large Plc was presented to by a law firm for a substantial contract and said: “they looked as if they had just met in a taxi on the way over”. Plan in advance.

The person delivering a particular topic should be the person answering questions related to it. Avoid adding supplementary information to your colleague’s answers. At best this is done with positive intent, to add value to the answer, at worst presenters contradict their colleagues or devalue them by saying things like: “what John is trying to say is…”

5. Poor structure

When asked to make a pitch for business, presenters often go their “slide bank” and pull out the slides they feel comfortable with. This often results in a presentation supported by a bunch of disparate visuals or a pitch book with no clear messages, neither of which have a clear structure.

A senior civil servant involved in the selection of IT consultants said of a presentation: “there was no clear objective or agenda, it lacked direction, I kept wondering where they were going and then it faded out with something trivial”.

Your presentation should have a very clear beginning, middle and end. The overview is the beginning and should state the purpose of the presentation, give a clear “hook” (reason for listening) and the content you will cover.

The body of the presentation (middle) should have relevant, credible and engaging content. Each topic should be wrapped up with a clear message.

The final summary should reiterate each message.

6. The “silver tongued front man”

Often organisations identify their best presenters or, as one senior manager who was selecting a management consultancy to help with a change programme described, “the silver tongued marketing man” and send them in to do their pitches.

This can be very dangerous. If an audience suspects this is the case, they will give them a really tough time in the question and answer session, knowing they have the knowledge to give a good, confident, well delivered presentation but not the in-depth expertise to know the specifics of the job inside out.

It is therefore important that you send in the delivery team. This is who the audience really wants to see.

7. Not knowing your audience

In this day and age there is absolutely no excuse for not knowing your audience. There is a massive amount of invaluable information at your fingertips.

It is even better if you have met the prospective client before the pitch. It is a lot easier for presenting teams if they have met their audience beforehand. Going in cold is harder.

Asking to speak to your audience beforehand to find out their problems and concerns, their objectives for the future and the finer details of their requirements is a legitimate reason for contacting them.

An HR manager looking for a sales training programme for their global sales force said: “we would be delighted to speak to people before a pitch, it shows they are interested and concerned about getting it right”.

8. The information dump

This is the most common trap presenters fall into in terms of content. Technical experts or analysts, for example, often feel the need to demonstrate all their analytical work, technical expertise and experience in a pitch.

This is a huge mistake. You need be very clear about what you are proposing. This should be clearly stated at the start and followed by relevant and credible content only. It should be kept to a minimum allowing you to anticipate and prepare answers to questions.

9 .Being “incredible”

All to often presenters make statements they perceive to be impressive and factual but fail to back them up with evidence. From an audience perspective these statements lack credibility. For example: “we provide innovative solutions”; “we have unrivalled expertise”; “our process works”.

If this is the case then back them up with examples, stories, research or personal experiences. Audiences enjoy a good story.

10. Failing the “so what” test

Presenters also make lots of statements that leave the audience sitting there thinking, “so what”? For example, “we have offices all over the world”; “we have 700 employees”; “we have £60 billion worth of assets under management”.

If you can’t relate your company credentials to your audience in a meaningful and relevant way and pass the “so what” test then don’t bother saying them.

What is the use of telling your audience you have offices all over the world if they only have offices in the UK and have no interest in business outside the country or if they are only interested in investing in UK equities?

On the other hand if your audience is looking to expand their business in South East Asia, then your offices in Singapore and China will be invaluable for local knowledge and expertise of that region.

About the Author

David McDermott is MD of Edomidas and is an advisor and international speaker on competitive pitching. His success is founded on thoroughly researched pitching strategies, drawing from experience of the most successful global business pitches.

To get the media’s attention you need to pitch a story that the media can actually hear. That sounds obvious, but it’s easy to miss that fact.

Most people pitch the story they want to tell and pay no attention to developing a story that the media’s interested in. Don’t think just because you think your story is great that the media will share that opinion. Remember your business is fascinating to you because it’s your baby, you live, eat and breathe it. But chances are not everyone is going to feel the same way, particularly the media. The press has specific needs; they have a target market that they need to cater to and they have ratings they need to worry about. Their job is to both entertain and inform. Each media also has a specific target market that it’s catering to. So, how do you know which stories they’ll go for? You won’t; they’re not even sure. Producers and editors are constantly scrambling for new story ideas. Whereas there is no sure fire way to know exactly what the media wants, there are some.

1) Study the media outlets that you’re interested in.
2) Think backwards. Look at your business from the point of view of an editor or producer.
3) Make a list of the business-oriented stories that you can pitch to the media
4) Make a list of the human interest-oriented stories you can pitch
5) Make a list of your top five compelling stories
6) Pick your first story and write a dynamic one-page press release.
7) Build a media list with the appropriate contacts for your type of story
Send out your releases
9) Give it a few days and make follow-up phone calls
10) Be patient, understand the first story might not be the one, keep trying.

Your job is to understand their job and by doing so, figuring out what type of stories will work for them. Remember, if you meet the media’s needs, you will meet yours. It’s important to craft and pitch a story compelling enough to capture the media’s attention – a story that in essence is strong enough to become the news.

Copyright© Anthony Mora 2009

Anthony Mora, President & CEO

Anthony Mora began his media career as a freelance journalist for such publications as Us, Rolling Stone and other local and national publications. He also served as editor-in-chief of two Los Angeles-based entertainment and lifestyle-oriented publications. In 1990, Anthony formed Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. a Los Angeles-based media relations company that specializes in media placement, image development, and media training.  AMC Inc. has placed clients in: Time, Newsweek, 60 Minutes, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other local, national, and international media outlets. !

Anthony has been featured in: USA Today, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, Entrepreneur, Fox News, MSNBC, and other media. He has written three books. The most recent, “Spin to Win,” is a step-by-step guide on how to define goals and utilize the power of the media to achieve success in any field.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Mora

by Ed Barks

Article from Associations Now, the flagship publication of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)

The TV news crew arrives at your annual meeting. The reporter puts her microphone in your face while the camera operator zooms in on you.  Now is your time to shine. Successful media interviews revolve around your association’s message and your ability to deliver it.  A magnetic message carries the day while a weak message sags under questioning. Use this model to improve your performance on television and achieve your communication goals the next time you meet the media.

• Do your research. Ask questions of colleagues about reporters who plan to interview you.
• Practice! Practice! Practice! Stage plenty of mock interviews to prepare for the real thing.
• Quotable quotes. Brevity equals quotability, so develop engaging stories, analogies, and topics du jour if you want to earn air time. Jargon and dry facts don’t get the job done.
• Welcome your opportunity. Remember, every media interview gives you the opportunity to reach members, potential members, and other vital audiences with your message.
• Media training. Participate in regular workshops to brush up on your skills and your message.
• Anticipate questions. Prepare for the routine, the friendly, and the third degree.
• It’s a conversation. Look at your interviewer. Maintain eye contact with her throughout and ignore the cameras (unless you are interviewed via satellite).
• Show some emotion. If you can’t demonstrate passion about your issues, why should viewers care?
• Watch your wardrobe. Stay away from herringbones and tight, checked patterns that give you the aura of a shimmering alien just beamed to Earth.
• Audio tools. Vary the pitch, volume, and rate of your speech. This makes you sound more interesting.
• Video tools. Use your actions, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact for maximum visual impact.
• Post-game analysis. One oft-neglected aspect of sharpening your media relations skills is your post-interview education. Communication pros embrace lifelong learning. No matter your skill level as a communicator, there is always room for upgrading.
• Find a mirror. Check your look before your interview. Viewers are easily distracted by one wispy strand of hair or off-center tie.

