Holiday Greetings from Susan Levin, Speaker Services

Many of my colleagues have sent me gifts in the form of e-books and I in turn am passing along a few of the e-books that I will be helpful.

First though, I found the following sample speaker contracts on National Speakers Associations’ Website.  Keep them in a safe place.

contract2.pdf

contract2-1.pdf

contract3.pdf

contract4.pdf

Next is a tool I use everyday.  Powerful verbs for add persuasion to your writing.

powerful-verbs-that-add-persuasion-to-your-writing.pdf

Enjoy the best of 2009 tips from Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound.

ebook-bestof2009publicityhound.pdf

Orvel Ray Wilson shared Guerilla Marketing™ – Unconventional weapons and tactics for the advanced professional speaker.

gm-for-advanced-professional-speakers-handout.pdf

I subscribed to 101 quotes and received a short e-book.

ebook_101quotes.pdf

Another gift from Speaker Services

The Speakers’ Community our membership club offers hundreds of interviews of experts in the archives.  Join for two months for FREE and hten $19.95 a month thereafter.

Listen live or download the mp3′s of two experts each month.

Check it out http://www.speakerscommunity.com .

I appreciate you all and could not do Speaker Services without your love and support for the past 18 years.   Marketing and training services for speakers & authors.

Gayl Murphy, Hollywood Correspondent and Media Expert

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SPEAKERS COMMUNITY Teleclasses

Teleclasses FREE for Speakers’ Community Members , 60 days complimentary www.speakerscommunity.com

Oct 14   Make Money in Your Jammies, Rebecca Morgan 

Oct 29   Market Your Book Beyond the Platform, Shel Horowitz

Nov 12  Put Your Best Book Forward, Ellen Reid

Nov 30  Profit as a Speaker by Becoming a Radio Talk Show Host, Martin Wales

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Los Angeles WORKSHOPS

Oct 24  

Social Media Marketing: The New Frontier Workshop, Susan Levin

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Oct 26 or Nov 23

Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop, Susan Levin

______

Nov 1, Costa Mesa

Connect with Reporters who want to Hear Your Message:  Tips for Pitch Letters, Jean-Noel Bassior & Susan Levin

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Nov 8 

Three camera video demo showcase

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Nov 11-15

Speakers’ Bootcamp, Jack Barnard & Susan Levin

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Nov 20-22

Oscar Level Presentations & Video Workshop, Barbara Niven, Jack Barnard & Susan Levin, call for details

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 See all workshops www.speakerservices.com

Susan Levin, 310-822-4922  PST

susan@speakerservices.com

Jean-Noel Bassior & Susan Levin

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

In this workshop you will learn now to:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yesterday was a total nightmare with my e mail account.  Sincerest apologies if you received three e-mails from me.  It was only supposed to be one.  There were a few items I forgot to mention and I also want to give you a few speaking leads as a consultation.

Okay here we go…

Complimentary teleclass Monday, Oct 5, 4-5pm PST

Q & A Speakers’ Bootcamp

How many times has someone in your life said to you, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”?  Most of us have heard that. We have all worked with very accomplished, well-educated people who are absolutely brilliant in their field, but when they spoke, they almost put us to sleep.

- How many of us have listened to an individual who was charismatic, compelling, and attractive and then when it was all done, you ask yourself, “What did they just say?” or you don’t remember a thing they said. It was all show with no substance. To get on the road to more effective speaking, you must master what you say AND how you say it.

Get your questions answered regarding the semi annual Speakers’ Bootcamp by master branding, media and presentation coach Jack Barnard and Marketing coach and owner of Speaker Services, Susan Levin.

Even if you can’t make the teleclass register as we will send you the mp3 following the teleclass for your review.  Register http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/152

The Bootcamp is November 11-15 in Los Angeles
See web page with more info http://tinyurl.com/49zc8z 

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Los Angeles, Meet-Up Speak-Up Network Event
Host Speaker Services

Wednesday, 10/7, 4pm-7:30pm   $29  Must register by Monday, Oct 5

http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/148

Relax and enjoy tasty appetizers in a beautiful setting overlooking Marina Bay as you schmooze with potential clients and learn from the experts
________

In SpeakerNetNews a question was posed:

Business is down for many SNN readers. However, some are saying that this economic downturn has provided opportunities they might not have otherwise explored. Send us one or two of the *best* things you’ve gotten as a result of the recession.

If you would like to respond please send your brief, pithy responses to editor@ SpeakerNetNews.com. Please put “Topic of the Month” or “TOTM” in the subject line.

Here’s one of the responses:

Derrick Hayes

In the Fall of 2008 I felt the effects of the recession with lost speaking engagements. With no budget to hire a publicist to help market my services, I researched and found cost-effective ways to market my business. I signed up for PR services like HARO, Pitch Rate and Blogger Link Up and learned how to market myself to the media to get article placement, radio interviews, quoted for blogs, and promoted in gift bags. I have taken what I have learned in the last 12 months and turned it into a workshop on social media.

Note: On Nov 1 Speaker Services is offering a workshop in Costa Mesa so that you can learn how to- Connect with Reporters who want to Hear Your Message:  Tips for Pitch Letters  http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses and we also have a Media List & Pitch Letter/Press Release Service click here to learn more. 

