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.

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

The following post comes to us from Penny Sansevieri.

I have been encouraging my clients to have a media room on their websites.  For speakers/authors it really can make the difference of getting speaking gigs as well as interviews by reporters.

Take it away Penny….

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. Visit AME

post from Penny Sansevieri amarketingexpert.com

Susan’s Note:  This post is skewed towards responding to media leads rather then reaching out to reporters on your own with a personal pitch letter.  Penny makes great points and you need to know how to respond both ways.

Speaker Services is offering a Workshop  on 9/12 on how to Connect with Reporters who Want to Hear Your Message: Tips for Perfect Pitch Letters or a 2 part teleclass series beginning 9/14 & 9/21 find out more 

Take it away Penny…

These days it seems like we have so much more access to media and media leads. With sites like HARO, helpareporterout.com, that send daily leads (sometimes several times a day) responding to media leads has become more of a daily routine than ever before. The key really isn’t getting the leads, the trick is now responding to them. Here is a quick guide that you might want to keep handy the next time a lead comes your way.

1. Response time: it’s important to remember that response times are crucial. Respond immediately if you can. Since these leads are going to several hundred thousand people, the competition for them (especially the super popular ones like diet, dating, and finance) is fierce.

2. Not so perfect might be ok, too: when it comes to media leads, it’s always good to flex your media pitching muscle. Depending on your topic you might not get leads that are 100% spot on all the time, sometimes you may have to stretch. As long as you’re not pitching a diet topic to a finance lead you should definitely try to look for tie-ins whenever possible and take a chance or two.  Sometimes when I do this I will often mention the tie-in I’m attempting to make up front or, in some cases offer myself as an expert if they’re considering an additional angle to the story (and I will always mention the angle).

3. Crafting the response: When you get a lead, you’ll often find there are specific instructions within the lead itself. You should always, always follow them. There are instructions in those leads for a reason, use them. Second, when you’re putting together your response, be short and get to the point quickly. I find that responding in bullet points is good, it helps to direct the media person to the highlights of your pitch. To save some time, I tend to keep a list of tips or other media pitch emails handy so I can sometimes cut and paste if the information is relevant to the new lead. Also, remember that when you’re crafting an email the subject line is key, so make sure it’s compelling enough to get them to open it. And, mention the media lead service in the subject line as well; for instance, “HARO query on quick money-saving tips”. That way the reporter knows you are responding to their lead.

4. Following up: after sending a lead, it’s tempting to want to follow up to make sure the information got to its intended target, that it was what they needed, etc. My suggestion? Don’t. Wait for the media person to write you back, which leads me to my next point:

5. Getting a response: I’m often asked “So how many of these do I need to respond to before I hear back?” My answer to that often is: “More than you’ll expect.” The truth is, much like anything that you’ll do to promote your book, you will have to overshoot this effort. You might respond to 10 media leads before you hear back from one. They key is to keep responding and stay in the flow of getting out there. We offer media leads to our authors and often they’ll write me and say they’ve gotten discouraged because no one seems to be writing them back. If you’re unsure about your pitch, then have your publicist evaluate it for you and tell you if you’re on track or off the mark.

6. It’s all about relationships: remember that this is your opportunity to build a relationship with the person you’re pitching and further, your pitch may be the only clue the media person has as to who you are. They may or may not visit your site, and it’s far more likely that the 30 seconds they have to scan your email is the first and only indication that they’ll have of you. Don’t be pushy or too presuming. Don’t send an email saying: “I’m responding to such and such, please email me for more info.” With the possibly hundreds of responses they’ve gotten, why should they email you back for more information? And finally, once you make that contact, get them what they need on their timeline, not yours. Then, once you have fulfilled your duty as a super-savvy self-promoter be sure and follow up with a thank you, and feel free to stay in touch with the media person as events warrant. Be cautious with this. While you want to keep the relationship going, you don’t want to overload them with emails.

Getting media leads is a great thing, but really it’s only a small part of the process, and with all kinds of media lead services out there it’s important to know not just how to respond, but how to make the most of them.

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.

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.

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.

Here’s some more ways to use video clips for authors.

1) Have you been You Tube’d? If you haven’t this is the #1 place to load your book video.

2) Put your video on your own website, don’t let a single visitor land on your site without getting the touch and feel of your book.

3) Send a sample of your book video to every media contact you pitch. Never let a press kit leave your office without a disc.

4) Got a social networking page? If you do (and you should) add the clip or a link to it on the page.

5) When you pitch the media, don’t forget to insert a link to the trailer in your email. Don’t send it as an attachment; chances are an over aggressive spam filter will have it for lunch.

6) Blog about it every chance you get. No, I’m not talking about repeating a blog over and over but blog on what success you’ve had thanks to your video. And oh, yes, add a link to the book video too.

7) Trying to get a signing but have been unsuccessful? Let your book speak for itself, literally. Drop off a copy of your book trailer to an as-yet-unconvinced bookstore person and I can almost bet you’ll get asigning in the store.

Ready for your close-up? There’s no quicker way to a potential producer’s heart than through his eyes and ears. Seeing a book come to life can sometimes be a great way to sell someone on the conceptof turning your book into a movie.

9) If you’re doing a signing bring the book video to show while you’re signing books. I’ve known authors who’ve done this and they sold almost twice as many books. The video really pulls in readers!

10) Just like you can tell a book by its cover, you can often tell a bookvideo by its packaging. Get your CD cover professionally printed. Don’t skim on the first impression! In fact, why not have your video burned to a business card size CD that you can pop into the card slot of a presentation folder?

Reprinted from The Book Marketing Expert newsletter, a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. For more info see: http://www.amarketingexpert.com.

Linda Hollander was a speaker and author and this clip was of her speaking at the Speakers’ Summit08.

Here’s some more ways to use video clips for authors.

1) Have you been You Tube’d? If you haven’t this is the #1 place to load your book video.

2) Put your video on your own website, don’t let a single visitor land on your site without getting the touch and feel of your book.

3) Send a sample of your book video to every media contact you pitch. Never let a press kit leave your office without a disc.

4) Got a social networking page? If you do (and you should) add the clip or a link to it on the page.

5) When you pitch the media, don’t forget to insert a link to the trailer in your email. Don’t send it as an attachment; chances are an over aggressive spam filter will have it for lunch.

6) Blog about it every chance you get. No, I’m not talking about repeating a blog over and over but blog on what success you’ve had thanks to your video. And oh, yes, add a link to the book video too.

7) Trying to get a signing but have been unsuccessful? Let your book speak for itself, literally. Drop off a copy of your book trailer to an as-yet-unconvinced bookstore person and I can almost bet you’ll get asigning in the store.

Ready for your close-up? There’s no quicker way to a potential producer’s heart than through his eyes and ears. Seeing a book come to life can sometimes be a great way to sell someone on the conceptof turning your book into a movie.

9) If you’re doing a signing bring the book video to show while you’re signing books. I’ve known authors who’ve done this and they sold almost twice as many books. The video really pulls in readers!

10) Just like you can tell a book by its cover, you can often tell a bookvideo by its packaging. Get your CD cover professionally printed. Don’t skim on the first impression! In fact, why not have your video burned to a business card size CD that you can pop into the card slot of a presentation folder?

Reprinted from The Book Marketing Expert newsletter, a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. For more info see: http://www.amarketingexpert.com.

View a video clip of Linda Hollander speaker and author at the SpeakersSummit08. She was talking about Corporate Sponsorship.