Continue to sharpen your communication strengths for quick improvement and address your challenges as part of your long-term plan. Devote the time needed to find the learning methods that work best for you. Also remember to assess feedback. Review the video of your interview. Ask your public relations advisor what worked and what needs improvement. And be frank about critiquing yourself.

Ed Barks is the president of Barks Communications and author of The Truth About Public Speaking: The Three Keys to Great Presentations. Barks Communications works with corporate and association executives to sharpen their communications edge. Barks can be reached at www.barkscomm.com

By Chris Crum – Tue, 06/30/2009 – WebProNews

Study Shows How Journalists Use the Web

Arketi Group has released findings of a study on how journalists use the Internet. The web provides a great many resources to both online and offline journalists. Here are some ways that most journalists use the web:

- 95% say search
- 92% say reading news
- 92% say emailing
- 89% say finding story ideas
- 87% say finding news sources
- 75% say reading blogs
- 64% say watching webinars
- 61%say watching YouTube
- 59% say social networks

Social Media and Sources

88% of journalists say they spend at least 20 hours a week on the Internet. 85% have a LinkedIn account, 55% have a Facebook account, and 24% tweet.

92% say they get story ideas from news releases, 85% say they turn to industry sources. 85% also say they turn to PR contacts. Surprisingly, only 12% turn to Twitter for sources or story ideas. I find this particularly interesting, because it seems like Twitter is mentioned very frequently by reporters in all forms of media.

Another interesting stat according to Arketi Group is that over half of journalists surveyed consider citizen journalism to be a positive thing.

What Businesses Should Pay Attention To

The findings should be considered by companies looking to gain exposure from media coverage. Being visible and available for comment can be key to a story about your business getting picked up by a publication.

“While high-profile social media tools like blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are of interest to journalists, our findings indicate BtoB marketers should not discount tried-and-true Internet technology,” said Mike Neumeier, principal of Arketi. “Search engine optimization and building media-friendly websites site remain vital to reaching the business media.”

In fact, Arketi says that corporate websites make a difference in how journalists view an organization. 80% of those surveyed say that companies without a site are less credible. This is not such a surprise. I would go a little further and suggest that poorly designed and maintained sites can have the same effect.

If you read WebProNews, you more than likely have a site. Still, there are a great many businesses out there that do not, and are missing out on tons of opportunities. Even with regards to just media coverage, there are a lot more people to potentially write about your business online than there are offline, and it’s a lot easier to network with them.

Of course, if you’re looking for media coverage, it helps if your company does something newsworthy. Do something worth talking about and somebody will talk about it.

Internet radio is an excellent and low cost way to market your products and services. Your potential audience can include the hundreds of millions of people who have internet access. Unlike using media such as terrestrial radio or television, internet radio is a low or no-cost way to market to large numbers of potential clients.

Begin by doing a search for the shows that are a good fit for your topic. You can find them by doing an internet search or by searching popular internet radio platforms. In addition, search the various podcast syndication sites to get an idea of what shows exist that focus on your target market.

Once you’ve identified the shows that you’re interested in, listen to individual episodes and get an idea of what the show format is. Who are the guests? What are the topics? Make sure the show is a fit for you and your business.

For instance, on my internet radio show I interview women entrepreneurs. Several weeks ago someone sent me a query regarding a young man that she thought would be good for my show. It was obvious right away that she did not understand the format of the shows, and probably had never even listened to them. If she had, she would’ve known that though this entrepreneurial young man might have made an interesting guest, he was not right for my show’s format.

Once you’ve done your homework about the broadcasts that you’re interested in, send a query which should include a brief bio, a link to your website and any media mentions you may have. Provide enough information so that the show host can determine up front if you will be a good guest.

If you get a favorable response and you’re asked to be a guest, pay attention to the guidelines and promptly return any requested information. Usually you’ll be asked for a bio, an introduction (to be read on the air or posted on a website) and a picture of you or your product. If you are regularly sending queries to the media, you should have those materials ready to go.

Request the questions beforehand or confirm what the talking points will be – that way you’ll be prepared and can determine how to present yourself during the show.

When it comes to the show date and time, be on time and be enthusiastic. Once you’re on the air follow the host’s lead. Some hosts may let you do most of the talking; others may only expect you to respond at certain intervals. The bottom line is that if you’re prepared, you will already know what points to make about your product or service. Your excitement about your subject matter will come through in your voice. You may be on a one-time interview, but that interview may have thousands if not millions of listeners. What feelings do you want the listeners to come away with when they hear you?

What will make you a great show guest?

• You’re prepared with a professional bio and pictures
• You promote your appearance on the show
• You communicate well and don’t just reply in one- or two-word answers
• You take your appearance on the podcast seriously – just because it’s an internet show doesn’t make it less important than any other media appearance

What are the things you shouldn’t do if you want to be a great guest?

• Assume that you can send a query in today and be scheduled on the show right away
• Have no familiarity with the show’s format
• Leave it up to the host to do the marketing for YOUR appearance
• Send in requested information (such as bios) late or not at all

After your show is over ask about getting a copy of the recording post it on your site or blog. You can take that one interview and use it to market it over and over. Many people seek out guest appearances on internet radio, but most of them  don’t use their appearance as a springboard for greater marketing opportunities. If you focus on making the best of your guest spot, you will be ahead of the game.

Transition coach and radio host Deborah A. Bailey helps her clients transition from employees to entrepreneurs as they eliminate limiting beliefs and connect with their passion.

Deborah is the host of the internet radio show, “Women Entrepreneurs – The Secrets of Success” and author of the ebook, “Boost Your Marketing & Your Visibility with Internet Radio.”

For more information about Deborah, visit her website http://www.dbaileycoach.com or her blog http://www.womenentrepreneursecrets.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deborah_A_Bailey

Did you know that second only to your blog, the media room should be the most updated page on your website? When was the last time you updated your media room? For most of us, it’s probably been a while. We tend to put up media rooms and then forget about them. But more and more, a good, informative media room should be consistently updated.

We’ve found through research, reading, and our own experiences that often it’s not just the media that visits this page, that’s why the term “media room” is a bit misleading. It’s actually a great place to inform, entertain, and educate your reader on you, your books, your message or product, and the things you’ve been up to, and often it’s the first place a prospective buyer will go to for more information on you and your work.

In order to compete in the digital age, more and more authors are turning to their media rooms to attract readers to their book. Why? Well it’s a great one-stop-shop place to get all the latest data on your books, new editions, new products and new speaking events (should you decide to list them).

The old way of doing media rooms was to have a list of your press releases, maybe a link or two to media and that was that. Now media rooms are almost the nerve center of your entire website. Here’s a quick rundown of what should (and shouldn’t) be in your media room. Keep in mind that components of a media room will vary, depending on your topic, genre and focus, so if you can’t include all of these, that’s ok. Better to have only those components related to your book/product/topic than ones that don’t make any sense at all:

1) Downloadable picture of your book cover or covers, your photo and other related artwork you want to offer.

2) About You: people want to know who you are, so tell them! Make sure your bio is on the media room and ready to download. It’s especially helpful if a media person is trying to gather information for an article and wants some background on you.

3) Press releases with live links: a few issues back we wrote that live links in a press release are a great way to get traffic back to your site, but guess what? It works well in reverse, too. News posted to your site gets spidered very quickly, so including links and keywords will greatly enhance the visibility of both the media room and your press release. In fact another quick tip is this: instead of placing ads, issue a press release. No kidding. Press releases are a far better alternative than an ad on the Internet. You’ll get spidered, you’ll get ranking and best of all, you’ll get traffic.