This is the most complete, up-to-date list of media in TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazine and online media outlets. You get complete information, including name, email, phone, fax, street address, preferred contact method, website, circulation, topics covered and personal notes to help you target the media and built rapport to get results.
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Request for Stories for Empowerment Book for Teens
TEENS–we want to hear from you. Make a difference and submit your true experience/story or original poem for Lila Reyna’s upcoming Empowerment book at www.lilareyna.com. Examples of topics are cyber bullying, date rape, emotions, positive attitudes, and sexual assault. Your story can pass on prevention and may possess the power to heal another teen that has survived a trying time. Submissions are automatically entered in a $100 drawing. www.lilareyna.com

Lila is a Safety Awareness trainer teaches you to be your own bodyguard and increase external − and internal − awareness. She speaks about Body-Mind, Domestic Violence, Safety/Self-Protection, Self Empowerment

See her speaker listing http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/349
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SPEAKING LEADS

ACRL/LLAMA Spring Virtual Institute
“Doing Well by Doing Good”:
Entrepreneurial Leadership for Librarians
April 21-22, 2010
http://www.ala.org/ala//mgrps/divs/acrl/events/ALA_print_layout_1_430652_430652.cfm

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National Speakers Assoc Convention, Orlando, Fl. 7/17/10

http://www.nsaspeaker.org/Home/ProposaltoPresent.aspx
________

Social Media Marketing: The New Frontier Workshop,
Susan Levin

Saturday, October 24, 1-5pm, Marina del Rey

Marketing on social networking sites like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter can help increase the size of your email list and grow your business. The key to success is making sure that members of your target market are in your network.

- Build your business with social networking and increase your online visibility
- Develop a social media strategy presence across the key social media platforms
- Leverage and create content, connection, and community
- Explore why it’s never about the sale, it’s always about the relationship
- Produce and distribute content that can be shared and extends the voice of your brand, product and company
- Explore how articles writing, blogs, utube can create brand awareness and buzz

Learn more http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/151

Blog compilation posts on Social Networking/Marketing
http://tinyurl.com/ybxatfu

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.

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

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

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

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

1. Poor answers to questions

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

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

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

What questions does my presentation not answer?

What questions does my presentation stimulate?

What questions/concerns does my audience have?

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

2. Telling your audience how good you are.

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

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

3. Looking disinterested

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

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

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

4. Poor team coordination

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

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

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

5. Poor structure

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

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

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

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

The final summary should reiterate each message.

6. The “silver tongued front man”

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

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

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

7. Not knowing your audience

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

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

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

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

8. The information dump

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

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

9 .Being “incredible”

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

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

10. Failing the “so what” test

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

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

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

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

About the Author

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright© Anthony Mora 2009

Anthony Mora, President & CEO

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

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

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

Pitching Tips

If you’re about to pitch me, I have five guidelines for you (plus one for luck):

1. Know what I write about
2. Know where I live
3. Remember my name
4. Write to me personally
5. Use the ‘to’ field in your email
6. Bonus: Get to know me first

#1: Know what I write about

I write about social media, communications and marketing. If your pitch isn’t about one of those topics, you should refine your target list.

#2: Know where I live

I live in Toronto. If your event is in San Francisco and you’re not planning to fly me down there, I’m not likely to be interested. If it’s in Toronto, however, you’re on the mark.

#3: Remember my name

It’s in the URL of the blog and at the top of every page. It’s Dave Fleet. Not “Dear Blogger” or “Dear Sir/Madam.” Thanks!

#4: Write to me personally

I’m a person. I appreciate a personal email that acknowledges why the pitch is relevant to me, breaks the ice and shows that I’m not just another email address on a list. I don’t mind if you copy a press release at the bottom of the email, or provide me with a link. If that’s all you send me, though, I’m not reading past the headline.

#5: Use the ‘to’ field in your email

Simply put, if you ‘bcc’ me on an email it’s game over. Odds are that if you follow the other guidelines above, you won’t do this.

#6: Bonus: Get to know me first

I’m more likely to read your email if I already know you. It doesn’t guarantee that I’ll write about your topic – especially if you don’t follow the other guidelines here – but the odds go up substantially. I’m not hard to find – try here.

Who Is Dave Fleet?

Dave Fleet is a communications professional with a passion for social media, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Dave has worked in marketing and communications for major corporations and public sector organisations including Hitachi Europe, Lloyds TSB and the Ontario government but nowadays works on the agency side, as a Senior Consultant for Thornley Fallis Communications.

You can find out more about Dave’s professional background on LinkedIn, follow his ups and downs on Twitter, and see what he’s reading on del.icio.us.

What’s This Site About?

DaveFleet.com is about communications, public relations, marketing and social media, and the areas where those topics intersect. For reasons of integrity (and job security) I try to avoid topics directly related to my work as much as possible.

Susan note:  Wonderful tips and advice offered from Dave Fleet,  Follow his tips and you are on your way to pitching the proper way.

Need assistance or want to reach many reporters?  See Speaker Services most recent addition:

Media Lists/Pitch Letter Services

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

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.

The other day one of my colleagues called me the Resource Queen and I thought that is so true. You know I am so much about service and just do it without a second thought. People are always amazed that I actually answer the phone and return e-mails and answer their questions-no charge. Isn’t that what we do for each other? Sometimes I hear that potential clients have called several experts or agencies and no one returns their calls more less speaks to them. What kind of customer service is that?

It pleases me that for the past 16 years that I have been able to support hundreds of professional folks and authors in their speaking practice. We have so many success stories.

Here is a great resource for you:

Have any of you seen my tip about the Ultra Flip Video Camera?