On October 7, ’07 I posted an article on how to plan a book blog tour and then again on February 2, ’08 I posted another one about virtual book tours. I have been fascinated with the concept and thought it was a brilliant way to take advantage of the technology that is out there.

Book signings are passe and authors need to look elsewhere to get the word out about their books. A virtual blog book tour costs very little and you don’t have to travel and you can reach thousands of people in a short time. You can organize it yourself or you can hire book blog specialist to do it for you.

I received an e mail request last week from Nikki Leigh with an invitation to participate in a 3 day book blog tour for Dr. Joe Capista. I agreed and was very impressed with the information that was provided for me to post the information.

Enjoy the interview with Dr Joe Capista. Take notice of his video book trailer, photo and book cover all necessary elements for a successul book blog tour.

If you are an author who would like to connect with Nikki Leigh to inquire about a blog book tour her e-address is nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com and her website is www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm

Interview with speaker Dr. Joe Capista and Author of What Can a Dentist Teach you about Business, Life and Success?

Where you are from and where are you now?
I reside in Media, Pennsylvania with my wife of 34 years. I have a dental practice in Broomall. I have lived in this area all my life. My roots are here, my family is here, and my community is here. I’m a Pennsylvanian through and through.

How did you get started writing?
Not counting all the goals I have written over the years and the business plans, I officially began writing with my newly released book called What Can a Dentist Teach You about Business, Life and Success? Discover Secrets to Achieving Total Success!

I have owned and operated my dental practice for over 30 years. I grew my practice from a 1-chair struggling practice to a multi-million dollar business with nearly 50 team members.

For years I have mentored business professionals and done training courses on how to build a business. I found I had a knack and passion for sharing my information. Initially, my work was with other dentists, but it grew into working with a variety of business types.

Over the last few years I have also done presentations to business groups. My writing was a natural evolution from my business success and working with others. The more I worked with others and did presentations the question came up frequently as to when I was going to write a book.

I had entertained the thought for some time, but about a year ago I decided that I would write a book. The book is a culmination of my business philosophy as well as overall success in all areas of one’s life.

What people will read in the book is not your typical business book. I combine a very pragmatic and spiritual approach to what I call Total Success.

What do you do when you are not writing?
When not writing I can be found doing a number of different things. One being, I still practice dentistry. I love dentistry. Always have and probably always will. I can also be found giving speeches, running, spending time with my family, traveling and overall, enjoying life.

What would readers like to know about you?
I think readers would like to know that I am very passionate about what I do in all areas of my life. I believe we create our own happiness by our thoughts, beliefs and actions.

Although I am blessed with an extremely successful life, it wasn’t always like that. I grew up in an average blue-collar neighborhood and struggled in school as a kid. And yet, from as far back as I can remember I wanted to be a dentist. I can remember digging in the dirt and filling up the holes pretending I was filling a cavity. That was at the age of 10.

Early on I didn’t get a lot of support for my dream. My high school guidance counselor, Father Melton told me I should pick a different goal rather than trying to become a dentist.

It was at that point I formed the belief that we can either believe what another person thinks is best for our life or follow our own dream. I will forever be grateful I followed my dream. Because of it I have had an incredible life.

I think what your readers would also be interested in know is that along with my dream came a lot of hard work. It didn’t just happen. I had to work for what I wanted.

What inspired your first book?
The desire to document the very systems that have allowed me to create the life I have. These systems don’t just apply to building a successful dental practice. They can apply to virtually any type of business.

How do you manage to keep yourself focused and on track?
Actually, there is a whole chapter in my book about how to stay focused and on track. I am very clear on the fact that having a laser beam approach to what I want to accomplish makes all the difference as to whether I achieve something or not.

Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
For the love of writing and yet, because I do know how to make money from various ventures I have been involved in, it is very likely I will make great money from my writing. I think an advantage I have in writing about business is the opportunities that have opened up with my speaking and mentoring. The book was released in late December and already I have had some incredible things happen as a result. One is, with one speaking engagement I did, a gentleman who heard me nominated me for the Small Business Owner of the Year Award for a very large Chamber of Commerce in my area.

The recognition this will give me, my book and my business may not be able to be measure in exact return and yet I do know it will open up other opportunities.

Something I believe in is that nothing is an end in and of itself. Everything we do either moves us closer to our goals or further away. When I wrote the book I didn’t write it to make money. And yet, because of the marketing we are doing with the book, money will be a natural outcome of my writing.

What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used?
I have a marketing firm on the West Coast who is handling a lot of my marketing. I know that we have had a lot of media releases sent to the press that have given the book visibility. I have done dozens of presentations to local associations that has also gained some nice visibility. I have a very nice media kit with a beautiful sell sheet. One thing we have made sure of is to create an identity for the book.

What are some unique methods of marketing you have used?
We have been using the Internet a great deal. Lots of blogging about the book as well as an Amazon.com campaign where dozens of Joint Venture Partners are helping to get the word out about my book. I have done lots of web radio interviews as well as article writing and distribution online. I am launching a series of teleseminars that will all be in some way connected to an aspect of the book.

Do you sell through a website? If so, what’s the address? If not, why not?
Most definitely. http://www.joecapista.com/amazon.htm

Where can people order your books?
They can order it directly from my site and they can order from http://www.joecapista.com/amazon.htm

What format are your books – e-book, print, audio etc?
At this point the book is only available as hardcopy. I do have an eBook available on my site on how to build a multi-million dollar business.

What do you have in the works now?
Right now I am continuing to build my speaking business. I am in conversations with some business associates about starting a full-fledged training company. That is another area I will be putting some time and energy into.
What does the future hold for you and your books?
Lots of fun. I just love what writing a book has done for me. It’s incredible. Although I would like to think I could have done this sooner, I think the timing in my life has been perfect.

What was the most successful thing you did to promote your books?
We are doing it right now. An Amazon.com campaign along with a blog tour. The visibility is incredible.

Have you done a book trailer?
Yes see YouTube Book Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvqiYWp4CFY

What do you speak about?

You, Your Business and Success
An inspirational keynote presentation that explores your thoughts, actions and outcomes in creating the life you want.

The Million Dollar Letter
In this incredibly moving keynote presentation, Joe shares his most popular signature story about how contribution to others is at the core of our joy, happiness and well-being. Join Dr. Capista as he shares the journey he and his team took with Jackie, his most memorable patient. Learn what happened that took Jackie from a place of being a timid, fearful and shy to a woman who now shares her courage and joy with others.

The Success Triangle
A highly requested presentation that helps participants explore aspects of success that often go unchecked. Understand the correlation between an excellent product, your marketing and how you sell. One missed element can determine the difference between a mediocre business or a wildly successful enterprise.

Success and Spirituality
What Spiritually is and is not, and how it fits into having a successful life.

This book is a great resource for anyone looking for both a pragmatic and spiritual approach to building a life of Total Success.To order: What Can a Dentist Teach You about Business, Life and Success? If you order in the next 24 hours you will receive over $2,551 in bonus gifts from experts around the globe. Go to http://www.joecapista.com/amazon.htm

Yesterday, I spoke to a group of authors who are going through a year long program called Quantum Leap. The Harrison brothers owners of RTIR and producers of the Publicity Summit invited Jack Barnard and me to talk to the authors on how to grow their businesses and services through speaking.

I spoke to them about the marketing end of speaking and gave them an overview on how to create a winning strategy. We also know that authors have a tricky time speaking about their books and need a bit of help in the presentation department. Jack shared how to play the game of speaking and how to get the ticket. Several of the folks resonated with that and signed up for our 5 day Speakers’ Bootcamp at the end of March.