4) New book/product information: this is the perfect place for sharing past, current, and future information on your book. Be boastful! This your chance!

5) Tip sheets: we all know that the media loves tip sheets, but guess what? Your readers/consumers do, too. Fill your press room with any that you’ve created.

6) Where you’ve been featured: be very generous with this. Don’t assume that if you have only been featured online that you should not list that. List everything! The more you can populate this room with links that make you look like the busy marketing person you are, the more attractive you’ll be to your buyer and to the media.

7) Ideas for stories: if a reporter is perusing your site looking for story ideas, why not give it to him? Creating a pop up box that says “Here’s how (insert your name) can help you with your story” is a great way to generate ideas for the media and get yourself a mention in an upcoming story or feature.

Bragging rights! If you have testimonials or reviews, place them here, too. While it’s always good to sprinkle testimonials/reviews throughout your site, this is another great place to list them. Regardless of whether the visitor to your media room is the media or a reader, people like what other people like!

9) No hunting allowed! Don’t make people hunt for information. The other day I was on a site looking for book pricing. I had to send an email to get a list of pricing, and why? Because it was confidential? Doubtful. But most people don’t think to remove the extra steps. Shorten the staircase. Meaning: remove needless steps to the close. Put pricing, information sheets, whatever you have up on your media room so folks don’t have to go on a hunting expedition for it.

10) Events: I took events off of my website a long time ago. Why? Because I do so much pop up stuff that I had a hard time keeping up with it. There’s nothing worse than an outdated events page, but if you can keep yours up, great! Keep it current, the activity will look great on your media room.

A few final tips: don’t even consider cramming all of this information onto your site if you’re not going to deliver this in pop-up form. Check out http://www.amarketingexpert.com/media.html for an example of this. Also, deliver your text content in both PDF format as well as in text format so the search engines can spider it.

Don’t limit yourself to the items mentioned above, experiment with other media room ideas that might not be listed here. Book videos, for example, might be another great addition to your media room. The key is, start thinking of your media room as a place to present yourself not just to the media, but to the world! This will change how you view this very important page on your site and help turn a ho-hum page into a rockin’ red hot media room!

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns

One good thing is that media outlets are scramming for news stories to capture and keep their audiences. What this means is that right now is an excellent opportunity to receive some free publicity and almost everyone could use a freebie in this economy.

So just how do you impress the media today? Well, one thing for sure you better not be wasting their time. Virtually, every media outlet from television, radio, magazines, even blogs etc. are operating with fewer staff. They still have the same deadlines and massive work to do, but without as much help.

Your pitch has to be of relevance and importance. If not you will surely find yourself on a blackball list and believe me these days it will take even more than a phone call from President Obama to get you off. There are some reasonable measurements to take to remain newsworthy. Following these steps will help to stay on the media’s good side and off the blackball list.

1. Reality Check – Are you aware of what is going on in the news? Seriously, have you done a self reality check to make sure that you are up to date on the latest news happenings? You can’t make the news if you don’t understand what is going on surrounding the news. Trust me most reporters and producers know when you are out of check with reality.

2. Win-Win Match – In order to receive free publicity from a media outlet you need to offer win-win match solutions to cover news about you. Pitching a storyline that does not match a media outlet’s target audience is the fastest way to land on a blackball list. Also make sure that you are pitching reporters who cover news related to your pitch. Reporters don’t pass on news to other reporters because it fits their category better; they simply toss your bad pitch

.3. Create News - There are so many social media resources to create news buzz. Try starting a company blog, put some videos on YouTube, or connect with others on Stumbleupon or Twitter.

4. Promote News – Most story ideas in the media are created from a press release. Make sure that you actively promote news to attract the media to cover stories on you.

5. Monitor News - Staying on the pulse of rising news stories is an entry to pitch and promote news to receive coverage. When it comes to breaking news stories the media always seek topics on related subjects to add to the story.

Remember the media runs on news and you have to stay newsworthy to be of benefit. Keep pitching!

Receive FREE Public Relations Tips: http://mosnarcommunications.blogspot.com

“CR” Cataunya  is the Co-founder of Mosnar Communications, INC. She developed a niche for Luxury PR & Global Marketing. Guiding clients on how to brand, market, and promote luxury products, events, and services.

http://www.mosnarcommunications.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=CR_Ransom

Need help?  Speaker Services Media Lists & Pitch Letter Servicehttp://www.speakerservices.com/services/media-lists.html

by Dan Janal

Reporters are dying to quote entrepreneurs, small business owners and consultants just like you. The trouble is, they don’t know you exist

If only you can get your hands on a great media contact list, then you can get your name and credentials in front of reporters.  This way they will contact you when they are writing a story that would be perfect for you.

So how can you get your hands on a great media list that’s filled with information about reporter’s who want to quote you in their articles? Many companies sell names of reporters. Like everything else on the Internet, they vary by quality, features and services. Before you buy a media list, be sure to ask questions like the ones below.

10 Questions You Must Ask When Buying a Media List So You Get the Most Bang (Publicity) for Your Buck

1. When was the list updated? Reporters change jobs quite frequently. And many newspapers and magazines are laying off people. So you want to make sure the list is updated on a daily or weekly basis. Otherwise, you’ll waste time, money and energy sending messages to people who don’t work there!

2. What contact information is included in the list? You’ll want a list that has name, title, email, phone and snail mail address. Yes, snail mail. This way  you can send books or product samples. You’ll want email for sending pitches, press releases and press kits. You’ll want the phone number to pitch by phone. Of course, you will have much of this information on your website, but you’ll want to have every means available to contact reporters in the format they most desire. Reporters can be very, very picky!

3. What information is included about the reporter? Most basic lists you’ll find on the Internet will have contact info, but not much else. That’s not enough to do target marketing. You want to know what topic (referred to as a “beat”) the reporter is covering as well. Some of the best companies offer additional insights into the beat. For example, some lists will tell you if reporter A  only covers politics with a conservative slant. That will help you when you fine-tune your pitch to her.

4. Do you get a list that is sorted by the topic the reporter covers? Some list companies will sell you the entire database of each publication. That’s way too broad for most people and will lead to a lot of waste. In other words, it’s not enough to know that Jill writes for Business Week. You want to find the person who covers your topic. Because if Jill doesn’t, she’ll just throw away your message.

 5. Does the list contain a reporter’s personal information? Most lists don’t have information such as “like to bowl,” or “wrote a screenplay” or “recovered from cancer.” But if the list has this information, you might gain extra insights into the reporter and you might be able to build rapport faster.

 6. Does the list have the publication’s URL? Let’s face it, not everyone knows everything about every publication. Nor is every publication available at your local newsstand or library. However, if you have their URL, you can easily read about the publication, get its view on the world and read articles by that reporter. It’s a great time saver.

  7. Does the list have web-only publications, like websites and blogs? These outlets are beginning to play a much bigger role in telling stories to you audience. Don’t overlook the online-only opportunities.

8. Does the list show circulation figures? Since you don’t have all the money in the world to send out books or product samples, or even to call everyone on a good list, you must decide who is important. That’s where the circulation figures come in to play. Start with the biggest and work your way down. If you don’t have the circulation figures, you don’t know who the big boys and girls are.

9. Is the list searchable and sortable? Look for a list that is delivered in a digital form, like a spreadsheet or a word document. That way you can use sorting and searching tools to find the best reporters.