It so fun and only $119 if you order it from Amazon.

I have been using the camera for short testimonials as well as introductions to my products (mp3′s) from the Speakers’ Summit. Also to send out a video invites for an event that we are offering.

I can use these short snippets on the blog, my website and post on Facebook and the SpeakerServices Channel on YouTube.

Do you think it will bring me business? Indeed it does and also visibility.

See Speaker Services YouTube Channel there are about 50 videos there for your viewing pleasure.

Take a look too at the videos on the product page for the Speakers’ Summit

These videos were uploaded to audioacrobat. Do you know about audioacrobat?

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This Essay was in the LA Times on June 15, 2008 written by Seth Greenland.

Today’s authors must sell their work — and themselves. The publisher’s promotional budget wouldn’t cover bus fare to the book party for “Shining City.” What to do? Try a hot tub, high-priced escorts and a pimp.

Not long ago, I found myself seated with a pimp and three high-priced escorts, the kind favored by the former governor of the great state of New York. I was in a lawn chair while the four of them were in a hot tub — what is the word? — gamboling in the steamy water and . . .

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Once upon a time, an author published a book and left the selling to the experts in the marketing department. This was the case as recently as last week. But that quaint notion has suddenly gone the way of Duran Duran. Now, because of recent developments in the world of publishing, writer and merchant are fusing into one. Willy Loman and Arthur Miller have commingled. Call it — forgive me — Birth of a Salesman.

Publishers still occasionally provide promotional support for an author to whom they have paid a whopping advance. Other authors, however, the ones without giant deals, are placed on an ice floe and set adrift. Yes, you say. Of course. ‘Twas ever so. But if once comfort might have been derived from such platitudes, this was before the Internet and the anticipated Death of Print.

And yet, the ironic thing about the Death of Print is that no one seems to have told the publishing industry. Even as review column inches shrink and fewer writers appear on radio and television, books continue to tumble out like bunnies during birthing season.

It is a faint and slightly maundering sound, muffled, no, smothered by the cacophony of the culture. But to borrow a phrase from the indefatigable Mrs. Loman: Attention must be paid.

How?

Why, the author video. In the last few months, I have become an expert on this subject, as any author now must be. My new novel, “Shining City,” will be published in July, and the promotional budget would not cover bus fare to the book party. To attract readers, I find myself looking to do something . . . sizzling. All of which brings us back to that hot tub, with those three high-priced escorts and that pimp.

Yes, yes, I know — this seems utterly gratuitous: blatant, even prurient. David McCullough would never sit next to a hot tub in which John Adams is frolicking with Dolley Madison and Betsy Ross. But McCullough and I are very different writers, and given my material, pimps and hookers are not so far off the mark. “Shining City” is about a regular guy from Van Nuys, a middle-class dad, who inherits his brother’s dry cleaning business and learns it is a front for a high-priced call-girl ring. He needs money, so he does some on-the-fly moral calculations and, presto, he’s a pimp. Whatever you may think of the character’s principles — feel free to judge him with your book group — it’s great material for an author video.

These days, of course, author videos come in a variety of flavors — as many as there are writers, it seems. The most basic features the author — who has, say, written six novels and never had to do anything this degrading — seated in her book-lined office casually addressing the camera. “Hi,” she says, “I’ve written a new novel. Here is what it is about and I would like you to buy it.” In its subtlety and sophistication, it’s like a television ad for detergent circa 1962.

In other videos, the author remains invisible. Instead, we see computer-generated words combined with a series of graphics meant to give a feel for the book. The aesthetic is that of a neighborhood 14-year-old with iMovie on his laptop — but it’s better than the dramatization, in which a scene or scenes from the book are acted out, making us forget about the writer altogether and wonder about the movie, not a good thing when the idea is to pique someone’s interest in a book.

Then, there is the high-end soft-sell that portrays the author, torn from the comfort of his office, thrust into the world and moving through locations that evoke the book. In one recent example, John Banville can be seen in Benjamin Black mufti, wandering the streets of Dublin talking about the hero of his new thriller. For novelist Jay Cantor, the setting is a Cambridge, Mass., cheese shop. I don’t know what this has to do with anything he’s written, but it did get my attention — hmm, what is Jay Cantor doing near that brie wheel? — and this, after all, is the idea.

For my video, I hooked up with my friend Jason Kachel, who is the Sergei Eisenstein of the Los Angeles bar mitzvah circuit. If you haven’t attended one of these events lately, you might be surprised to learn they often include what has become known as a montage. This is a short film featuring the celebrant; at its most expressive, it can evoke the work of Fellini shot through with the sensibility of Mel Brooks (memo to Cannes: This should be a sidebar — “Un Certain Bar Mitzvah”). Jason is peerless in this form. What is the connection? He is used to working with people bereft of thespian talent. People, in other words, like me.

I HIRED HIM immediately and we set about writing a script. Although we had no intention of dramatizing the book, we needed human scenery, so I logged on to Backstage.com, created an account, and did an e-mail blast to the appropriate cohort (Author Seeks Actresses for Book Video), and we had our extras. As for the pimp, I called another friend, the novelist Mark Haskell Smith, and quickly explained the proposition: Was he willing to take a day off from writing to spend an afternoon with several beautiful women in a hot tub? He did not take long to commit. Locations were procured, craft services arranged.

We began our shoot at 6:45 a.m. and concluded 15 hours later. Editing took a few days, a score was composed by Stu Thomas, and Bob’s your uncle — the “Shining City” video is now online.

