1. My Gift to You

It's time for my annual Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's gift to you.

"The Best of The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week of 2010" includes the best 25 tips from this year's newsletter, or tips that generated the most response from readers.

Feel free to re-gift it to your own blog readers, newsletter subscribers, clients, customers, Twitter followers, Facebook friends and fans, and LinkedIn connections. They don't even need to opt-in with an email address. Just pass along this link: http://Ez.com/bestof2010

If you work at a company, share it with your PR department. If you work for a nonprofit, show it to your staff and even your board members.

This version is chock full of tips for both traditional and social media, with a heavier emphasis on social media. It includes:

--The 4 big advantages of creating a Google profile, and what you're missing if you don't have one.

--5 clever places to meet journalists. Ninety-nine out of 100 other publicity-seekers aren't bothering with this.

--Where to find a handy, organized, color-coded social media cheat sheet that will help you understand how various major social media sites can help you.

--How to create a sizzling headline for an article or blog post within seconds (this is a fabulous free tool that my readers loved!).

--5 things that could put your security in jeopardy on Facebook.

--How to catch CNN's attention and possibly end up in one of their stories.

--How to earn a Badge of Honor on LinkedIn and impress people who read your profile page.

--3 easy ways to prompt recommendations from other people on LinkedIn without being pushy or feeling embarrassed.

--5 ways to encourage journalists to include your blog or website address in their stories (and make it look like it was their idea).

--8 ways you can become a victim of The Stealth Interview and be quoted by journalists even though you never talked to them.

You can get the ebook here, save it to your hard drive and then share it on the social networking sites:  http://Ez.com/bestof2010

If you'd like to excerpt content from the ebook as a guest blog post, and then link to the download page, or share the content on Facebook, let me know and I'll send you the ebook as a Word document so you can easily cut and paste.

Thanks for being a loyal reader. I'm grateful that you're part of my community.

P.S. Re-gifting this ebook is entirely appropriate.


2.  Share Books on LinkedIn

Wondering how to break through the noise on LinkedIn and connect with a decision-maker who just might turn into your next client?

Go to your LinkedIn profile and add the Reading List by Amazon application that allows you to share with the world what books you're reading, or books you want to read.

Many business people love to talk about what they're reading, recommend good books, and wave the "warning" flag when they come across tomes that are time-wasting stinkers.

Another tip: If you're dying to connect with someone you don't know very well, and the books they're reading resonate with you, that could be an effective talking point and a way of introducing yourself. If you aren't interested in those books, you can follow their book list and stay atop they're selections.

For B2B marketers, nothing else comes close to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn expert Scott Allen walks you through a step-by-step process on how to use LinkedIn to promote absolutely anything, ethically and powerfully.  Read more about it.

3. Your Favorite Blog Post

When I spoke last week at the Meetup hosted by the Wisconsin Business Owners Network, the audience couldn't get enough information on blogging.

And this week, when I spoke about social media to a CEO Roundtable at the Milwaukee Athletic Club, I convinced at least one CEO to start a blog.

But I need more success stories from Publicity Hounds. And that's where you come in.

I'm curious about the one post you've published that makes you glad you started blogging.

Did you take a strong stand on a controversial topic and start a brawl in the Comments section? Did you write something that brought you a new consulting client? Or sold dozens of books? Or started a relationship with someone who has turned into a trusted business associate or a joint venture partner?

If you're on Facebook, please share the link on my Fan Page.

If you're not on Facebook, share it in the Comments section  at my blog.

I'll be doing lots of speaking engagements and customized training next year on blogging, and I may use your blog post success story. More publicity for you!

4.  How to Find Execs Near Retirement

This week, four Publicity Hounds have tips on how Bonnie Boots of Tampa Bay, Fla., can find executives 50 and older. Her client offers training for business executives who are nearing retirement and thinking of becoming consultants.


From Patty Newbold:

"Try searching on job titles and individual ages, like 'Corporate Vice President 53' or 'Chief Information Officer 51.' Avoid acronyms. Add in Company or Corporate or Enterprise if the title is also a political one, like President.

Also, you might present at Institute of Management Consultants and American Society for Training and Development chapter meetings, because people checking out the management consulting world attend as non-members before they take the leap."


From Jennifer:

"I would try LinkedIn groups. They offer groups geared toward consultants. Some have over 23,000 members--executives and others who are looking to start their own business group, which you can join. Then try promoting your services to the members of the groups."


From Janine Libbey:

"You can use the discussion feature in LinkedIn groups to start a dialogue with members of the group first, rather than going for a hard sell to the group as a whole. I have 'met' people, who I now do business with, through discussions."


Read all the responses to this "Help This Hound" question.

Send your own "Help this Hound" question to: mailto:[email protected]?subject=HelpThisHound and include your city and state.



5. Garden Club Winner

My garden club in Port Washington, WI, says thanks to the dozens of Hounds who submitted names for our February lecture series.

Publicity Hound Joy V. Smith ran my request by her sister, who offered several suggestions. We loved this one: Green Up the Winter Blues with a Day of Gardening.

Joy and her sister can choose up to $100 in Publicity Hound products.

Are you using the social media sites to solicit ideas for event titles, product names, article headlines and other things when the creative well is dry? People love to help.

6. Hound Joke of the Week

I thought about this recently when I saw a photo of those poker-playing dogs. Do you think the dogs own paintings of humans playing fetch?


DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes, perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few good laughs.

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50 best websites for dog humor.



7. And at My Blogs & Mobile Site

You can now sign up to receive email notifications every time I publish a new blog post. Submit your email address to "Subscribe to Email Updates" on the right side of my blog.


Here are my posts from this past week:


Your favorite LinkedIn group for marketing, PR, publicity?


5 ways to use Twitter lists for PR, marketing, spying



Permission to Reprint:

You may reprint any items from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week" in your print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a Press Release."

If you like these tips, please pass them on to your friends, clients and colleagues.

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See you next week! Joan Stewart The Publicity Hound