10. What rights do you have to the list? Some companies give you one-time use of the list. They even “seed” the list with fake names so they can tell if you use the list more than once! Look for a company that gives you unlimited use of the list so you can get the most value for your investment.

If you follow these tips, you’ll find a list of media contacts than can serve you well at a price you can afford.

Dan Janal is media relations expert, author and speaker who coaches entrepreneurs, doctors and wellness professionals just like you on how to get publicity and turn it into REAL profits.

Susan Note: Media Lists & Pitch Letter/Press Release Service is available now. Click here for further information.

Each list is customized to your target audience and we get the reporters to read your pitch letter.

by Ali Brown

This post showed up today in my mailbox at a perfect time.  Thanks, Ali.

The reason it is so perfect is that I am challenged when I produce an event.  I know the program is great and reasonable and how can I convince folks to invest in their continuing education?

Ali makes some great points here.  And then I ask you, will we see you May 1-3, 2009 at the Speakers’ Summit09?  

I remember six years ago making a decision that would change my life and business forever. I decided to travel across the country to attend a marketing seminar. A few things about this were completely new to me.

1) The fact that I was going to spend over a thousand dollars of my own money to invest in myself. (And also maxing out one of my credit cards to do so – yes, things were pretty tight back then!)

2) Traveling across the country alone and paying for my own flight, hotel, ground transport, meals, etc.

3) Throwing myself into a new environment where I didn’t know anyone else.

I’m so glad I made that decision. Not only did I learn amazing information to help my online business (which was brand new at the time), but I met some folks who remain my friends to this day. And my investing in myself in that manner also sent a message to the universe that I was stepping up and “ready to play big.”

Today, I spend a tens of thousands of dollars each year on continuing education, including attending live seminars and workshops. And it pays off TENFOLD!

Here are 5 reasons attending live events is one of the BEST ways to leapfrog your business forward:

1) Complete Immersion in Your Subject.

When my friend Jen was in college, she wanted to learn French, so she took the opportunity to spend a semester in France. She shared with me that by doing that she made progress faster than she’d ever thought possible. They call that learning by immersion, and it’s proven to be one of the BEST ways to learn fast.

Hey, I’m a big fan of home study – books, CDs, and courses – and learning in “bits”. But NOTHING compares to getting away from your office or home, spending a few days with teachers and other “students”, and completely focusing on learning new strategies to improve your business.

2) People Who “Get” What You Do.

When I first started my online business, I really didn’t have anyone else to talk with about it. My friends, while supportive and sweet, didn’t “get” what I was trying to do and of course couldn’t offer advice.

I remember walking into that first seminar and within five minutes realized I had hundreds of people to talk with who “GOT” what I was doing! We could exchange ideas, share resources, coach each other, and even cross promote. It was a whole new world and I could never go back.

3) More Business, More Leads, and more High-Level Opportunities.

It wasn’t unusual — even in the beginning of my attending live events — to come home with on-the-spot sales, more subscribers to my ezine, a few joint venture partners, and speaking invitations.

Another tip I’ll give you: The quality of the people at an event often correlates with the price tag of the event. I’ve found I generally meet more successful people at the events that cost more.

Case in point: In 2003 I attended a very expensive training (the deposit alone was $5,000.00) and for the four days there I sat next to a very successful marketer from Australia whom I got to know well during that time. Well, a few weeks later, he invited me to come speak overseas in Australia, all expenses paid and including a business-class flight! (I doubt that opportunity would have manifested so soon, had it not been for my being there live.)

4) Deals on Continuing Education and Coaching.

Many of the speakers at these events also offer home study courses or some type of continuing education. So it’s a great place to check everyone out and decide whose stuff you want to get and who you want to continue learning from. Plus there are usually special offers given there to encourage buying on the spot.

This is a smart move, and you should plan to invest in at least one speaker’s package while you’re there. I recently attended a seminar in Dallas where I happily dropped $10,000.00 on three different programs while I was there, because their content had just what I was looking for to help skyrocket my sales for the coming year.

5) Visit New Places and Have FUN – in a Tax Deductible Way!

Talk with your accountant about this one, but in most cases these events and trips are completely tax deductible. After all, you’re traveling there to learn, network, and increase your business.

And for many of us who work alone a lot, these trips are a great way to let off some steam and enjoy the company of others who are in the same types of businesses we are! Tip: Even if you don’t imbibe, hang around the hotel bar. You’ll find that’s where everyone congregates and deals happen. But be sure to get OUT of the hotel at least one night to enjoy the city you’re visiting!

BONUS: Access to the “Gurus” – in Person.

One more thing I forgot to add is that the speakers at these events are usually very accessible. You’ll find them hanging out in the hallways, in the lobby, and in the bar. You can catch a few minutes of their time to ask them a quick question or discuss a point they made in their presentation. This is an extremely rare opportunity – you can’t just call these guys and gals up and get them on the phone! This type of access is priceless and will also get you more exposure and credibility.

BTW: When Ali started her biz we were one of the companies she hired to help with her presentations and she was listed in the Speaker Services Directory www.speakerservices.com for several years.

I am very proud of her growth.

And When All Is Said and Done…

And when it’s all over, you’ll be dead tired, but you’ll have more energy and enthusiasm toward your business than ever before. Plus you’ll have new, powerful connections with people and proven strategies ready to implement!

© 2003-2009 Alexandria Brown International Inc.

Online entrepreneur Ali Brown publishes the award-winning ‘Highlights on Marketing & Success’ weekly ezine with 36,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at www.AliBrown.com

Four Tips on Tip Sheets
by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com

Getting newspaper and magazine coverage for your book can be challenging. The book review section has disappeared from many publications; the lifestyle section is very competitive. But a simple tip sheet from your book can get you into almost any publication in America. Here are four tips on writing tip sheets:

Find the most interesting tidbits from the book. For non-fiction books, a tip sheet is really a no-brainer. Just compile a list of the most interesting tidbits from your book. Add a catchy lead at the top and an ‘About the Book’ section at the bottom, and send it to the publications of your choice. Non-fiction books lend themselves to multiple tip sheets, and since tip sheets are the bread and butter of both newspapers and magazines, your tip sheet, if well-written and interesting, is guaranteed to be picked up by a variety of publications.

For my book, The Infertility Diet: Get Pregnant and Prevent Miscarriage, for example, my tip sheets include “Top Ten Tips to Fertility,” “Combating Male Infertility,” “Six Foods to Get You Pregnant,” and “Five Dietary Ways to Prevent Miscarriage.”

For my Publishing Game books, the tips sheets include “Eight Steps to a Bestseller,” “Five Ways to Catapult Your Book into Magazines,” and “Six Paths to a Literary Agent.” If your book is on buying a condo, try “Five Ways to Get That First Mortgage;” if it’s on getting into top college, go with “Six Routes to the Ivies.” With a non-fiction book, you should be able to craft at least a dozen tip sheets without thinking twice.

Craft the tip sheet around the niche items. Crafting tip sheets for a novel can be more challenging, but is still well worth doing. Just as with any marketing for a novel, look for the niche items. For example, if your novel prominently features a golden retriever, do your tip sheet on golden retrievers; if your novel is set in a coffeeshop, try a humorous tip sheet advising on different coffee for different situations. (Novelists might want to try this technique as a way of getting their novel discussed on radio and television shows, by the way; niche items can be a powerful propeller for novels.)

For poetry books, try a meta tip sheet. Poetry is the hardest sell, but even with poetry you can come up with a tip sheet if you’re creative. If you’ve written a poetry book for toddlers, why not do a tip sheet suggesting ways parents can introduce young children to poetry? Or why not do a tip sheet describing how people can use poetry in party games, or as an icebreaker at meetings? It can be difficult to envision a newspaper or magazine piece on the poetry itself, so think meta-poetry.