Will this help sales? Who knows? It’s a chaotic new world and if a novelist can’t have a little fun shilling for his own book then what, finally, is the point? But this is literature, and froufrou aside, it remains serious business. Accordingly, I try to carry myself with dignity and restraint.

Which is how I wound up on the Internet in my underwear. *

Seth Greenland’s second novel, “Shining City,” will be published in July.

Susan’s note: Authors and professionals we can help you. If you want coaching and 2 or 3 short video segments about your book, your business and or an interview check out the BizSpeak & Video Workshop and the Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop

It is a great way to market your services and spread the word through many distribution sites.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s get on the web video bandwagon!

This post about LinkedIn comes from Mahesh Grossman, President
The Authors Team, and Author of Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger.

He writes:

LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, just changed my life.

To be honest, until a few weeks ago, I never took it seriously. From time to time a friend or an acquaintance would ask me to “link” with them, and I would, but I didn’t understand what to do with my network. In fact, I’m not sure I ever invited anyone to link with me.

Now I understand some of the power of this tool–and it’s especially useful for authors.

So here are five ways you can use LinkedIn to help you write, publish, and promote your book:

1) Ask for help with your content, including Web sites and people to interview.

LinkedIn has a feature where you get to ask questions, either of your network or of people in a particular industry. I am working on an e-book that will be a list of a particular group of sites. I asked the network where to find more of these sites and I got an amazing response that made this e-book my top priority. But you could also ask a question like “Do you know how I could find people to interview for my book who have a successful arranged marriage?”. Not only would you get suggestions on where to find people to interview, anyone with a successful arranged marriage would be likely to offer to be interviewed.

It’s also possible that people have already asked questions on your topic, so if you search the Answers section using appropriate keywords, you are likely to find some usable information as well.

2) Get introduced to famous authors and ask for testimonials

I am shocked at how many famous authors are on LinkedIn. I have a few bestelling authors as direct links myself–and I am only one introduction away, meaning someone in my network can introduce me–from several authors who have sold more than ten million books–and there aren’t that many authors who have done that. So if you were to join LinkedIn and link to me, you would be one level away from the bestselling authors I know, and two people away from these authors who have sold massive quantities of books. That’s pretty amazing. So if you have high quality work that has been vetted by a professional coach (one that has been published by traditional publishers!), you could approach a very big name author through LinkedIn.

3) Have a particular agent you want to be introduced to? There are 326 agents on LinkedIn.

I did a search on the term “literary agent” and found 326. I wouldn’t try to get introduced to all of them, but you do your homework and find a particular agent that is the most likely to be interested in your work, it could be a good way to make a connection. Once again, you have to really have studied the publishing business and know what you are doing to make this work. But it is an interesting strategy. (And I know of a number of editors from major publishing houses who are also on LinkedIn.)

4) Want publicity? There are lots of periodical editors and TV producers you can network with.

I know several publicists on LinkedIn, and some are connected to top editors and producers. Want to get in Time magazine or Sports Illustrated? There are writers and editors from those publications. Want to get on national television? Once again, you can reach out and try to connect with these folks, who are also on LinkedIn.

5) Want to connect to people who might help market your book? Ask the right question.

Once again, LinkedIn Answers gives you the opportunity to ask how to do something, and let people volunteer to help you. Ask a question like “I’m the author of a book about living a balanced life. I would like to be interviewed on 50 teleseminars this year. How do I find people who might want to host me on a teleseminar?” Whatever your goal is, ask how you can do it, or find people to help you. Some good Samaritans will come forward and say, “I’d be happy to have you on a teleseminar.”

So those are five ways to work with LinkedIn.com. The bigger your network, easier it is to get help.

Mahesh Grossman is the author of Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger (www.writeabooktoday.com) and President of The Authors Team (www.AuthorsTeam.com), a company that helps credible business experts become Incredible Business Authors, through ghostwriting, editing, coaching, publishing, publicity and marketing. For a fr/ee list of more than 400 agents as well as a newsletter with tips on planning, writing, publishing and marketing your book, go to www.getanagentnow.com.

Here’s to your bestseller.

Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound wrote this post in her blog and there is a ton of information here not to be missed.

Don’t miss this critical step when creating your publicity plan.

Start adding bloggers and editors of electronic newsletters (ezines) to the list of people who you will contact if you want publicity.

If you’re a publicist, and your PR client is adamant about getting coverage in top-tier media like USA Today, The New York Times, O magazine and on big shows like “Today” and “Fox & Friends,” take the time to explain that your client must also get in front of the thousands of people who don’t read those newspapers or watch those shows and prefer, instead, to receive their information online.

One of the big advantages of pitching bloggers and ezine editors is that unlike traditional media, the information you provide has a way of spreading online rather quickly. If it shows up in an ezine, and that ezine is archived, people will be able to find it months and even years later.

—Most bloggers and ezine editors write about specific topics. A stay-at-home mom who has her own home-based business, for instance, can offer information to bloggers and ezine publishers who write about stay-at-home moms or home-based businesses, or both.

—The best bloggers blog several times a week. Because they present a constant stream of new information, the search engines give good ranking to blog posts. That means that when somebody searches Google for “dog obedience tips,” the list that Google returns on the left side of the screen will include blog posts, not just websites.

