Can’t think of a way to get publicity?

Search no more.

Here are 27 news hooks to get publicity posted by Henry Devries, Henry DeVries, Assistant Dean for External Affairs, UC San Diego Extended Studies and Public Programs.

Here’s the link http://ow.ly/2xAlS

I’ve spoken about creative ways to use the Internet for marketing and publicity from Beijing to Budapest, all across Mexico and Brazil as well as the U.S and Canada. One thing I’ve noticed in working with translators is that is the speaker’s job to make sure the audience understands every word.

Here are 10 ideas to help you get your message across when you don’t speak the same language as your audience.

1. Script your intro in the native tongue with the help of your translator.  I heard Richard Miles do a 2-minute intro in Portuguese when we were both speaking at a conference in Rio de Janeiro. The audience broke out into spontaneous applause. If you want to bond with your audience, this is the way to do it. I believe that the audience will be on your side for the rest of the speech. Even if you speak five sentences in that language, you will build tremendous rapport with the audience.  A sample opening could go along the lines of “Thank you for inviting me t speak here today. I arrived a few days ago and enjoyed seeing the sights in your beautiful country and meeting so many nice people.”
2. Meet with your translator in advance and go over your presentation. When I spoke in Budapest, this actually took longer than the speech! But it was worth it because he understood what I was saying – and so did the audience.
3. During the preview session with the translator, go over any technical words and see if they can either be translated or if the words are the same in that language. For example, computer is la computadora in Spanish.
4. Speak slowly so the translator can hear you.  It is almost impossible for a person to listen to you and talk at the same time. And remember that his brain has to translate what you are saying. Leave time for all that mental processing.
5. Stop speaking while they translate. It is difficult for a translator to talk and listen at the same time – all the while having to convert one language to another. At one event in Fortalesa, Brazil, the person who spoke before me was a professor at an American university. He spoke in the same fast style as he spoke to undergrads. He lost the audience entirely. The translator couldn’t keep up with him and started translating every second or third sentence. It was gibberish.
6. Give the audience time to listen to the translator – and more time for the message to sink in. It is one thing to listen, it is another to make sense of what they heard. I remember telling a joke and having to wait two minutes for the laughter.
7. Translate your slides and handouts into the native language. It won’t do your audience any good to see your English words if they don’t understand them. Even though English is the “universal” language now, assume that many people in the audience are not fluent in English and can’t easily translate your words into thoughts and ideas they can act upon.
8. If you get to the event early, put on the headphones so you can listen to another speaker getting translated. This is the audio equivalent of walking in another person’s shoes. When you realize that the headphones are rubbery, your ears are sweating and the tone quality is scratchy, you will learn a lot about how it feels to hear a translated speech.
9. Since translation takes time, re-evaluate how much content you can fit into the allotted time. It will be less than you deliver normally.

10. Watch out for idioms and colloquial sayings. I blurted out in China that doing a certain thing would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I quickly realized that saying wouldn’t translate well for a country that has a red flag! I quickly stopped the translator and gave her a substitute phrase. She looked at me quite quizzically!

If you have clients who want you to speak in different countries, consider these tips and you’ll deliver a winning presentation.

Dan Janal is a very successful entrepreneur, professional speaker and marketing coach who helps clients build their businesses by improving their strategy for using publicity, marketing, Internet marketing, e-commerce and sales. To see how you can improve your business, go to http://www.prleadsplus.com

This article can be re-printed on your website, blog or ezine.

Would you hold a book signing at a restaurant?

That’s what Ian & Margery Punnett, authors of  “Dizzy the Mutt with the Propeller Butt” are planning to do on  Saturday, August 7th from 9am-11am, at the Longfellow Grill in Edina, MN.

You gotta go where the buyers are, and if they think  that’s the place to sell books,, then more power to them! Let’s use this example to inspire all of us authors who are looking to sell more books.

Self-publishing guru Dan Poynter is famous for saying “bookstores are the worst places to sell books.” Let’s see if the Punnetts are on to something big and glorious that we can all learn from!

No self-respecting publisher today will talk to an author who doesn’t have a large “platform” of followers who will by a book and a marketing plan that shows how the author will sell the book.

So how did Stieg Larsson become a best-selling author, years after he died without publishing a book in his life?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, his best-selling “The Girl Who…” series is a best seller in the US and from what I can tell from my visit to Madrid, all over Europe as well.

I don’t have the answers. Do you? Why would a publisher take on an unknown author, who is dead, and promote the heck out of his books when it seems like most publishers won’t lift a finger to promote a book from an unknown (living) author?