Keep your tone consistent. Remember to use the same tone in the tip sheet as the book itself. If your book is humorous, for example, be sure the tip sheets have a humorous cast; if your book is flowery, be sure the same is true of the tip sheet. In general, the more interesting and creative a tip sheet you do, the more publications you can count on picking up the tip sheet.

So get busy and start writing. And if you’re still not sure how a tip sheet should look, take another look at this article. It’s a classic tip sheet—and will soon be in publications across America.

Fern Reiss is the author of The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days (book marketing), The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days (finding a literary agent), The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days (self-publishing). For more information on Publishing Game books, workshops, and consulting, and on getting your book and business featured in the national media, sign up for the complimentary PublishingGame/Expertizing email newsletter at http://www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm.

On September 25, I will be interviewing Fern on Expertizing: Get More Media Attention for your Business in a Teleclass. Check the teleclass page for more information and the mp3 will be available following the teleclass. Click here for products page.

Last night I was on a panel about Being Heard – Being Seen.

The other panelists were Linda MacKenzie of http://www.healthylife.net radio and Marc Ryan of Green Health Life, The All Natural Interactive Internet TV Show.

The following is a very short video shot by my friend Jeannie Cottingham with my ultra flip camera as I was speaking.

While I was there I interviewed the co-founder of the Westside Holistic Chamber - Camille Leon and you can see a 40 second interview with her when you click here

I posted the USA Today article on April 10 about Web Video Marketing Gold. Even though we have been offering one and three camera shoots for many years I see that people are finally getting it. So I been thinking about it alot and wondering how I could integrate more video into my services.

I have been following the recommendations of my colleagues who referred the Ultra Flip Video and I ventured off to purchase it at Best Buy along with a tripod. This sweet little videocam (you can hold in your hand) and is so much fun.

I have been practicing and learning. Here is my first attempt and mind you no make up. I plan to do some video blogging at the upcoming Speakers’ Summit and it will be the perfect place to do that plus I want to put more video on my website and on my Speaker Services channel on youtube.

I have also created an alliance with Michelle Price, a brilliant web 2.0 marketing strategist who will design a plan to build a channel for you on youtube plus get you out on blog tours as well as distribute your videos on the various sites so you will be all over the web. She has had amazing results with some of her clients. BTW: This is service is authors or professionals who have a service and wants to create a buzz.

If you have videos ready to go that is great and we can still work with you and design the perfect out reach for you.

If not we have The Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop coming up in September where you will learn to speak in soundbites and create your 2 or 3 short videos plus you will get the entire distribution packet.

Contact me if this appeals to you- 310-822-4922.

Let’s get on the web video bandwagon!

by Gayl Murphy

Does this describe you? An expert, speaker or entrepreneur who charges a fee for providing a product, service, content or consultation in a particular industry or field. Someone with a great deal of knowledge about, or skill, training, or experience in, a particular field or activity.

If it is … then you need to start using the media to tell the world about you, your business, product or service. Which means: you’ve got to PITCH IT TO PROMOTE IT – so you can TELL IT TO SELL IT!

To start working with the media – so you can climb on this PITCHING/PROMOTING bandwagon – start by analyzing what exactly it is you have to offer – so you can create and deliver that winning pitch!

A winning pitch is as good as Gold! It will, without a doubt make the difference between getting the deal, or not. Because if you can’t tell it, you can’t sell it!

9 INTERVIEW TACTICS! For Creating and Delivering A Home Run Pitch

1. Define your expertise in simple language.
2. Create 2 or 3 concise messages that best describes your skill set.
3. Create a 15sec. and a 30 sec. pitch that tells your story.
4. Prepare in advance and know what you’re going to talk about.
5. Think bullet points to keep your message and pitch concise and fluid.
6. Stay on topic and stay focused. Be specific.
7. Give details and know when they’re needed: places, names and dates.
8. Connect your pitch to a story/trend in the headlines. This makes your expertise timely and newsworthy.
9. Relax, enjoy and take your time.
10. The best pitches have color and detail.

Can you confidently pitch yourself, business, product or service to the media, or a prospective client – get the deal in the door and up and running?

If your answer isn’t a definitive and resounding YES, then you desperately need Interview Tactics! I.T. will give you all the media power-tools and insiders techniques and tactics for creating and delivering a winning pitch.

Murphy’s Law: “A great soundbite, pitch or story is both the Sizzle AND the Steak.”

Gayl Murphy is a respected media coach, speaker and author of INTERVIEW TACTICS! HOW TO SURVIVE THE MEDIA WITHOUT GETTING CLOBBERED! She media consults and coaches entrepreneurs, authors, experts, companies and corporations alike about how to pitch it to promote it and how to tell it to sell it! Murphy is also a veteran news broadcaster. Her celebrity interviews, news features and Hollywood commentary have appeared on TV, radio, print and online worldwide, including ABC News, BBC, AP and E! Sign up, or call 323-417-5172 for her Free Interview Tactics! Report: www.InterviewTactics.com and www.GaylMurphy.com

Author readings and signing sessions, once the staple of publishing publicity, are being usurped by virtual encounters and promotional videos.

By Teresa Méndez | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the November 30, 2007 edition

The author tour, with its accompanying readings and signings, has come to be the quintessential tool for promoting books. It is a chance for writers to charm their readers and for readers to glimpse the person behind the words. At its best, the meeting can be electric. (At worst, nobody shows up.)

But in the past five years or so, observers say the traditional author tour has been in decline: Fewer writers are being sent out, and those who do tour make fewer stops. Among the many reasons for this shift are marketing tools that have made it possible to orchestrate a virtual encounter, without the hassle or expense of travel. Publishers and authors are now touting books through podcasts, film tours, blog tours, book videos, and book trailers. In fact, it’s unusual for a book not to have some sort of Web presence. (Blue van Meer, the fictional main character in the 2006 novel “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” by Marisha Pessl, even has her own MySpace page.)

Publicity departments used to be places where wacky ideas originated but languished, says Carol Schneider, executive director of publicity for Random House. Now, with the Internet, she says, “they are really able to carry [those ideas] out.”

Each is a small experiment, an incremental move, as the publishing industry has begun to embrace the Internet and other new media. It’s hard not to wonder, though, whether their cumulative effect will one day render the face-to-face bookstore meeting between writer and reader obsolete.

An author’s emissary: a short film

Man Booker Prize-winner Ian McEwan opted not to take his 10th novel, “On Chesil Beach,” on the road this past summer. In his place, a short film was screened by bookstores in 54 US cities. On Veterans Day, the second in the film series “Out of the Book,” by Powell’s Books, kicked off its tour. The movie features commentators including Joan Didion and Bob Woodward discussing the late David Halberstam and his book about the Korean War, “The Coldest Winter.” Meanwhile, a company called TurnHere has launched an ambitious project to create an online book channel with short Internet videos – the founder likens it to an MTV for books. So far, BookVideos.tv has exclusively aired Simon & Schuster authors. But it recently announced plans to expand coverage to 10 other publishers.

Both video ventures promise a few things bookstore appearances can’t always deliver. They offer insight into a writer’s inspiration and process – back stories that may not come through by simply listening to a writer read his work aloud.

And now, the video

To promote her memoir, “The Glass Castle,” Jeannette Walls enlisted her once-homeless mother, Rose Mary, a captivating character in the book, to appear in a three-minute video. Rose Mary shows off a few of the paintings she created that are mentioned in the book. Just imagine an author trying to tote her mother’s artwork – not to mention her mother! – on tour.