Today Wendi McNeil weighs in on Marketing Strategies and Tips that will help you to position yourself…

Becoming a professional full time speaker isn’t easy…everyone knows that, it takes a lot of dedication, determination and most important you have to have the passion, if the passion isn’t there then my suggestion would be, don’t even attempt it! I could spend days teaching you how to package yourself as a professional speaker and how to gain more exposure, but the following article as been bundled to give you just a few quick tips and ideas so you can start implementing them into your business.

1. Niche Yourself

Yes, I know you have heard this many times and it couldn’t be truer! One of the biggest mistakes a speaker can make is having too “general” of a topic. You want to narrow your expert niche as much as possible. Become the Speaker of Choice, research your topic industry so you know “what’s hot” and “what’s not”. Take that research and develop a niche around it, be sure it is something you have experience with and will be able to present it as a professional expert speaker in that field. Don’t waste your time, energy and money on developing a “niche” that just isn’t going to get any recognition because it isn’t something that planners will be looking for! Do your research and I do put emphasis on this tip! Once you have discovered your niche, you must continue to practice your speaking skills and update your material and presentations to keep-up with the trends and changing issues.

2. Build your credibility

There are many ways to build your credibility and become known as an expert, but this tip is about building your credibility by knowing your audience.

Your job as a presenter is to take the context you will present and put it into a form that your audience will understand and can relate to. You want them to really understand what you’re saying. Always remember your presentation is not about you, it’s about the audience, what they want to know, and what they want to know is what’s in it for me? How will you help their business grow?…How will you help them save time…save money…How will you make them feel!

Vision yourself sitting in the audience you will be presenting to and ask yourself, “What do I want to get out of this?”, “What do I want to learn?”, “What’s in it for me?” Once you can perceive yourself as a participant of the audience than you can start putting the pieces together in building a top notch presentation that your audience will remember and one that will have members coming to you and asking you to get your schedule out because they want to book you.

The more you relate to your audience, the more you know your audience, the better your chance of building your credibility…you have an audience that is happy, engaged and drawn to you and one that is saying…Hey, this speaker knows his stuff…he knows us!

3. Develop an eye-catching media kit

Planners get hundreds if not thousands of proposals and media kits every year. You have to “wow” them immediately to grab their attention, before they set it down and go to the next one!

Make sure that your media kit is up to date, precise and professionally put together. Nothing else turns away a meeting planner or organization more than an unattractive, boring, and unorganized media kit. They won’t even bother with it nor have the time of day to look over the remaining contents if they don’t like what they see at first glance and many times the hours, days and money you have spent in putting it together are now wasted as it sits on the planners’ shelf gathering dust. I know this seems a bit harsh, but being on the ‘inside’ I know this to be true, as I have seen it many times, so just spend some time on your kit when putting it together or possibly re-do the one you already have, remember you want to catch the eye of the reader to draw them into reading more.

4. Have an online presence

Develop a website with information on your experience, topics you cover, promotional material available and testimonials from previous clients. You don’t need a big, fancy, or expensive website to attract visitors and the attention of meeting planners, just make sure you are catering to the planners needs and have the information easily accessible and downloadable. If you’re an article writer make sure you add your articles to your own site.

If your budget doesn’t allow for your own web site, join speakers’ organizations and add your name to their online listings – The more exposure you get, the better your chances of being found by people seeking speakers.

5. Work with meeting planners

Very important: be willing to work with them. Don’t be so stubborn that you talked yourself right out of one of the most important speaking engagements of your career. Most planners are eager to work with the speaker, but you also have to be willing to “give a little to get a lot”. Remember you want to be a magnet to planners and the “hiring” company, not an itch under their skin. So be pleasant and be negotiable and give them the best performance possible and in return they will continue to book you and recommend you!

You want to position yourself within the meeting planner realm as being enjoyable to work with, fun, and easy-going! Trust me on this one, there is nothing worse then working with a stubborn, un-pleasant speaker who is unwilling to budge or negotiate, it doesn’t matter if they are well-known or have years of experience, planners don’t have the time for this nor want to deal with it. I also want to mention, don’t be too quick to pass on a free speaking engagement as this can bring you more opportunities (Many great enterprises were built from small opportunities).

6. Introduce yourself as a contingency speaker

This is one way to get your “foot” in the door. One of the biggest fears of a meeting planner is a “no-show” or cancellation of the scheduled speaker. You can send out a letter via email or regular mail to event planners, program managers, etc.

Your initial contact with the event planner should be on eliminating one of their largest fears. If you have a properly written letter and have done your research, you will more than likely make an immediate friend. This is where the business relationship begins and in most cases, the event planner or “hiring” authority will book you in because you have approached them this way.

7. Marketing yourself

Add this to your weekly business tasks, this is of course a must, if you don’t market you all know they won’t find you! You have to go to them…let them know you are unique, you are knowledgeable, you are the best and that you can knock the socks off their audience. Don’t be afraid to approach meeting planners, you want to keep your name fresh in their mind! Be PERSISTENT!

Standing out from the crowd is a major challenge for today’s professional speaker. Marketing yourself and your company, should be one of your major priorities, which requires to be done on a regular basis. Unless you have ample time on your hands and the expertise it takes to market yourself effectively, one of the best suggestions we can make is hire a professional marketing specialist or consultant/public relations company. Find someone that will work side by side with you in developing a marketing campaign that will benefit you and your speaking career.

If your budget does not have room for the expense of a professional PR agent then there are many ways you can gain exposure and become known as an expert in your field by doing some simple marketing techniques that are sure fire ways to get you the attention you need. Remember to be unique!

8. Interact with potential clients

It is very important to mingle and network! Get yourself noticed. Hand out business cards every where you go. Talk to everyone you meet. Go to seminars and meetings that are the same as your expertise. Watch and pay attention. Who are the attendees, what is their reaction to the speaker on the platform? Most importantly, be very personable and agreeable with every meeting planner you meet. You want to leave the impression that you are easy going and willing to make adjustments at the last minute. Meeting planners don’t like to work with difficult and irritating speakers, it doesn’t matter how well known you are in the speaking industry. They look for someone with humor, an abundance of energy, flexibility, and great content!

9. Write a book/ info products

This is a BIG credibility builder. I know it’s not as easy as it sounds, but if you are an expert in your field and you have information you want to share, I would suggest writing a book or some informational products. This is an excellent marketing tool and an addition to your income. We know you have the speaking ability and you know what you want to say, but some speakers just don’t know how or have the time to put it in book/product form. You do have the option of outsourcing that task. There are many companies who specialize in that field and can assist you with your project.

10. Article writing

Almost everyone knows about article marketing and submitting them online, but I just want to mention it again. I would have to say I bring up article marketing at least 5 times a day in many different conversations because that is how important I feel article marketing is. You are a speaker…you are an expert…so you shouldn’t have any trouble writing a simple article. Add article writing and submitting them online to your marketing plan and do it on a regular basis. This is one of the best and FREE ways of promoting yourself and your business, and also gaining more visitors to your website!

Many times I see an excellent article that was written with just the authors name, no contact information…nothing! Well, if you’re like me you don’t have the time to try and do a search on this author to find their site and learn more, you want instant contact information by just clicking your mouse so you can be taken directly to where you want to go. So, don’t forget to add an eye-catching bio at the end of your article so readers can find you and learn more. Be sure and include your contact information including website and email address.