—When journalists are doing research for their articles, most of them use a search engine to find background, commentary, statistics, experts and other sources. If they end up at your blog, at a blog where you are mentioned, or at an ezine archives where there’s an article about you, they might call you for their story. Many journalists also subscribe to electronic newsletters devoted to the topics on their beats.

—Bloggers love to link to each other’s posts. If an influential blogger mentions you, or your product or service, other bloggers who link to that post may help you get in front of an entirely different audience. The publicity builds and builds, like a snowball rolling downhill.

—I publish an ezine on publicity. Another ezine publisher who writes about publicity might ask if she can use one of my articles in her ezine in exchange for me using one of her articles in my publication. Some of the people on her ezine list, who want information about publicity, might not know about me. When they read about me, they might visit my website, sign up for my ezine and perhaps even buy my products. It’s a win-win.

How to research blogs

I’ll bet many of you already know about bloggers you’d love to target.

If you’re looking for others, go to Technorati.com. Type in a topic such as “engineering” and you’ll get a list of either engineering blogs, or blogs that mention the word engineering. From there, you can research each blog and see if it’s likely to reach your target audience.

Once you’ve found a blog that’s a good candidate for your pitch, spend some time reading it so you’re familiar with what the blogger writes about.

One of the very best ways to get a blogger’s attention before you pitch is to post a comment about a topic they discuss at their blog. I’ll sometimes post two or three comments within a week or two at a particular blog before pitching that blogger with my idea.

Why? Because I want the blogger to recognize me when I pitch. It shows I’m willing to become involved in the conversation, not just contact them when they want something.

It’s best not to be too promotional within your comment. Instead, add to the conversation, then email the blogger privately to let them know about other information you have about your product, service, cause or issue.

How to find ezines

I like to use New-List.com where about 9,000 ezines are listed. You can also do a Google search for “health care ezines” or “construction ezines” or whatever the topic happens to be.

EzineSearch.com lists more than 10,000 ezines, with thorough instructions on how to search for what you need.

BestEzines.com includes includes information on more than 2,200 ezines representing more than 15 million permission-based email members.

NetTop20.com website includes the top 20 ezine directories.e most popular and highest-rating ezine directories on the Net today.

What ezine editors want

Ezine editors want content-rich material for their publications. So don’t be shy about pitching them. This is the type of content they love:

Free advice
Press releases about news their readers want
Links to short videos that are entertaining or instructional
Top 10 lists
Commentary on controversial topics
Other resources their readers will find helpful
Success stories
How to” information
Frequently asked questions and answers on a particular topic
Jokes and quotes (I include a dog joke in each issue of my ezine and readers love them!)
Polls and surveys
Quizzes and other briefs (See “Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes)

Another way to research is to ask the kinds of people you’re trying to get in front of which ezines they read. Ezine editors just like me are always looking for content like success stories, comments on controversial topics, innovative business practices, anything that will save people time and money, the rising stars in a particular industry, and the story and personalities behind a particular award a company has received. Email the editor and offer your information.

Now, you’re ready to start contacting bloggers and ezine editors. If you’re successful, email me and tell me all about it. I might write about you in my own ezine or this blog.

To learn more about the Publicity Hounds website and offering click here.

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.

Copyright © 2007 by Cheryl Kaye Tardif. Reprinted with permission of the author

Over the years, authors who wanted to promote their books directly to the public had one main option; you had to physically travel across the country conducting book signings and readings in various bookstores and praying that people would show up. This meant spending money on flights, hotels, transportation and meals. This traditional type of book tour is expensive and very few publishing companies are willing to pay for them. But now, authors have a new method of ‘touring the world’―the virtual book tour.

Virtual book tours (also known as virtual author tours, guest blogging, blog tours, or VBTs) are a simple concept. The author tours various blogs and sites that pertain to a theme in the book or to writing in general. This way, you can potentially reach thousands of avid readers each tour day from the privacy of your office or home.

The goal of marketing your book is to expose it to as many people as possible in an exciting, cost-effective and entertaining way. Guest blogging can achieve that goal. Most blogs are archived, so your post becomes permanent and often viral, spreading from site to site. That is leverage. You are in essence leveraging your internet presence and duplicating yourself with every VBT stop. Your blog tour is working for you even while you sleep. Try doing that at a bookstore signing!

Virtual author tours really took off in the past year or two. They began with a handful of authors posting to other blogs in order to promote their works online. They announced those dates just as they would a bona fide book signing. This kind of author tour is now becoming all the rage. Some bookstores are no longer allowing authors to do book signings. Limited space and time constraints are the common reasons. Plus, it just isn’t time efficient and monetarily feasible for most authors to do the physical cross-country bookstore tour. Well, unless you are one of the super authors that get paid the big bucks, like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. And since I am neither, I decided to hold my first blog tour this past August―for the entire month―to promote my latest novel Whale Song.

Virtual book tour services and book marketing experts are popping up all over the internet. Authors can now outsource the organization of a VBT. I suggest that you thoroughly check out these companies and ask yourself if the price is worth it. Some services cost thousands of dollars, while some cost less but only post your content to duplicate sites―ones they have set up themselves. The latter is not an advantage to you. You need to have wide coverage and exposure to various sites and audiences. Go where your readers are.

Planning a VBT is time-consuming, but not that difficult. You may find it more worthwhile to take the time to plan your own blog tour, since you’ll have more control over who hosts you this way. Or you may decide that hiring someone to coordinate the tour is best. Do what’s right for you. I chose to do my own because I wanted to have flexibility in what each site posted and I enjoyed the contact with my hosts.