Such films are polished and packaged, which certainly cannot be said of every writer.

“Some authors are really engaging and some authors, frankly, are not,” says Dave Weich, marketing director of Powell’s Books. Video offers a way around that. “There’s a lot of editing that takes place,” admits Sue Fleming, vice president of online marketing at Simon & Schuster. “We can forgive a certain lack of mediagenic-ness.”

The videos have another advantage: They eliminate the humiliation for an author of showing up at a bookstore event only to find the place empty. Joseph Finder, who toured Boston and the Midwest over three weeks in August for “Power Play,” his most recent thriller, says store owners feel terrible about poorly attended events. And there’s always an excuse: Either the weather was too nice. Or it was too foul. Or else a local football game drew away all the customers.

Finder has produced a book a year since 2004 – and toured for each. Still, he says, a perennial question among author friends is: “What’s the point of the book tour?” He has even penned a short piece lamenting the downsides of the tour for Publishers Weekly, a leading trade publication. This year, for the first time, Finder experimented with a book trailer for “Power Play.” But he says he’ll keep touring as long as his publisher will send him. “You don’t know what works or doesn’t work,” he says. “You have to do everything you can.”

Publishing lore credits “Valley of the Dolls” writer Jacqueline Susann and her husband, Irving Mansfield, with creating the modern book tour in the 1960s. She is said to have doggedly pushed her books onto customers and even sweetened up the truckers who delivered them with coffee and doughnuts. But some form of book tour dates back at least to the 19th century. Between 1853 and 1870, Charles Dickens gave more than 400 readings across the US and Europe.

Reaching far-flung outposts

These days, a book tour by a well-known author usually travels to just a handful of cities. Chances are, even the most ambitious promotional treks won’t reach a small bookstore in, say, Dubuque, Iowa. For that reason, those involved with online marketing suggest that virtual events are actually reaching people who wouldn’t otherwise come into contact with big-name authors.

“It’s an interesting paradigm,” says Mr. Weich of Powell’s Books. “People tend to ask, ‘Isn’t this just going to replace the author tour?’ But most places in America don’t get author tours, at least of [McEwan and Halberstam's] caliber.”

As for the question of whether new media will supplant a centuries-old book-touring tradition, even critics of junkets say that meet and greets will survive.

“In a way, the author tour has suffered from its monopolist role in book promotion,” says Weich. “It’s a really tired format.”

He believes competition from other types of marketing may encourage the book tour to be more imaginative, to reinvent itself.

Budget tours

Already, publishers are thinking more strategically. Morgan Entrekin, head of Grove/Atlantic, says he is sending about 20 to 30 percent fewer authors on tour, and those he dispatches are visiting 20 to 30 percent fewer cities. But this winter, Mr. Entrekin arranged for the authors of “Halsey’s Typhoon,” a nonfiction account of a treacherous World War II Navy mission, to visit naval bases and shipmate reunions. It was an author tour, but aimed at a niche audience.

In August, Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine and author of “The Long Tail,” launched BookTour.com to connect authors with potential audiences. The site is a way of using the Internet to improve the author tour.

“We’re all authors, so we’ve seen the ugly side of book touring first-hand,” says Mr. Anderson. “The reason we chose to start our company around the book tour itself, is we believe in face-to-face contact…. We believe in author tours. We just think they can be done a lot better.”

Soon, they may be.

 See 10/7/07  Post Virtual Book Tours

A few days ago Jack Barnard and I met John Kremer www.bookmarket.com at his Book Marketing Blastoff Seminar in Los Angeles. He had asked us to talk with his authors about how to speak their books and also to introduce Speaker Services to his attendees.

John Kremer

In the short time we had Jack shared a few tips ie: you need to solve a problem and to be able to speak it in 2 or 3 sentences so people will ask you to tell them more.

It was quite an eye opener for John to see that the authors were challenged to do the exercise. I told John months ago over lunch that most authors do not know how to speak their books and needed training. He got it!

John suggested that we join together to offer a Book Market and Authors’ Speak Easy Workshop which includes a one camera shoot. We like that idea and also we are looking at doing a one day seminar with John just before the Book Expo which is in Los Angeles at the end of ’08.

John suggesst that authors have video on their website and was thrilled to learn that we offer video in a few of our worskhops. Whether you are an author or a professional person or a speaker it is a great marketing idea to have video on your website. Video inspires trust. I know for sure that the speakers who are listed on my website get booked much faster then those who do not.

Take a moment and check out some of the one camera video work we have done. See BizSpeak and Video Workshop and Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop . For our three camera shoot see Video Demo Showcase .

I am sharing a few items with you today about soundbites and MediaSpeak that Jack offered as a handout when he spoke to John’s folks.

The soundbite

Sound-bites are those few words the media extracts from everything you said and puts on air, to show you at your best…or worst. Sound-bites should be planned by you, not found by them. Here are some tips:

Keep them short. Watch and listen to the media. Sound-bites are rarely longer than 15 seconds, and more frequently five to ten seconds.

Pithy: Concisely meaningful, forcibly convincing, terse, interesting. And juicy. Especially juicy.

Carefully crafted: take your time, test your efforts on colleagues or even the public. Make sure there are no unintended inferences or hidden meanings.

Specific meaning: Each message point should have a specific, clear intention with regard to the particular audience.

Specific effect: Each message point should be designed to generate a specific effect…arouse an emotion, stimulate an action, clarify a point, be memorable, create a background for other messages.

MEDIA SPEAK (The Questions)
√ Audience…Who exactly is your audience?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

√ Message…What exactly do you have/need to say?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

√ Different Media…What language does this media speak?
• live interview • radio interview • panel • book signing • TV interview • print interview

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

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You need to be able to speak your book/product/message/theme/
philosophy in various formats. In any media encounter or speaking opportunity, this is the key question: what is your intended outcome?

by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com

Here, some seldom-considered tips on getting more publicity for your book and business, straight from the top journalists and literary agents who participated in our Expertizing Publicity Forum.

Be prepared for The New York Times
When a participant in the Expertizing Publicity Forum pitched the New York Times business columnist, the columnist was very interested in pursuing it as a feature story—until she went to the business’s website, which was under construction. She notes that it’s important for authors and business owners to be fully prepared before they send press releases or get in touch with journalists. This sounds obvious, but novices make this mistake all the time. “I think this business is a great idea, but I don’t know that I’d want to pitch a national paper if your website isn’t ready,” she cautions. So be sure you have all your ducks lined up, before you pitch the nationals.

Share your personality with Inc Magazine
One of the editors at Inc. Magazine stresses that you need to share anecdotes, stories, and colorful details to make an appealing pitch. She tells businesses that want to be in Inc. to forget the press release format, and send her a letter emphasizing the most unusual and dramatic parts of their journey. Most of all, she says, “Let your own voice and character shine through the pitch. A personality profile lies buried at the heart of many great business stories. Give me a sense of how you think about yourself and the world. Persuade me that you’re someone Inc. readers will want to spend time with.”
One of the Expertizing Publicity Forum participants followed this editor’s advice—and landed a multi-page feature on her business in this important publication.

Provide details for Time Magazine
The most effective pitches, says a writer at Time Magazine, contain plenty of details. When Selena Cuffe, President of Heritage Link Brands, utilized the Expertizing Publicity Forum to pitch Time Magazine, she hit a home run—except that the writer needed many more details, and told Selena that her national business editors needed numbers, numbers, and more numbers—everything from details of revenue to how long they’d been in business. Selena provided the details—and ended up with a feature on her business in Time Magazine.