Wendi McNeill is the owner of Charli Jane Speaker Management and while working closely with speakers for many years, she assists them in growing their business and shares her expertise, knowledge and passion that are needed to grow your speaking business. She knows what planners are looking for and how to make a good impression by using simple techniques that can cut off months of research, save you money, time, and energy by mentoring and guiding you in the right direction. You can also learn more about speaking leads, visit www.CharliJane.com to learn more about her services.

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

At the Speakers’ Summit this past May I took a survey asking the attendees if they would be open to a membership site and I received an astounding YES.  The question was- how could we stay connected with each other and keep on learning virtually? None of us wanted the Summit to end-as it was rich with information and bonding.  Hence the Speakers’ Community website was born.  It took 6 months to build the Speakers’ Community Membership Site and I  announced it a week ago. Have you seen it yet?

It does not take the place of our online directory www.speakerservices.com which brings speakers and authors together with audiences. However, what it does offer is a community of like-minded individuals who want to shave years off their learning curve and gain access to the marketing secrets that work for the pros. Another perk, is to post your listing in the Community Directory which is open to the public as well as among members. Who knows someone might want your services!

So my marketing strategy is to give folks a trial run, offer them instant bonuses, access to the teleclasses and the Community Directory for 60 days until the end of the ’07. After that it is $49. You can Join Now.

The response has been great-not 100 or 200 sign ups however, 25 for the first week makes me happy. Folks are slowly posting their listings so keep checking back at at the Speakers’ Community Site to see who you might want to connect with and or perhaps you might join us for a teleclass. The first one is November 12 with Chellie Campbell, How to Make a 6 Figure Income Without Leaving Home. You need to join to have access to the teleclasses but what the heck-give us a try!

Other topics that I will be interviewing our experts about will be on Book Marketing, Sponsorship, Presentation Skills, Web 2.0-Social Networking, Media and more…

See ya at the Speakers’ Community.

Susan Levin

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

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.

As promised here are the rest of the tips from media trainer Ann Convery.

1. No one will ask you the right questions – your job is to help the media do their job, and then wrap your message around their questions. Learn the art of the segue.

2. Speak in plain English, not jargon and do not use abstract words. Use stories instead. Doctors often have trouble speaking in anecdotes, as they are trained to speak in data.

3. Have at least eight fascinating, little-known facts from your book or business that you can talk about (Use Google. Everyone else does.) This will stir curiosity in your audience and help them remember you.

4. The average TV news story is 90 seconds. You probably need more than 56 or even 285 words to tell your story. But if you can’t explain the essence of your story in 30 seconds to a minute, chances are reporters won’t be interested. Get to the point.

5. What if you are ambushed on air ? Have a clear message, and keep your boundaries. Take the high road – repeat your mission statement, the one that is closest to your values. Remember that this ambush is for the audience’s entertainment, don’t take it personally.

6. You don’t have to answer every part of every question. You don’t have to answer anything that makes you uncomfortable. Answer whatever you can and learn to segue to one of your three main points — “That’s interesting, but what’s more important…”

7. Don’t use unhearable words. “Great, fantastic, safe and effective, good, better, nice.” Don’t tell. Show.

8. Drink warm water before the interview to loosen your vocal chords. Don’t drink caffeine or anything cold.

9. Don’t just “be yourself”. You may have 160 seconds to market the best self you’ve got. This is a brilliantly disguised sales pitch. You want yourself, polished, presentable, and practiced. This is not a venue for personal self-expression; it’s professional presentation time.

10. Warm up. It takes most people at least 10 minutes to warm up. If you have only a 3-5 minute interview, you want to practice until you are warmed-up in ten seconds. Talking and laughing with people, and especially putting others at ease, will do it.

11. Passion: Why are you there? Because you want to make money or sell books? Probably. But try this motivator instead: You have a mission. You want the public to know the truth! Having a mission will make you come across like a dynamic expert whom the public can trust, rather than a talking head.

12. If you’re shy and you can’t believe in yourself that much in front of strangers and a microphone, believe in your story, or your product, or your message. Can you help people? Can you make their lives better? Then let us have it!

13. It’s not a joke to reduce your life’s work to a series of sound bites, it’s brilliant media. You may only have 2-5 minutes. Make the most of it.

MediaSpeak Symposium, October 11, 12 & 13

10% discount for e-zine and blog subscribers until the end of September.

Join us. Click here to read the program and register.

Today I had one of the hardest days with technology. Does that ever happen to you? I am laughing about now but when it was happening I was not a happpy camper.

Here’s what happened when I attempted to conduct the second complimentary teleclass for the MediaSpeak Symposium and somehow, due to a combination of circumstances I managed to lock most of the attendees out of the call including my second guest and then I could not connect with my first guest. Apparently he was not in the host room as I was and I muted everyone out.

I did manage to record the call and if you can handle the first few minutes of me yelling, can you hear me? wait, stop talking, I want to introduce our guest speaker…you might want to listen in or download the mp3. Michael Dresser, our guest took over and handled the call until I managed to get the reigns back. It did feel like I was on a run away horse or train. The call is quite interesting-all about how to sell your services on the radio. Click here to listen

So this post today is from my colleague Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound- about not pitching your books or programs as story ideas with many helpful hints. Joan has a great website, blog and tons of articles, products and special reports on her site. Visit her website to learn more tinyurl.com/yv7s9e

Here’s Joan

When I speak to groups of professional speakers, authors and small publishers throughout the U.S. and Canada, they look at me dumbfounded after I tell them the Number One thing they must do if they want more media attention for their books and programs.

They must stop pitching the books and programs as story ideas. Immediately.

With an estimated 175,000 news book titles published last year, and millions of presentations given by speakers and trainers, is it any wonder we’re turning off journalists by pushing our books and programs?

When I worked as a newspaper editor, we routinely hauled boxes of unsolicited new books to the local library or Goodwill. If we were in a hurry, we threw the books—complete with expensive, gold-embossed press kits—into the wastebasket.

I know this is painful to hear. But unless you’re contacting a book reviewer, few if any media people care what’s between the two covers of your book.

What the media do care about, however, is what’s between your two ears. They want to know about your expertise. They want to tap into your brain. They’re overworked and underpaid. And they’re eager to know how you can help them do their jobs more easily.

• Can you help them write a good story?

• Can you give a lively radio interview without constantly hawking your book?

• Can you offer free advice for their audience?

• Can you create a clever quiz on your topic of expertise for a national magazine?

• Can you talk in pithy sound bites that will make their viewers smile?

• Can you take a strong position on a controversial topic that will make their readers angry?

• Most importantly, can you offer solutions to people’s problems?

If so, and if they cover you, guess what they’ll probably mention in their article or on their program? Your book, of course.

While other speakers are zigging, you should be zagging. So position yourself as a valuable source that reporters flock to again and again. The following strategies will really catch the media’s attention.

Promote your expertise

Media people seek out, interview and want to stay connected to experts.

Yet many authors are either reluctant to position themselves as experts, or they call themselves experts when they really aren’t. Read the excellent White Paper titled “The Expertise Imperative” written two years ago by five members of the National Speakers Association, some of whom are authors. It outlines the six levels of expertise and what you need to do to get to the next highest level.

You’ll see that expertise isn’t only about how much you know, but how much you do.

Once you become an expert, tout it in your email signature file, your media kit and on your other marketing materials. Make sure the homepage at your website states your expertise.

For example, my homepage has this statement at the top: “Publicity expert Joan Stewart shows you how to use free publicity to establish your credibility, enhance your reputation, position yourself as an expert, sell more products and services, promote a favorite cause or issue, and position your company as an employer of choice.” When a reporter Googles “publicity expert,” my website is usually at the top of the list.