How to organize a virtual book tour:

• Start planning at least 1 month before you want to begin, and never before your book is available for sale. I suggest you allow 1 month when planning a 2-week tour and 6 weeks for a 1-month tour. It takes time to get the hosts lined up and on board and you don’t want to shortchange yourself.

• Read everything you can find on virtual book tours. There are numerous articles online and many books that give great advice. Check out Steve Weber’s Plug Your Book! for VBT advice and more, and John Kremer’s 1001 Ways to Market You Books for numerous marketing tips.

• Determine the length of your book tour―1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month.

• How many hosts will you need? 1 a day is best. If you have a radio interview, you could have it scheduled on a day when you have a text post appearing on another blog.

• Make a list of keywords and phrases that relate to your book.

• Search for these terms on Google and look for any sites that show up on the first page. Sites on the first Google page are the ones that your potential audience will find more easily. Make a note of these sites or save them in your Favorites under a folder marked VBT contacts.

• Search Technorati as well, although personally I found this method more time-consuming and confusing. Look for sites that have a high Authority and high number of Fans. Keep in mind that Authority means that people have voted for this blog, but that it doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best site for you.

• Use Alexa to get traffic results. Some sites or blogs may not rank well on Google or Technorati but may still be a viable host for your VBT.

• Look at the amount of reader participation. Do people leave comments? Is the topic of the site perfect for your book? Often lesser known sites and ones without a Google PageRank are little goldmines. You may find that the host will go out of his or her way to advertise you and your VBT. Don’t ignore sites by friends or fellow authors either. One day these sites could score an 8 or 9 on Google.

• Install and use Google PageRank. This is a simple tool that allows you to view the Google Rank of sites and blogs, which is Google’s interpretation of how important the site is based on the authority of inbound links that lead to the site. Go through your list and check their Google PageRank. List them in order of importance and contact the highest ranking ones first. In the beginning, contact about 25% more hosts than you actually need. Not all will say yes.

• Write an email that you’ll send individually to each potential host. Let them know what you’re doing and what you can supply. I always like to point out the benefits to hosts―more traffic, new visitors, fresh and interesting content, prizes, and a link on my website. What’s in it for them? That’s what they want to know. Make sure you hook your host, just like you would with a query letter to a publisher.

• Internet radio and promotional sites that charge small fees also make wonderful hosts. ArtistFirst Radio Network and Passionate Internet Voices Radio are online radio networks that interview authors in exchange for a donation or small fee. For an a la carte or membership fee, Author Island is another excellent site for authors holding a virtual book tour. You can post a book trailer and excerpt, plus advertise your contests and tour.

• Confirm hosts’ dates, topics and ask them to post the night before. This way you are not waiting all morning for them to post your content. Let them know you’ll send them the information 3-5 days before their date. If you send it too early they may lose, misfile or delete it. What will you submit? Each blog or site will usually feature one or a combination of the following: a book cover, a summary or synopsis, an interview, book review, an article that fits the site’s theme, a short story, an excerpt, a contest, an audio-cast or a book trailer video.

• Advertise your VBT via online and media press releases. It is a great investment, since it’s no good doing a virtual book tour if no one knows about it. One leading press release distribution service that I use almost exclusively is 24-7PressRelease.com, where you can pay from $10.00 to $299.00, depending on your distribution requirements. However, I can attest to the fact that a $45.00 release is the minimum you’ll want and its effectiveness is worth it. Other online services include PRWeb and WebWire, and don’t forget to send releases to the free services too, like ClickPress.com and FreePress.com. Press releases can be extremely beneficial if written correctly and distributed extensively to the right audience, and this means submitting them to your local media (newspapers, TV, radio) as well.

• Publicize your virtual book tour and other events on BookTour.com, a free site that connects authors to readers by listing author events and making it easy for readers to set up reminders and track their favorite authors.

• Promote your VBT on all your websites and blogs on an events page. Put up a schedule with your hosts’ home page URL. I found it more exciting to post a weekly schedule the day before the week began. It prevented people from going to host sites too early and kept them coming back to my website to see where I’d be going next. I promoted the mystery, which worked to my advantage since I’m a suspense author. This also gave me 1 extra blog post each week, and therefore new content.

The day before each virtual stop:

• Send out a reminder to your host and ask them to post that night. Make sure they have book cover jpgs, your photo and anything else they might need.

The morning of each stop:

• Confirm that your host has posted your content. Check the site. Copy the full URL that leads directly to your post. The home page will change and you want your links to always lead to the exact page that the host has created just for your content.

• Change the home page URL on your schedule to the exact page link. This is how you really leverage yourself. Now when someone stumbles across your schedule and clicks on the link, they’ll be directed to your post, not your host’s ever-changing home page.

• Write an introduction about the day’s stop and post it everywhere. Copy the first paragraph or two of the interview or article and use that for your intro. Post intros to all websites and blogs that you have access to. Don’t forget to post to your Amazon blog, MySpace blog, and MySpace bulletin. The latter goes out to all your MySpace friends. Make sure you have some!

Follow-up:

• Check your host site frequently throughout the day for comments and answer any questions directly on your host site. Do this every other day afterward for about a week. Offer to write a possible follow-up article, depending on what you posted originally.

• Assess the success of your virtual book tour. Set up TitleZ and/or Charteous to monitor your book’s Amazon sales rank throughout the VBT. You should see some lower ranks (lower is better!) during your blog tour, particularly if you have a contest or incentive that inspires more sales of your book. Be creative and have fun!

