Dan Janal | Publicity and PR Leads Blog

George Washington

In honor of George Washington’s birthday, here are marketing tips from the father of our country.

1.    Always tell the truth. Nothing hurts your credibility with reporters or prospects or customers more than shading the truth. Look at Tiger Woods and Toyota. ‘Nuff said.
2.    Eat the cherries, but don’t chop down the cherry tree. In other words, enjoy the fruits of your labors and always keep your main business well tuned for these tough times. If that means you need to get coaching and consulting help in marketing, PR and business growth, call me and I’ll explain how we can work together.
3.    Watch out for splinters. Those wooden teeth have got to hurt.

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Since I’m knowm for making bold predictions, let me put my neck on the line one more time. I’m usually right, so it’s a prety safe bet!

I predict the iPad will change books and publishing as we know it.

To look to future, I look to the past.  Let me explain.

Back in the early days of publishing, monks and artists wrote books or copies Bibles and Haggadahs and other works. Each work contained not only black letters on white background, but colored fonts, large fonts to draw the eye and most important, illustrations.

When Gutenberg came along and invented the printing press, we started to see the book as we know it today. A bland  series of pages with black on white text. Few illustrations, if any, because they are expensive to produce. And all the type was the same size. So you have no idea if one idea was more important than the other.

We saw the beginnings of the change when Jeffrey Gitomer started writing his marvelous series of books.  Pick one up the next time you are in an aiport bookstore. They are easy to find since they sell like hotcakes. Why? Because Gitomer has gone back to the age of the scribes and took their best ideas. Namely:

- Different sizes fonts so you can see what’s important. It isn’t unusual to see one page with just one sentence displayed in 24 point type. That get’s your attention. You know what’s important.

- Different colored fonts. It’s pretty. Why does reading have to be dull?

- Short chapters. Who has a long attention span today? Need I mention Twitter?

I’m sure many authors would love to copy Gitomer, but their publishers won’t let them because of the expense of printing.

Enter the iPad.

Now authors can design their ebooks with type, fonts, illustrations and color, color, color!

All the new, bold design doesn’t add a penny to production costs.

You’re probably wondering. Why stop there? Why not add audio and video? Perhaps an interview with the author? Or video of a role-playing exercise? The sky’s the limit.

One final point. On a recent flight from Minneapolis to San Diego, my two seat makes each had Amazon Kindles. And everyone who passed by them asked them about it. Ebooks are hot and that’s going to change everything.

Your task: Start thinking about illustrating your books, just like you illustrate your blogs.

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Minneapolis – January 19, 2010 – Publicity coach Dan Janal was quoted extensively in “Celebrity Leverage” a new book published today by Jordan McAuley . This is the 69th book that has featured Dan Janal, who is widely regarded as one of the most highly regarded thought leaders in publicity and the Internet.

“I’ve used Dan Janal’s PR LEADS to generate tons of publicity for myself and my services in Entrepreneur Magazine, Investor’s Business Daily, and more. I love the ability to select the categories I want to receive reporter’s inquiries from — although I usually scan them all because there are so many publicity opportunities I don’t want to miss. I highly recommend Dan Janal’s PR LEADS when you want to get publicity in major media,” said McAuley. The book’s website is: http://www.celebrityleverage.com

The citations range from testimonials, short quotes, lengthy interviews, screen shots of his websites, as well as acknowledgements and thank you’s.

“As a thought leader who has shaped several generations of publicity professionals, marketers and other people who are changing the world with their books, it is a true honor to be quoted in those books,” said Janal. “I’ve also helped several clients outline books, or even get contracts from major publishers, so it is nice to be remembered in the acknowledgements. It is also an honor to be asked to write a testimonial for worthwhile books.”

Janal continues to help authors and thought leaders get publicity by combining coaching, consulting and mentoring into a uniquely helpful one-on-one consultation program.

Paul King, CEO of Hercules Networks said of Dan’s coaching: “You opened doors which I did not know existed, and turned the strange and complicated world of PR into a simple, effective plan. As most brilliant people do, you made a complex process simple. Thank you.”

Dan’s coaching helps people get an outside perspective from an acknowledged expert in the industry. He has helped clients outline chapters for books, think of story angles that reporters will write about, and get clear on their marketing goals.

Janal also operates the PRLEADS.com service that helps authors and small businesses get quoted in top daily newspapers, magazines and leading online websites.

About Dan Janal

With more than 30 years of experience in publicity, Dan Janal is Founder and President of PRLEADS.com which has helped more than 4,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs get publicity in major media to boost their sales and profits. USA TODAY called Dan “a true Internet marketing pioneer.”

Based in suburban Minneapolis, Dan understands publicity as only a former newspaper reporter can. As an award-winning daily newspaper reporter and business news editor, he interviewed President Gerald Ford and First Lady Barbara Bush.  Dan Janal is one of the most respected teachers, visionaries and entrepreneurs in the publicity community. He has written six books about Internet Marketing for John Wiley & Sons, and has been an in-demand, international speaker for nearly 20 years.

Dan was on the PR team that launched AOL and wrote one of the first books about Internet Marketing in 1994. He taught the first Internet Marketing class at Berkeley and also taught Internet Branding classes at Stanford. Corporate clients include IBM, The Reader’s Digest and American Express. He has spoken at conferences for the National Football League, Credit Union Executive Society and many others.

He has created innovative ways for people to get publicity, including the Cool Book of the Day site to help authors get publicity for books; and the Free Publicity Tools.com site to help entrepreneurs find resources to help promote their businesses.

For information about hiring Dan to speak at conferences, go to www.janal.com

For information on coaching and consulting services, go to www.PublicityLeadstoProfits.com

About  Celebrity Leverage

Celebrity Leverage (Jordan McAuley, Mega Niche Media; January 11, 2010; Paperback Original; $19.95) reveals how to get free and low-cost celebrity endorsements, product placement, celebrity buzz, and more.

Each chapter includes Insider Interviews with today’s top marketing and publicity experts like Joe Vitale of The Secret, Dan Kennedy of The No B.S. Guide to Marketing to the Affluent, Jake Halpern of Fame Junkies, Donna Cutting of The Celebrity Experience, Rick Frishman of Author 101, Yanik Silver of Maverick Business Adventures, Robyn Spizman of The Giftionary and others.

Jordan McAuley’s record spans more than a decade in publicity, marketing, entrepreneurship and events.

Known as the “King of Celebrity Contacts,” his Contact Any Celebrity service is one of the most respected publicity resources in the world, with a blue-chip roster of marketers, publicists, nonprofits and media clients who rely on it to get endorsements, donations, interviews, and more.

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