Go deep, not wide

Too many authors make the mistake of playing the lazy numbers game. They wimp out and waste money by relying only on blast fax services to distribute their news to a gazillion media outlets. Truth is, blast faxes are effective in only a small percentage of cases.

Why? Because when you send them, you treat the media like cattle—herding them all into the barn at the same time, force-feeding them from the same trough, then herding them back out again, all with the same story.

You must convince each media outlet that your story is customized only for them. But you can’t do that if you’re targeting 3,000 media. So start by hand-picking only 20 or 30 newspapers, magazines and TV stations. I call this creating a Top 20 Media Hit List.

Let’s say you’ve written a book on customer service. Choose 20 metropolitan newspapers and write a news release that’s almost identical for each newspaper. But in the release you send to the Chicago Tribune, name three Chicago companies that you think treat their customers like royalty, even if those companies aren’t mentioned in your book. Mention three San Francisco companies in the release you send to the San Francisco Examiner. And so on.

Each newspaper will immediately notice “the local angle.” And that makes your story stand out from the rest.

Ask the magic question

While lots of other authors are trying to cram their books down the throats of talk show hosts, assignment editors and beat reporters, you will stand out if you take a different approach.

Start by developing a relationship. Call a media contact, introduce yourself and explain your areas of expertise. Then ask the most important question you can ever ask someone in the media. “How can I help you?”

Repeat after me: “How can I help you?”

Media mutts never ask that question. Publicity Hounds always do. Pay attention to what the journalist tells you, then help however you can.

When I worked as a reporter, my best sources were those that would let me call them at home late at night, when I was on deadline, to ask a question about a complicated topic I didn’t understand. Other golden sources let me check in with them every few weeks and pick their brains about trends they were seeing within their industries. Position yourself as a valuable source and the media will come back to you again and again.

Publicity Hounds use these other magic phrases to build media exposure

• “What kinds of sources are you looking for? Perhaps I can help you find them, even if the story doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

• “If you have a last-minute cancellation, call on me to fill in as a talk show guest. I’ll move a mountain to help you.”

• “On a slow news day, call me if you’re desperate for story ideas.”

• “If I find articles in my trade magazines that I think would help you cover the banking industry, is it OK if I send them to you?”

The Publicity Hound website is loaded with free tips and tricks and valuable educational tools. Get tips on selling books from someone who really knows how to do it.v I recommend her enthusiastically. Visit her website to learn more tinyurl.com/yv7s9e

Note: If you are interested in booking yourself for radio interviews I recommend checking out our affiliate Alex Carroll, the Radio PR. He offers a comprehensive list of talk show producers. Click here to learn more.

Join us for the 3rd annual MediaSpeak Symposium, October 11-13 in Los Angeles where we will be discussing and practicing Media and PR skills plus pitching live to the media..

Tips for Press Coverage by Sharon Housley

Press exposure can significantly impact a small businesses’ success. Press releases are not just for big businesses; many small businesses find press releases to be an inexpensive way to gain exposure and attention. It is not uncommon for reporters from magazines, newspapers or blogs to scan press releases as a means to locate content.

Here are some tips to enhance the exposure and quality of your press releases:

1. Relevant
First and foremost, it is important to decide what information should be included in your press release. Information that is newsworthy and relevant will have the best chances of gaining the attention of an editor. The press release should be sent to related publications: a pet magazine is not going to print a press release about the latest compression utility, but it might print a release about software that manages records of a pets shots.

2. Customize
Giving your press release a personalized touch, especially for bloggers and online journalists, can be helpful in gaining attention. Spending an extra few moments to personalize a press release could be just what is needed to make it stand out from hundreds of other press releases. While it is impractical to customize all of the press releases sent, it might make sense to personalize the releases for key publications or media outlets.

3. Summarize
By creating a succinct summary of the announcement, editors will not need to reword, or condense a lengthy release. The first paragraph or two should clearly state the announcement, so that an editor’s space is limited, they can simply use the summary in their publication.

4. Swag is Good
The press loves freebies, and by offering them, there is a chance potential customers will keep your name in their mind. Feel free to send branded goodies to the editors as a special thank you for any exposure that you receive.

5. Thank You
If you are interviewed or receive an especially complimentary review be sure to thank your press contact. As strange as it might sound rarely are the editors thanked for the coverage they provide. Extending a heartfelt thank you, could mean an editor remembers your company when the next press release is sent.

6. Honesty
The more truthful the release the more likely that it will get ink. Avoid using superfluous adjectives that inflate the use your product or service. Keep your press release factual.

7. Keywords
Be sure to use keywords and keyword phrases in the press release so that it will be easily located by reporters looking for specific material.

8. Demand Attention
Carefully select the title for of your press release so that it attracts attention. The title should contain key points related to the announcement. A good title is critical. If the title does not gain the interest of the editor, it will not matter what the body of the release says.

Keep in mind that it is unlikely you will see instant results from the print media. Print media has a long cycle and you might not see coverage for months.

In short, press releases are great way to gain attention. The cost of sending a press release is minuscule when compared to the potential exposure that may result. A well-written press piece can garner significant press coverage and exposure.

Building relationships with the media is a long process and takes considerable time and patience. Editors have to deal with deadline pressures and locating appropriate filler content should the need arise, befriending the reporters will go a long way toward press coverage.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll audio recording and editing software.

Reminder: You can learn more about press releases, online and offline when you attend the 3rd annual MediaSpeak Symposium, October 11,12 & 13 in Los Angeles.

Not only that you can pitch to radio, tv and print media live.

This is always a sold out event – save $150 when you sign up by 9/1/07.

MediaSpeak ’06 attendees

The fact that there were twenty different media reps in the room to hear my pitch was awe-inspiring. The fact that there were two days of master training beforehand to prepare me to pitch was priceless.If you want to do something, do it right. The MediaSpeak Symposium is so right.
- Lisa Ehrenberg, Lisa Ehrenberg Designs

Having just completed Susan Levin’s Media Speak Symposium, I want to tell everyone to SIGN UP IMMEDIATELY. Susan and Jack are an amazing team, and I learned so much. This will definitely push my business to the next level.
- Sue Harrison-Haber, Addiction Specialist, Speaker, Author

Jack Barnard, Getting to the Point

The 5 Best Ways to Get Media Attention for Your Business
by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com

Fern Reiss weighs in today on how to get media attention for your business.

You can learn more about getting media attention for your business if you attend the MediaSpeak Symposium where you will learn to master the message and master the media plus have an opportunity to pitch live to radio, TV and print media on October 11,12 and 13.

This is a partial list of the confimed media for the Pitch Fest

Radio: Health Radio Network, LifeSytle Talk Radio Network, Business Talk Radio, The Aware Show-KPFK, Inner Vision Radio Show-KPFK, Beyond Words-KCLU, NPR National News Magazine. Help Your Self,KRLA 870 AM, Shrink Rap, KCSN 88.5 FM, Women’s Inspiration, KCSN 88.5 FM, Get Unstuck, Big Media USA, ABC Radio Networks, Satellite Sisters

TV: The Wright Place, AMC, TV Guide Channel, Speak On It, Voices of Tomorrow, Living Spirit Channel

Print: Journal of Longevity, Los Angeles Sentinel, The Learning Annex

Here’s Fern

How do you get journalists to write articles about you? In the past year, I’ve been featured in over 100 magazines and newspapers worldwide (including many of the biggies, from The New York Times to Fortune Magazine). How do you get that kind of attention for your book or business? Here are my top techniques.(See my special report, http://www.PublishingGame.com/mediareport.htm for an even deeper look at how to maximize your media attention.)