Any ideas?

I recently visited Madrid and had a wonderful time. But at many times, I felt like a stranger in a strange land. I realized that feeling affects many visitors to your website. Here’s why

Your website prospects are like tourists in a foreign country. They don’t know you. They don’t trust you. They have many other vendors to choose from. They want to buy something like yours from someone like you. It could be you if you do the right things. It won’t be you if you don’t.

Here are five keys to improving your website so you connect with your prospects.

1. State your price. Many restaurants posted pictures of the food they served, but didn’t post the prices. I avoided those restaurants. How would I know what the price was? Why should I risk embarrassment by going inside sit and seeing the menu with prices that I didn’t want to pay? Why would I want to waste my time? The prospects who see your website are the same way. They are tired, scared, impatient and distrustful. Don’t make people hunt for it. – unless there’s a darned good reason.

2. Make an attempt to speak the language of your customer. Yes, I tried to study Spanish and learn a few words. In some cases, I got by quite nicely in others, we were both lost. Don’t expect your website visitor to speak your language which has technical jargon, nuance, and insider knowledge. You must be willing to listen to the prospect and speak at her level.

3. Use the phone. I wanted to go to Spain to learn Spanish and also to see the sights. I went to Google to find language courses in Madrid. I found quite a few. Only one had a notice that they would call me if I had any questions. I put in my phone number and a good time to call. They did. I asked my question and signed up for the course. By talking to a real person (on their dime), I knew the company was real. I couldn’t know that if I hadn’t talked to them. Does your website invite communication? Do you hide behind email or do you get off your butt and pick up the phone. A few minutes on the phone can do a lot to calm fears and build trust.

4. Get the right person to call prospects. If you don’t want to call prospects, then hire someone who will. This step is too important to overlook. I don’t like talking to prospects. I’d much rather spend my time training, consulting, coaching and speaking. So I hired someone who likes to sell. This is a case of 1 plus 1 equals three. I do what I like to do; she does what she likes to do; and the company grows and clients get the service they need.

5. Don’t wear out your welcome. I could have stayed in Madrid for two weeks. I actually cleared by schedule in case I wanted to add another week. And on my last day in Madrid, I seriously considered staying. I had done most, but not all of the things I wanted to do. And it is true that I might discover things that I hadn’t even known about. But I’d rather leave early and want more than stay too late and be bored. For marketers, the message is to answer your prospects questions, but don’t bore them with all the details and features they might not care about. When you’ve made the sale, then bow out gracefully.

If you follow these tips, you’ll be speaking a new language of profits with your prospects.

Dan Janal is an early thought leader in the field of publicity and the Internet. He delivers thought-provoking keynote speeches across the world. For information about his seminars, go to http://www.janal.com

Dan Janal is a very successful entrepreneur, professional speaker and marketing coach who helps clients build their businesses by improving their strategy for using publicity, marketing, Internet marketing, e-commerce and sales. For more information, go to

http://www.prleadsplus.com

This article can be published on your website or ezine. Contact dan @ prleads for permission.

We met a famous Spanish actor today in the immersion section of the class. Juan Anillo spoke about his life as an actor and actively tried to get me to ask him questions in Spanish. He seemed like a very warm and personable fellow. I got his picture with me. I hope I can upload it to my blog. It will have to wait until I get back home.

Interesting fact: We say “break a leg” to actors for good luck. In Spain, they say “Mucha Mierda.” You can use Google translator if you need to.

My iPhone doesn’t work here. That is, the data is mucho expensivo (Spanish!) so I turned the phone off. I can take pictures, but can´t send via iPhone. I figured how to transfer pix to laptop, but it appears that the connection is so slow that pix might be a
problem to send. A yousendit file I wanted to send to a client said it would take 25 hours!

The school teaches grammar and conversation in the morning. In the afternoon, they deliver lectures so we can build our listening skills. I understood most of a 2-hour lecture on the Spanish news media (it’s growing! People read newspapers here, unlike the US.) Also, the papers are very partisan. No fair and balanced news here. People buy the paper that reflects their opinions. And yes, Rupert Murdoch owns papers here. Is he King of the World?

Class is getting easier. My head still spins at the end of the morning. It is good. To learn a language you really need a lot of drill and repetition and speaking. Before I came to Spain, I listened to many hours of Spanish language CDs. That was good for building vocabulary and listening skills, but when you have to speak, it is like starting from square one.