Authors are now starting to comprehend the full potential that blog tours have to offer and how they benefit everyone involved. You could sign books at a bookstore for three hours plus driving time and reach a few hundred people yet sell only to a few dozen, or you could organize a VBT and promote to millions of people worldwide. Virtual book tours take time, patience and research, but as I have discovered, they are definitely worthwhile. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So why not start today? You have the entire world at your fingertips!

If you found this article helpful, please consider picking up a copy of Cheryl’s newest novel Whale Song through Amazon.

My colleague speaker and author friend Chellie Campbell www.chelliecampbell.com always says there is gold in the phone. As a matter of fact she painted her phone gold and wears only gold shoes. In her workshops she teaches the attendees to send out ships. That is all great but how do you leave a message that gets potential clients to call you back? Today’s post by Jill Konrath, Contributing Editor of Rain Today offers us 5 great strategies on leaving voice mail messages that get call backs. If you are mining for speaking gigs, media interviews or consulting work all the tips apply.

Sick and tired of prospective clients never calling you back? Then it’s time to take a good hard look at what you’re doing – or not doing – that’s creating these results for you.

Voicemail is a fact of life today. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant. And believe me, getting through to decision makers is only going to get worse. So if your livelihood depends on getting in to see these people, you better learn how to use it to your advantage.

First, let’s take a look at the basic formula most sellers use in their voicemail messages:

Hello, Mr/Ms __. This is __ calling.

I’m an account executive with __ company.

We do __.

Our service is leading edge, high quality and __.

I’d like to get together to learn more about how you do __.

And tell you about how our __ can help your business.

Please call me at __ to set up a time.

What’s wrong with it? It’s boring, boring, boring. No one in their right mind would ever waste one precious moment of their time to meet with a seller who said this.

Let me repeat myself. This approach does not work. I don’t care if that’s how you were trained. The world has changed. Even your own mother wouldn’t call you back today – and that’s pretty darn bad!

Most buyers from big companies are bombarded with more than 50 calls like this each and every day. Your message is “zapped” before the second sentence is out of your mouth.

How To Be Enticing

Being enticing is about saying or asking something in a manner that truly piques a prospective decision maker’s interest or curiosity.

You have to put on your thinking cap too. There’s no way around it. Enticing voicemails don’t just flow out of your mouth when its time to leave a message. In fact, not planning guarantees that you will sound trite and cheesy – exactly like the kind of salesperson everyone detests.

Here are five strategies you can use to increase your enticement quotient:

1. Reference Your Research

Do you know how few sellers actually invest time studying their clients before placing a call? Very few. You’ll immediately set yourself apart if you mention your research in your voicemail. You might say:

“In researching your firm prior to calling you today, I noticed that…”

“In reviewing your company’s website and marketing collateral, it became apparent to me that a critical issue you’re facing is…”

“In studying your organization’s strategic direction and comparing it to others in your market segment…”
If you’re not doing this pre-call research prior to contacting a big company, you’re making a huge mistake. Dig in. Do it. What you learn can help make your voicemail even more enticing.

2. State A Strong Value Proposition

Powerful value propositions focus on the business outcomes companies get from using your services. Framed in business terminology, they highlight specific measurable results. Examples of enticing value propositions include:

“In working with another firm like yours, we reduced space requirements by 10%, saving them over $500k on lease payments and capital equipment reductions of over $300,000.”

“After working with our firm, our average accounting client sees their prospect meeting-to-signed contract conversions increase by 35%, and their average dollar amount of services contracted increase by 13-18%.”
Prospective clients are enticed by strong value propositions because they address critical business issues and demonstrate significant value. To increase their effectiveness, mention that the results come from businesses like theirs – or even name-drop some prominent clients.
3. Share An Insightful Idea

Nothing is more tempting to future clients than an idea that can help them achieve their goals or solve their pressing problems. You have to do some pre-work to use this approach, but oooooh, it is seductive. When you leave a voicemail, don’t tell your prospects everything. Only tell them enough to get them drooling to learn more.

To be enticing with a thought-provoking idea, you combine it with some facts you’ve gathered from your research of their business and your value proposition. Examples might be:

“Over the past month, I’ve invested a great deal of time studying your website and what you’re trying to accomplish with it. Based on my analysis, I have some interesting ideas regarding how you could leverage it to create additional revenue opportunities.”

“I’ve been following your firm closely for the past six months, since its merger with Beta Industries. After hearing about your recent round of lay-offs, I have some ideas that I’d like to share with you regarding how you can reduce the risks of potential legal action.”

4. Dangle Important Information

Do you know something that your prospective clients don’t? If so, let them know you have this lucrative information. What tempts prospective buyers? They’re always interested in learning more about:

Their clients

Competitors

Industry trends

Visionary ideas

If you have access to this knowledge, use it. One of my clients recently used this strategy to land appointments with hard to reach decision makers. Essentially, here’s what they said:

“We recently conducted a study of how your clients’ needs are changing relative to decisions on group life insurance. I’d like to set up a time to review some of the key points with you. I know people in your firm will be very interested in what we’ve uncovered.”

5. Conclude With Confidence

Today’s buyers won’t waste time helping you learn about their business. Nor do they want to hear your service pitch. Enticing voicemail messages must end with strength to show that prospects will get immediate value if they meet with you. Several options that have proven to be effective include:

“We should talk. The savings I’m talking about can drop right to your bottom line. Give me a call at 651-429-1922 and we’ll set up a time to get together.”