Be media worthy
This should be obvious, but even experienced publicists seem to overlook it. Journalists are looking for news, for trends, for cutting-edge story ideas. They’re not looking for “I published a new book” or “I hired a new employee” or “I have a great new business idea!” Even though those sentences have the word ‘new’ in them, that’s not sufficient for most journalists, whose first reaction is, “Who cares?” If you can satisfactorily answer the “Who cares?” then you’re well on your way to nailing down a story.

Learn to coin juicy soundbites
Besides having a newsy story to tell, it’s also helpful if you can present it in a juicy, clever way. Most of the stories that are covered by today’s media profile people who can tell a good story in an interesting way. Get some consulting or take a class with someone whose expertise is coining soundbites in order to maximize your ability to be quoted. (I offer this consulting, as do others.) What do I mean by a soundbite? Take, for example, the time I was featured in a major wire service syndicated news story, in a story on the bankruptcy of WonderBread. My quote—which appeared first in an article that also quoted the CEOs of Krispy Kreme and Bruegger’s Bagels—was “America’s donut days are dead.” (If you don’t understand why that was a desirable quote, quickly run out and get some training!)

Send out publicity releases regularly
On a consistent basis, send out press releases on whatever you’re doing. Depending on your business objectives, you might want to send out releases monthly or weekly, but try to develop a regular pattern that reporters can rely on. Barbara Corcoran, whose company became famous as New York City’s biggest residential real estate group, attributes much of her tremendous media success to the regular publicity release of “The Corcoran Report,” where she quantified the average condo and co-op sale in the city. Use one of the low-cost or free press release services for your frequent communications, and a more upscale press release service infrequently for your particularly important communications.

But do targeted publicity too
Don’t just send generic press releases to publications randomly; do targeted publicity as well. When you speak to most publicists, their idea of targeted releases is sending to 500 publications instead of 10,000. When I say targeted publicity, I mean zeroing in on one publication, and one editor or journalist at that publication, to whom to address your story. A few years ago, when I wanted some major international publicity for Expertizing, I sat down with all the business magazines and decided which one was most appropriate; then I read back stories by everyone on the masthead until I’d zeroed in on the journalist who was most likely to appreciate my story. I sent him a press release—just one press release, just to him. Two days later he phoned, and a few weeks later he attended my all-day Expertizing Workshop in Boston. The result? A full page story in Fortune Magazine. (More on how to target publications most effectively in the Expertizing Publicity Forum— http://www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm)

Sign up for the Expertizing Publicity Forum
If you’re promoting a nonfiction book or general –interest business, consider my new Expertizing Publicity Forum, where each week you can tell top journalists about your business—and hear their personalized tips on how you can best promote it, and whether they’re interested in writing an article about it for their publication. Participants have gotten placement in everything from The New York Times to USA Today, and two participants got literary agents and big publishing deals! For more information, check out http://www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm.

Recommended Resource:

Bill Stoller’s Publicity newsletter delivers loads of meaty public relations insights, leads of media needs with publicity contact information. PARTYLINE – A Roundup of Media Placement Opportunities is a segment of the Newsletter. Each month, Bill teams up with Partyline to bring you exclusive inside info about reporters looking for stories, new publications and exclusive story placement opportunities. If you see a story opportunity that fits your company, jump on it quick — before word leaks out to the
outside world.

PORTFOLIO, the long awaited Conde Nast monthly business magazine, chronicles how business shapes the world, and who the big players are that wield the greatest power. Every story in the big magazine has a business angle while the subjects run from politics, art, technology, entertainment. They are committed to running longer business stories along with strong photographic and other design effects. It is said that some 75 writers and editors have been recruited from other publications such as the NY Times, Time, Wired, etc. The staff and contributors are Blaise Zarega who is managing editor; Jennifer Close, who is the assistant to the editor-in-chief; Christopher Jones, managing editor; Kyle Pope, senior editor; Mark Stein who is senior news editor; James Impoco is deputy editor; Brendan Vaughan, senior editor. A full list of contributors are available at their website: www.portfolio.com/contributors. The magazine is at Conde Nast, Four Times Square, 17 fl., New York, NY 10036, (212) 286-2860.

Prevention Magazine gives cutting edge information about staying well, informing its readers with the latest information on family health, food, nutrition, the best workouts, beauty, cooking, and more. The new editor is Liz Vaccariello, Jennifer Cook is executive editor; Polly Chevalier is managing editor. Rebekah George is beauty editor; Caroline Bollinger is fitness editor.

Reach them all at Rodale Publishing, 33 E. Minor St., Emmaus, PA, 18098-0099, (610) 967-5171; Fax: (610) 967-7726. Their E-mail formula is: firstname.lastname@rodale.com.

Success Magazine and Successmagazine.com, has just appointed five new editors to their staff. The new hires are: James C. Johnson, Business Editor, who in his new position will develop, write, edit and assign department and feature stories which focus on the news and trends affecting small business; Pam Baker will be a Contributing Editor, specializing in technology; Anita Campbell, is a Contributing Editor, Small Business; Michelle Tsai, Contributing Editor and Adam Stone, Contributing Writer. Success Magazine is the business magazine that provides the tools to help business professionals balance work and life issues. Its editorial features a mix of practical, strategic and tactical guidance on subjects from building personal wealth and raising capital to improving management skills. Success will publish 6 issues in 2007; 10 in 2008, and 12 in 2009. The magazine has a rate base of 650,000 and is distributed by Curtis Circulation. The editorial offices of Success are at 205 Lexington Avenue, Ste. 510, New York, NY 10016, (212) 213-8473. Their website is:
www.successmagazine.com.

Stuff Magazine’s audience is composed of male readers from 18 to 34, who rank number one for being the first to try new products, services, and advice on technology, electronics, auto purchases. Gene Newman is the editor in-chief programming director; Jordan Burchette is the executive editor/multimedia director; Cory Jones is editor, with Mike Errico and Lindsay Goldenberg senior editors. Stan Horaczek is their associate editor and Adam Bryant is assistant editor with James Jung the editorial assistant. Stuff is at Dennis Publishing, 1040 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10018, (212) 302-2626; Fax: (212) 354-4364. Their website is: www.stuffmagazine.com

Today is my first post at our new blog home on the Speakers Community server.

Sam Levy, the NETMAN, made the move for me. We are still working on a few fixes however I think it is good enough to show off. Sam has been my webmaster for many years and is a delight to work with and very patient with me. Do look him up at http://www.thenetcave.com

Here’s some of the ways he can help you. The NET MAN provides Business Integration Consulting for the Internet as well as database driven sites, shopping carts and E-Zines. Business Websites That Work! Consulting – Management – Production – Hosting – Marketing – Development.

I mentioned the Speakers’ Community and that is a membership site that Sam is building for me and it should be ready to launch I think at the end of October.
There is a link underneath the banner that says Speakers’ Community clcik on that which will explain my vision for this ambitious project.

Today we are talking about Online Media Rooms and their importance. We were discussing online media rooms on our last teleclass call with Jill Lublin and Nita Vallens. Listen to the audio replay. Jill will go into more detail about this topic at the MediaSpeak Symposium in October.

To reinforce the information Jill shared with us I asked Marcia Yudkin for permission to reprint her article on Online Media Rooms. Marcia is a brilliant marketer and I have been la fan of hers for years.