Remind literary agents of your connection to your audience
Chioma Isiadinso, CEO of Expartus, a successful admissions consulting company, participated in the Expertizing Publicity Forum because she was hoping that a book on the topic might expand her platform, and broaden her business appeal. She connected with a literary agent through the forum, but the agent thought publishers would want to know how Expartus was set up to reach its readers, via email lists, speaking schedule, etc. “Publishers will want to know that the author has instant access to readership, with the savvy to secure that readership with or without the publisher’s help.”

Chioma added a section to her proposal—and with the agent’s help, succeeded in selling her (unwritten) book, Brand Your Way to an MBA, to Sourcebooks, a major publisher. (You’ll be able to find Chioma’s book in bookstores next year.)

Fern Reiss is CEO of PublishingGame.com (www.PublishingGame.com) and Expertizing.com (www.Expertizing.com) and the author of The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days, The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days, and The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days as well as several other award-winning books. She also runs The Expertizing® Publicity Forum where you can pitch your book or business directly to journalists; more information at www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm. Sign up for her free monthly report on promoting your book and business at www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm

We just finished 3 days of the Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop. We had folks from all over the country. Here are a few photos of the attendees.

I’ve posted a few of the videos that we created at the workshop on my website. Take a look at www.speakerservices.com/authorsspeakeasy

Jack helped me chisel my message. I came in with a lump of stone and now I have a piece of art. I love my message-it even inspires me!

- Susan Orosco, Speaker, Author

Martha Vercosa from Brazil, Business Consultant, Speaker

Sasha Xarrian, Author of Outrageous Mastery, A Trilogy

Here’s our friend Marlin Keesler, Author of Our Life on the Run

Niche pitch-wow! I learned how to put many concepts into 2 short concise sentences that will sell my product. – Ellen Martin

The workshop is an extremely holistic experience-experiential-reflective and factual. Jack Barnard is a dynamic workshop trainer. – Jean Shula

Ellen Martin (l) & Jean Shula (r)
Ellen is an RN. Pastor, Author & Inspirational Speaker-Jean is a Psychotherapist, Life Coach, Speaker and the author of The Coming of Aging: Learning to Live from the Inside Out

I am so excited. Tomorrow I am picking up John Kremer at the airport and spending the afternoon with him and then sitting in on his workshop at the Learning Annex in LA. He’ll be teaching How to Become a Bestselling Author. John Kremer is the author of “1001 Ways to Market Your Books,” “Book Marketing Made Easier,” and more. He is also the developer of the Top 500 Independent Bookstores list as well as the bookmarket website. His website is www.bookmarket.com which is a rich resource of information on book marketing.

I’ve been talking with him on the phone and when I saw he was coming to LA I called him and said I want to see you in person. We are both great resources for each other as he deals with authors and wana bees and we want to support authors with their media and speaking skills.

I’m sure we’ll cook something up-so stayed tuned.

In the meantime I am sharing John posted a list of specialty retailers in S. California on his e-zine today.

New age and metaphysical bookstores . . .

Alexandria II Bookstore, 567 S Lake Avenue, Pasadena CA 91101; 626-792-7885. Email: info@alexandria2.com. Web: http://www.alexandria2.com. Since 1985, this new age store offers books, music, videos, candles, cards, crystals, aromatheraphy, and wiccan supplies. Does not want emails from suppliers.

Answers Bookstore, Center for Spiritual Discovery, 560 S Melrose Drive, Vista CA 92081; 760-724-9077; Fax: 760-724-9366. Email: office@crsvista.org. Web: http://www.crsvista.org/bookstore.html. Motto: A bookstore to enhance your life. They carry metaphysical and self-help books, tapes, music, cards, and calendars.

Awakenings Bookstore, Mission Hills Plaza, 25260 La Paz Road #D&E, Laguna Hills CA 92653; 949-457-0797. Email: service@awakenings.com. Web: http://www.mataphysicalbookstore.com. New age books, gifts, music, crystals, jewelry, and more.

Bodhi Tree Bookstore, 8585 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood CA 90069-5199; 310-659-1733; Fax: 310-659-0178; 800-825-9798. Email: bodhitree@bodhitree.com. Web: http://www.bodhitree.com. The largest new age bookstore in the country, featuring 40,000 titles.

Catch the Spirit Bookstore, David Kennedy, Manager, Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Drive, Encinitas CA 92024; 760-753-5786, Ext. 12; Fax: 760-753-7647. Email: davidckennedy@gmail.com. Web: http://www.seasidechurch.org/books. Features titles by Ernest Holmes, Joel Goldsmith, Christian Sorensen, Michael Beckwith, and others, including children’s and relationship books.

Creative Center for Spiritual Living Bookstore, 1330 East Valley Parkway #G, Escondido CA 92027; 760-741-0853; Fax: 760-871-7174. Email: leszmor@aol.com. Web: http://www.escondidoccsl.org. This Science of Mind center offers a complete metaphysical bookstore.

Heaven on Earth Gifts and Books, 1885 S Centre City Parkway, Escondido CA 92025-6525; 760-233-4000. A new age bookstore.

Inner Bliss Rejuvenation Center, Rebecca Enders, Book Buyer, 2120 Jimmy Durante Blvd #108, Del Mar CA 92014; 760-518-0979. Email: rebecca@innerbliss.com. Web: http://www.innerbliss.com/main.php. Offers books, raw foods, supplements, and other health tools along with colon hydrotherapy and detoxification. Features 20 titles.

Lady of the Lake Metaphysical Books, 3102 University, San Diego CA 92104; 619-281-7231. Web: http://www.ladyofthelakeinc.com. New age bookstores. Also stores in Temecula, Idyllwild, and Vista, California. The website is not active but is advertised.

The Latest Thing Books & Gifts, 1525 Mesa Verde Drive East #113, Costa Mesa CA 92626; 714-754-7541. Offers books, audios, music, cards, crystals, and more in metaphysical, new age, spiritual, religious, and self-help categories.

Living Prana, Bharat (Prana) Gogia, 575 Second Street, Encinitas CA 92024; 760-944-9439. Email: livingprana@gmail.com. Web: http://www.livingprana.com/store.htm. Motto: Self-awareness and healing through stillness. Offers yoga classes and Ayurvedic healing. Features books, gifts, CDs, aromatherapy, crystals, and herbs.

Mystic Gyfte, 210 S Indiana Avenue, Vista CA 92084; 760-643-2120. Email: info@mysticgyfte.com. Web: http://www.mysticgyfte.com. Metaphysical books, audios, and gifts. Also classes and readings.

The MediaSpeak Symposium was a great success. Here’s a few comments.

Pitching to live producers was an experience needed to jumpstart the process to demystify the experience.
- Cindy Kludt, Grief Counselor, Author

Susan and Jack created an amazing learning situation with a variety of media experts.
- Laurie Hacking, Coach, Author

The MediaSpeak Symposium provides authors, entrepreneurs and business experts with the confidence and tools to obtain the interviews and globally promote their products and services.
-Craig Nabat, Entrepreneur

Terrific 3 days to actually test out the methods. The Symposium was a tremendous experience. It really helped me to put everything in prospective.
- Aubrey Fine, Professor, Author

Dr. Fran Pastoria and Aubrey Fine practice their pitch

Marlin Keesler pitching his book to Dr. Meg Haworth

Pitching to Nita Vallens, Inner Visions, KPFK FM

I am researching resources for the Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop in November on how and where self-published authors can distribute their books.