“While I can’t promise you the exact same results, I can assure you that it will be worth your time. My number is 651-429-1922. Give me a call and we’ll set up a time to get together.”

“If you’d like to find out how (big, well-known company in related industry) have utilized similar ideas to gain significant market share, you can reach me at 651-429-1922. I look forward to getting together.”
Please notice how these closures demonstrate a quiet confidence and assuredness in the value of an appointment.

Leave Prospects Begging

Are you ready to be enticing? As you can see, it requires some serious thinking, a good understanding of your business case, and the panache to pull it off as a professional.

While the strategies discussed don’t ensure a callback, they will guarantee that you stand out from the crowd. Creating a series of these enticing messages enables you to penetrate your prospect’s natural defenses. When you do actually connect, getting an appointment should be the natural next step.

And, don’t be too surprised if you pick up the phone some day and it’s your prospect – begging to meet with you!

Jill Konrath is a Contributing Editor for RainToday.com and is a recognized expert in complex sales strategies and creating business value for B2B sales organizations. She is also founder of SellingtoBigCompanies – a web resource that helps professional services providers, consultants and salespeople win big contracts in the corporate market.

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

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

John Kremer

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

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

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

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

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

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

The soundbite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Learn more . ltd to 20 attendees

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

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

Won’t you join us?

Susan

We are generating interest quite a bit of interest in a new workshop: Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop.

Here’s the short version and you can see the entire program at
AUTHORS’ SPEAKEASY, A Speaker Services production, Friday-Sunday- November 9-11 in Los Angeles

Authors need to promote themselves and their books. To get their books out to the public — for any effective action at all — there will be networking, book signings, media interviews and speaking engagements. In order to be successful at the media adventure, you — the author must master the media.

AUTHORS’ SPEAKEASY is a playful, provocative, focused three-day comprehensive event specifically designed to catapult authors to the next level of media mastery.

Authors: Identify your Niche-Pitch®, Master your Message, Master the Media, 2-3 minute Interview Video Segment.

This is for would be authors too.

Learn more and register

Here’s more from our friend Ann Convery www.annconvery.com

WHAT THE MEDIA WANTS FROM YOU:

1. Editors and producers need great stories – all the time. Your value to the media is not your product or your service or your book, it’s the great story you can offer them. You are a story to the media. Make it a good one.

YOUR JOB IN THE MEDIA INTERVIEW:

2. Your job in the media interview is to answer the media’s needs FIRST.

3. The media interview is a very well-disguised sales presentation.
You job is to help them do their job, while subtly advancing your own agenda.

4. The media want you to provide good “infotainment” or “edutainment.”
Become a valuable “edutainer” or “infotainer” and you will become a valuable media resource.

THREE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

5. How do you advance your own agenda?
Get your 3 most important points lined up. They could be soundbites. They could be phrases. They do not have to be whole sentences. But know what your 3 most important points are and have them practiced and ready.

SOUND BITES

1. A sound bite is a slogan, like an ad slogan. It’s a repeatable phrase or sentence that people can use to identify you.

SAMPLE SOUND BITES:

1. We don’t just take away your illness. We give you back your life. – Cmpounding Shoppe
2. When it Absolutely Positively Has to Be There Overnight.- FedEx
3. We Try Harder. – Avis
4. A designer handbag should not cost more than the rent. – Handbag designer
5. Self-Care before Sit-Ups! – Amy Lundberg, aimforfitness.com
6. A diamond is forever. – De Beers Consolidated Mines, 1948–present (invented by Frances Gerety)
7. We help you see more green more often. ~ Sea-Green Financial Services

Learn more when you attend the MediaSpeak Symposium, Oct 11-13.

I am going to be talking alot about media as we are preparing for October 11,12 & 13 MediaSpeak Symposium 

The tips tooday are courtesy of Media Coach Ann Convery

1. The key to connecting with your audience – speak in stories. Find the emotional aspects of your topic.

2. Use numbers, trends and statistics to be instantly more interesting.

3. What if a radio station won’t let me give the 800 number for my book? Say “ a lot of these questions are answered on my website, which is www.xxx.com.”

4. Don’t assume because you are a speaker that you can speak to the media – this is a deadly mistake many professional speakers make. The interviewer wants the real you – conversation, dialogue, humor, and edutainment. If she feels “talked to” or “talked at” in the pre-interview, you will probably not get on air. Media is a dialogue, not a monologue.

5. Get to the point in 30 seconds or less. Have your three most important points down and get them into soundbites.

6. When sitting on TV, don’t hug the back of the chair, you’ll look scared. Gesture, smile, use your hands and move away from the back of the chair occasionally. Tape yourself first at home to see if you have any annoying gestures.

7. Use humor to deflect an attack, sidestep a hot issue, and bond with your audience. A famous example: It has been said Ronald Reagan won the election when Mondale attacked him in a debate and instead of responding, Reagan smiled, shook his head and said, “There you go again.”

8. Good humor dissolves perfectionism, which is the enemy of great communication. A sense of humor about yourself conveys deep confidence in who you are — a very powerful message.

9. Stories sell. Get four or five stories and have them in reserve. Make sure they’re two to three sentences long. Keep them dramatic, with a first, second and third act.

10. Identify the emotional aspects of your topic. What will make your pitch into an emotionally grabbing story?

In my next blog I will send you some more media tips.

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..