She is one of myRecommended Resource She offers creative solutions for marketing and PR and has many special reports, CD’s, E-books and books on her website for purchase that will be helpful for your marketing and PR concerns.

Take a look at her offerings and she is always adding new iitems. http://tinyurl.com/3xyfu9
Take it away Marcia

Online Press Rooms Save the Media Time and Frustration
by Marcia Yudkin

When web site usability guru Jakob Nielsen tested how well major corporate sites met the needs of reporters last year, he gave them a “D” grade. Journalists who tested sites for him located basic information such as the companies’ financials, management team, commitment to social responsibility and a phone number for a PR contact only 60 percent of the time.

An excellent way to meet reporters’, editors’ and producers’ needs is online press room, collecting what they need to know about your organization in one place. Some sites offer this as a subchoice under “About Us,” while others have a major link called “Press Room,” “For the Press” or “For the Media.” By providing press-friendly materials on demand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, you increase the odds of someone writing about you, using photos you’ve supplied and doing so with accuracy.

Your online press room should contain, at a minimum:
- An organizational profile
- Names and bios of principals and executives of your organization
- A PR contact with name, email address and telephone number
- Press releases, presented with the most recent first

Optional extras for your press room include:
- Online versions of recent annual reports or white papers
- Downloadable photos of products or key personnel
- Statements about relevant controversial issues currently in the news
- Suggested angles for feature stories including your organization
- Sample questions for talk show hosts
- Links to pertinent studies, statistics and news stories
- Links to previous coverage you’ve enjoyed
- Prewritten use-as-is stories or tips
- Audio or video clips, especially for music performers

The more lively the style in which all of the above comes across, the more likely you are to get journalists passing through to stay awhile and start thinking about how they can use what you’ve provided. Corporate-speak may please internal bosses, but it gets in the way here and may even provide fodder for the many sites that make fun of pretentious marketing blather.

Keep in mind that on the web, media from all over the world and from outside of your industry can access your press room, so avoid acronyms and insert the kinds of background explanations that would be found in a quality news story. Dates are especially important to present unambiguously. Jakob Nielsen reported a case where a European reporter dismissed a company’s news as old because it was dated 10-3-2000, which to him meant March 10 rather than the intended October 3.

Nielsen also pointed out that the journalists, whom his team observed in their actual work environment, often were using old software or hardware which crashed when trying to access PDF files or Flash sites. Remember that despite the apparent convenience of downloadable files, some media folks may for many reasons still prefer to receive a physical copy of your photos or your product – or a traditional all-in-one-folder, expensive-to-mail PR kit.

An online press room meets some needs, but not all, so be prepared to fulfill old-fashioned requests as well.

If you find this information helpful or you have a comment we would like to hear from you.

I am all about media these days and when I saw this following article Shaping How The Media Portrays You in Rain Today by C.J. Hayden, contributing edito  I excerpted the section on ptiching to the media. It actually sums up what Jill Lublin was talking about on the complimentary teleclass for the MediaSpeak Symposium. When you have a moment you can listen or download the hour interview I did with Jill Lublin and Nita Vallens. Click here to listen.

The first step to getting accurate media coverage is to write a news release or pitch letter presenting your desired story. Picking the right story to create a release around is crucial. In order for the media to be interested, the information in your release must be truly newsworthy, or have broad appeal to their intended audience. The larger the audience of a particular media outlet is, the harder it will be to attract their attention.

In a small community, offering a new workshop to the public might be enough to get you in the local paper or on the radio. To get coverage from the daily newspaper or evening news in a large city, however, you’ll need to announce something more significant.

It can help to tie what your business does to some major trend, recent news, or an upcoming holiday or event. With magazines and online media, your story’s direct appeal to the niche audience a particular outlet serves is the key to attract editors.

You’ll need to send your release, along with any supporting material, to the editors and producers of the departments, features, or programs that specialize in the kind of story you are presenting.

You can create your own media list by researching the media outlets you want to reach, or you can purchase lists and directories from companies like Cision or Gebbie Press.

After sending your release, follow up with a phone call, and be prepared to pitch your story verbally. Be sure you have an answer to the question, “Why will this story interest our audience?” The larger the outlet you approach, the less likely it is that the journalist or editor will take your call. That’s why it’s essential that you prepare a targeted, well-written release in the first place.

At the MediaSpeak Symposium we will prepare you for giving a media interview and you will have an opportunity to be coached by the media coaches. Take a look at the program and you will actually have an opportunity to pitch to the media live.

Here’s a partial list of the media who are participating at the Pitch Fest

Radio: Health Radio Network-www.healthradio.net, LifeSytle Talk Radio Network-www.lifestyletalkradio.com, The Aware Show-KPFK, Inner Vision Radio Show-KPFK, Beyond Words-KCLU, NPR National News Magazine. Help Your Self,KRLA 870 AM, Shrink Rap, KCSN 88.5 FM, Women’s Inspiration, KCSN 88.5 FM, Get Unstuck, Big Media USA, ABC Radio Networks, Satellite Sisters

TV: The Wright Place, AMC, TV Guide Channel, Speak On It, Voices of Tomorrow

Print: Journal of Longevity, Los Angeles Sentinel, The Learning Annex

What phenomenal results! I pitched nine people and got five offers simply and only because of what I learned at the Symposium. I have never had such an immediate application of a newly learned skill with such positive results.
- Pam Hogan, Trainer, Author Keeping People out of Prison one Training at a Time

I am all about PR and Media these days for professionals, authors and speakers.

As you may know we are offering the third annual MediaSpeak Symposium in October and I expect that we will have sell out crowd.

Today I am sharing a recommended resource with you for PR as well as photos from the ’06 Symposium and am showing off two of our faculty members for the ’07 Symposium.

Here’s some of the folks from MediaSpeak06

This is Michael Dresser. He’s a Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show Host on LifeStyle Talk Radio Network and Health Radio Network 5 days a week as well as a nationally recognized Media/Communications Coach.

He’ll be talking to us at the Symposium about How to Sell Books on the Radio, TV or any other public venue.

Ellen Sandler will talk to us on how to Pitch to Hollywood.

Want to turn your ideas into a screenplay or a TV pilot?

Attendees said:
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

What phenomenal results! I pitched nine people and got five offers simply and only because of what I learned at the Symposium. I have never had such an immediate application of a newly learned skill with such positive results.
- Pam Hogan, Trainer, Author Keeping People out of Prison one Training at a Time

Reminder: Early registration fee for 3 days is only $347 and $497 after 9/1.

Learn more and register

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
The Publicity Hound, Joan Stewart is one of my favorite resources. I love her website and blog. She is brilliant and gives so much information away for free and her special reports, CD’s/transcripts etc are very reasonable and full of terrific easy to understand information.

If you want publicity for your programs and your products, publicity expert Joan Stewart says, “you must stop pitching your programs and your products and start pitching your expertise.” Joan, also known as The Publicity Hound®, is a publicity expert who also happens to be a professional speaker.

Her website will show you how to capture the attention of media people and have them coming back to you again and again for story ideas, background, commentary and interviews.

The Publicity Hound website is loaded with free tips and tricks and valuable educational tools. Get tips on selling books from someone who really knows how to do it. I recommend her enthusiastically. Visit her website to learn more tinyurl.com/yv7s9e

I just got back from the National Speakers’ Association in San Diego.

It was great fun.

We found that many of the speakers were interested in the Video Demo-3 camera shoot coming up in November. I think we will be full. We only take 18 people. I was showing demo samples on my computer in our exhibit booth.