Our friend John Kremer www.bookmarket.com contributes several booksellers/retailers resources for you and shares how to approach the Airport Shops.

Airport Shops: Hudson Booksellers
Hudson Booksellers, Sara Hinckley, Vice President of Book Purchasing, 1521 Johnson Ferry Road #250, Marietta GA 20062; 770-998-5032 or 678-560-5960. Email: shinckley@hudsongroup.com. Web: http://www.hudsongroupusa.com. Lisa Strollo, Vice President, Merchandising; Email: lstrollo@hudsongroup.com. Hudson operates more than 400 Hudson Newsstands and 66 Hudson Booksellers in airports around the country.

If you want to have your books featured in these airport bookstores, email a sell-sheet with cover image, title details, and publicity plans, and other available sales information to booksellers@hudsongroup.com.

Or, you can also mail a sell-sheet and/or finished copy of your product with title details, publicity plans, any available sales information, and contact information to Hudson Booksellers, 1521 Johnson Ferry Road #250, Marietta GA 20062.

“You will receive a response within four weeks of receipt of the product. Please note that Hudson Booksellers locations are very small. Our selection is focused primarily on current and past bestsellers and classics. Our key categories are fiction, business, and narrative nonfiction. We do carry titles from almost every major category. We do not carry any self-published books, or books published by vanity publishers. We only carry oversized books if they are current bestsellers or local souvenir-type bestsellers.”

If you published your own book, don’t present it that way. Present it as coming from your publishing company. For example, my 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, while self-published, is not a self-published book. It is published by Open Horizons.

On the other hand, if your book is published by a POD publisher, you might have a tougher time selling them on stocking your book. Some major booksellers treat POD as worse than self-published. While some POD books merit that designation, many are as good or better than other self-publisher books — or even books from larger publishers.

Specialty Shops

- Andy Warhol Museum Store, Web: http://www.warholstore.com. Art museum bookstore.

- The Big Idea Infoshop, Email: books@thebigideapgh.org, Web:
http://www.thebigideapgh.org . Left-wing and alternative political bookshop. Hosts several book discussion groups.

- Carnegie Museum of Art Store, Web: http://www.carnegieartstore.com
Features art books, gifts, jewelry, posters, notecards, children’s books, apparel, and videos. Museum: http://www.cmoa.org

- Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Museum Shop
Web: http://www.naturalhistorystore.com
The shop features toys, art, books, and gifts related to animals, dinosaurs, wildlife, botany, geology, fossils, American Indians, ancient Egypt, and other nature topics. Museum web: http://www.carnegiemnh.org

- Carnegie Science Center, XPLOR Store
Web: http://www.sciencecenterstore.com
Museum web: http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org

- Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh Museum Store
Email: store@pittsburghkids.org
Web: http://www.pittsburghkids.org

- Journeys of Life, Jean Haller
Email: info@journeysoflifeonline.com
Web: http://www.journeysoflifeonline.com
Founded in 1990, this store specializes in psychology, self-help, new age, spirituality, men’s and women’s issues, recovery, and related topics. Also music, gifts, crystals, 12-step items, aromatherapy, and jewelry.

- The Open Mind Bookstore, Phil Harris, Book Buyer
Email: om@theopenmind.com, Web: http://www.theopenmind.com, Email Phil: phil@theopenmind.com. Mind/body/spirit bookstore.

- Senator John Heinz History Center
Email: estore@hswp.org
Web: http://store.pghhistory.org
History, political, and regional books.

HOW TO FIND YOUR STORY ANGLES
compliments of Ann Convery annconvery.com

1. Where are your best stories hiding?

1) In the problems you solve.2) In the stories of your clients and customers.

3) In what you can comment on as an expert. (Especially trends)

Tell us how you solved a problem that baffled others. Is this a trend? How did you solve it in a unique way? What about the stories of your clients and customers? These are the major stories that will put you on the map.

Remember – YOU are not the story. Your clients and customers and solutions are.

Where to Find Story Angles. Look at the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal and see all the sections they have. How many stories could you fit in to each section?

Business / Women in Business / Women and Start-Ups / Women and Venture Capital
Entrepreneurial
Small-business
Business Communication / Management / Downsizing / Time Management
Business turn-around
Internet marketing
International trade / trends
Leadership skills
Employee training / happiness in the workplace / conflict resolution
Technology
Science
Politics
Finance / Personal Finance / Debt Reduction / Business Growth / Women and Money
Local trends in the neighborhood
Metro – what’s affecting life in your town
Travel- do people travel to see you? Can you write a travel piece?
Sports / Family Sports / Parents and sports / Soccer Moms
Family / Teens / Kids / Extended Family / Seniors
Relationships / Marriage / Divorce / Re-Marriage
Dating / first dates / dating do’s and don’ts / dating after 40 / dating after 60
Community / community projects / local trends
Kids
School
Exercise / Diet / Yoga / Fitness / Gyms/ At-Home Gyms / Do’s and Don’ts
Health / Wellness / Tips / Warnings / Mind-Body Connection
Beauty
Arts
Style / Dining / Fashion / Home and Garden / Weddings

Get the idea?

Join us at the MediaSpeak Symposium, Oct 11, 12 & 13 and learn more plus pitch live to the media outlets.

Those of you who know me know that I am passionate about my service and completely committed to assisting business folks and authors in growing their business and income through speaking.

However, if you do not know about our services and training take a look at the following video and see what others are saying about us.

Click here to view : http://www.audioacrobat.com/playv/WHL0WfCx
Third party referrals are always the best.

I have been promoting and talking about the MediaSpeak Symposium for months. If you are a business person, author, speaker or a coach etc. the Symposium is a great opportunity for you supercharge your business, attract media attention and to paticipate in the Pitch Fest. I invite and encourage you to attend the 3rd MediaSpeak Symposium . Here’s the info.

MediaSpeak Symposium, Master the Message, Master the Media, October 11-13 in Los Angeles. The theme for the three days is Ready, Set, Pitch. PR and media exposure is critical to your success.

Supercharge your book, screenplay, product, business, service or cause when you talk to the media . The caveat of the 3 day event is the pitch fest . Pitch your story to broadcast and print media.

Learn more and register http://www.speakerservices.com/mediaspeak07 .
Mention this note and receive a 10% discount (good for friends too).

The MediaSpeak Symposium was a fabulous training on how to approach the media and speak your message in a way that is arresting and newsworthy. For any professional who wants to be seen and heard by millions, this is an event not to be missed!
- Chellie Campbell, Speaker & author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire

Listen to replay of audio interviews with the faculty of the Symposium

Dr Letitia Wright, Publicity 2.0: Online PR . Click here to listen http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/80
and
Nita Vallens, How to Get Booked on Radio Talk Shows, Give a Great Interview and Get Invited Back and Jill Lublin- Guerrilla Publicity – Practical Strategies to Increase Visibility. Click here to listen http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/79

If you are an author or want to be author here is a brand NEW workshop designed for you Authors’ SpeakEasy, November 9-11

Authors need to promote themselves and their books. To get their books out to the public — for any effective action at all — there will be networking, book signings, media interviews and speaking engagements. In order to be successful at the media adventure, you — the author must master the media. Authors: Identify your Niche-Pitch®, Master your Message, Master the Media, 2-3 minute Interview Video Segment.

Learn more . ltd to 20 attendees

See all upcoming events
http://www.speakerservices.com (3rd col on right)

There is one slot open for the 3 camera video demo showcase Nov 4
See http://www.speakerservices.com/videoprod.html for details

Won’t you join us?

Susan