Also of great interest was the MediaSpeak Symposium, October 11-13. Several people signed up right away when they heard the early registration fee for 3 days was only $347. This is our third year offering the Symposium.

I need to send out the Speakers’ Guidelines to about 20 people so they can get listed in our Directory. Since 92 we have been bringing speakers and audiences together.

The Speakers’ Bootcamp is full for August and we have a wait list at this time.

BTW: My mentor for Web Marketing 2.0 and this blog Michelle Price tells me that she is taking on new clients to help them get their blogs plus also creating a marketing strategy for them so that it brings them mucho business. Take a look at her website AThirdMind.com

Here’s some photos I took at the conference of friends and colleagues.

Jovita Jenkins (r) and Terry Green (l)
Jovita is the author of Get Out of Your Own Way and Terry is a VA. Her business is Fastype and she helped me out during the conference.

This is Scott of Beyondee taking a photo of a client. Beyondee takes your photo and creates business cards for you- 1,000 cards for only $59.

I’m hoping he’ll be at the MediaSpeak Symposium so the attendees can take advantage of the great deal.

Jack Barnard relaxing -Jack is our master branding, media and presentation coach

Jack and Susan in the Speaker Services Booth

Jill Lublin (r) and me. Jill is one of the speakers at the MediaSpeak Symposium. Her company is Promising Promotions

Blanche Katz stopped in for a visit.
Blanche is an ElderCare Educator

Marilyn Snyder of Interactive Concepts
She is all about Power Point Design

Acutrack
On-Demand CD/DVD Services. Acutrack enables you to create, produce and deliver your content on CDs and DVDs.
Terry Green won their give-away of 100 CD’s and she gave it to me. Can’t wait as they will do all the work for me.

James Malinchak, The College Success Bootcamp King. He had a great booth and he offers an awesome College Bootcamp.

A few days ago I talked about Alex Carroll the Radio PR Guy. He has a database of radio talk show hosts and producers who book speakers/authors for their shows. Today I am sharing a tip from him on how to create a pitch or media hook plus examples of radio show listings from his database.

Also included in this post is one of my favorite recommeded resources audioacrobat.
Have you considered doing your own radio show or podcasting? Or do you simply want to have an audio prescence of your website or blog? How about recording a teleclass and creating a product from it? You can do all of the above plus more if you have audioacrobat.

AudioAcrobat is a powerful and easy online radio and audio/video content development tool and a recording, streaming and hosting service. All of your audio messages are automatically converted into a single of html code that can be uploaded to any website. Dave Barrett, the owner offers training every week. See the schedule for the week of July 9 & 10. below. Try it out for 30 days for free. Click here to try it out.

You can see how I uploaded an MP4 of our speaker and authot Julie Thong to audioacrobat click here and to listen to audio see Lisa Marie Platske . Listen to a replay of a teleclass of a Q & A teleclass that I did with Jack Barnard on The Speakers’ Bootcamp or take a look at the Speakers’ Summit Hot Seat Video’s we produced . If you would like to develop a one camera streaming video for your website or blog etc you might want to attend the BizSpeak and Video Workshop September 15 &16 in Los Angeles and also see the streaming samples that I uploaded to audioacrobat .

BTW: On July 23, I am offering a free teleclass with Nita Vallens, talk show host for KPFK, Inner Vision and Jill Lublin, Guerilla Marketing. We’ll be talking about online media rooms and what producers/hosts say they look for in a compelling guest. Sign up Both of these ladies are speaking at the MediaSpeak Symposium in October.

At the MediaSpeak Symposium you will learn how to pitch to the media and actually have an opportunity to pitch live to radio, TV and print folks.

Back to Alex’s tip:

The first step towards being a guest on big radio shows is coming up with a great “media hook,” or “show pitch.”

Here’s a fill-in-the-blank formula that you can use to create a show pitch that is guaranteed to grab a producer’s attention virtually every time …

* Pitch Formula: “___ things you must do immediately when ______________”

And here’s a couple of examples of how you might apply it:

Show Pitch: “5 things you must do immediately when you find out the company you work for is about to be bought out”

Show Pitch: “3 things you must do immediately when someone starts yelling at you … or threatening you”

This is a very versatile show pitch formula and can be used for almost anything. The word “must” makes it especially compelling, and the word “immediately” makes it urgent. Here’s some more examples: “7 things you must do immediately when the Fed starts lowering interest rates,” or “when your flight gets cancelled,” or “when the principal calls and your kid’s in trouble,” or “when you notice an odd growth on your skin,” or “when you wake up from a bad nightmare,” or whatever. It’s pretty much limitless.

If you are ready to pitch to talk shows I suggest you purchase the database listing which includes 1,264 radio shows, faxes, e-mails, websites, categories, show descriptions, time slots, number of listeners, frequencies, markets, time zones, news directors, public affairs directors, program directors, and more … for each show.

And it is the only database available of just the big shows. Here’s the link to order the talk show database.

Sample of radio talk show producers on Alex’s list.
Rank, Host, Producer, Phone, Address

#1, Sean Hannity, James Grisham, 212-613-3800
WABC, 2 Penn Plaza, 17th Fl., New York, NY 10121

#2, Michael Savage, David Ruben, 541-664-8827
Talk Radio Ntwk., 724 E. Pine St., Central Point, OR 97502

#3, Howard Stern, Gary Del’Abate, 212-584-5100
Sirius, 1211 6th Ave., New York, NY, 10020

#4, Dr. Laura, Fax pitches to 818-461-5140, 818-377-5300
Premiere, 15260 Ventura Bl-500, Sherman Oaks, CA, 91403

#5, George Noory, Lisa Lyon, 541-955-0100
Premiere, 777 NE 7th St., Grants Pass, OR, 97526

#6, Bill O’Reilly, Ron Mitchell, 212-301-3000
Fox News, 1211 6th Ave., New York, NY 10036

#7, Glenn Beck, Stu Burguiere, 610-617-2033
WPHT, 10 Monument Rd., Bala Cynwyd, PA, 19004

#8, Laura Ingraham, Mike Kincaid, 541-664-8827
TRN, 724 E. Pine St., Central Point, OR, 97502

#9, Jim Bohannon, John Stolnis, 202-457-7997
Westwood One, 2020 ‘M’ NW, Washington DC, 20036

#10, Mike Gallagher, Jason Hiatt, 972-831-1920
Salem, 6400 N. Beltline Rd, Ste 210, Irving, TX 75063

Here are the upcoming comimentary AudioAcrobat training choices:

Monday – July 9, 2007

Basic Training…75 minutes

2:00 PM Eastern Time (EST)
1:00 PM Central Time (CST)
12:00 Noon Mountain Time (MST)
11:00 AM Pacific Time (PST)

———————————-

Podcasting and Video…75 minutes

Please have an audio recording for this class

7:00 PM Eastern Time (EST)
6:00 PM Central Time (CST)
5:00 PM Mountain Time (MST)
4:00 PM Pacific Time (PST)

***************************

Tuesday – July 10, 2007

Podcasting and Video…75 minutes

Please have an audio recording for this class

2:00 PM Eastern Time (EST)
1:00 PM Central Time (CST)
12:00 Noon Mountain Time (MST)
11:00 AM Pacific Time (PST)

————————

Basic Training…75 minutes

7:00 PM Eastern Time (EST)
6:00 PM Central Time (CST)
5:00 PM Mountain Time (MST)
4:00 PM Pacific Time (PST)

***************************

Conference Call Number: (605) 990-0001

Remember you can try it out for 30 days for free.