The teachers are very good. I’m getting more comfortable in restaurants and trying to think of stories to tell using Spanish. If you try hard enough, you can make verbs do a lot of work for you!

I was going to go to the Thyssen Bornesmisaz museum for an hour, but it was so good, I stayed for four hours!

Travel writer Rick Steeves says it is a museum filled with major works by minor artists and minor works by major artists. There´s a lesson to be learned there. Think about it.

Reasons it was so good and ways to enhance your next vist to a museum:
1. Audio program. Never enter a museum without one. It really adds a lot of commentary you’d never know about that enriches the experience.
2. Rembrandt’s self portrait. First thing I saw. Major work. Major artist. Sorry, Rick. You got that one wrong.
3. I got exposed to German artists from the 1500s onward. They are very good!
4. Discovered Fauvism. Or at least liked it this time.
5. Discovered German Expressionism. It’s very good.
7. I wore out two audio programs. I guess most people don’t listen to too many commentaries.
8. Not too many tourists. They’re áll at the Prado. I’ll be there later this week. Steeves says that´s where the major art from major artists appear.

And the big reason:

9. The people in the portraits smiled and seemed joyous. Not all, but many. It dawned on me that in every other museum I´ve been in, nearly every portrait showed a person who was somber, reflective, contemplative or depressed. This realization alone made the trip to the museum worthwhile!

So far, so good!

Madrid is a very pretty city with lots of grand buildings adorned with decorative sculptures or intricate grillworks. There are lots of good pictures to be had here.

Everything is fairly close together and the subway stops are every where.  It is easy to get around.It is also very hot so walking under trees to get the shade is worth it.

My hotel is better than I expected. Thank goodness for reviews on Trip Advisor and Hotels.com. I got a great rate and a quiet room. If the only words I knew in Spanish were ¨no fumar¨then those were the right words to make sure I got a no smoking room. A little Spanish can go a long way.

Internet is odd. Without it, I feel disconnected. I have free WiFi ( pronounced WE-FE) in the hotel and can send and recieve email and web pages. But on my iPhone, all data and email are charged extra. Tough to get used to. I´ve heard of people raking up thousands of dollars in roaming charges in foreign countries, so I set my phone on airplane mode to be safe. 

Speaking of differences, here are a few:

1. People wait for lights to change. They don´t cross against the light.

2. No aggressive panhandling.

3. Coffee is small – even at Starbucks.

4. McDonalds has a fancy cappucino area (no, I didn´t eat there. )

5. Every restaurant serves paella. 

6. Lots of big cars, like any American city and traffic seems manageable, although Í´d never drive anywhere outside the US or Canada.

7.The keyboard is different. Forgive the typos. 

8. I saw a bullfight on TV. Absolutely disgusting. Sounds cool until you see a bull withering in pain, bleeding, dying. Too add insult to injury, they drag the dying bull out of the ring by attaching a rope to his horns and hitch it to a pick up truck. Yuch.

9. Surprisingly, I understood most of a 2-hour lecture geared for all levels of speakers. 10. Surprisingly, all the Spanish I studied before coming here is difficult to speak. Theres a big difference between book learning and actually using it.  Hopefully after a week, that will change. 

10.First thing I saw when emerging from the subway: Ginormous billboard for ¨¨Sex en Neueva York II¨ with Sara Jessica Parker. I wonder if it is better in Spanish.

More tomorrow.

Surveys are a great way for consultants and small businesses to get publicity.

Why?

Because reporters love numbers!

Numbers give a story an implied credibility. Reporters usually need to find a number to plug into a story to give the story an added level of respect. After all, if you have numbers, you have proof. If you don’t have numbers, you have an opinion.

There are several ways to get the numbers you need to create the statistics reportes love. You can create your own survey, or you can quote another group’s statistics.

How to create your own survey

1. Create your own survey. There are many free or very low-cost survey tools that you can use to create a survey. Just go to a search engine and type “survey tools” and you’ll find many that are very good and totally free.
2. Next, think of a topic that would interest the media. Just look at the headlines in your trade publications or professional journals for ideas.
3. Create the survey questions. Limit the number of questions to 3 or 4. If you ask too many questions, your survey respondents will get turned off and won’t answer the entire survey.
4. Send the survey to your mailing list or post it in a Linked In group, or place it on your website.
5. Compile the results.
6. Write a press release
7. Sent it to the media.

If you follow this tactic, you just might find you are quoted more often by reporters, rank higher in the search engines and have more new visitors coming o your website!

Dan Janal is a very successful entrepreneur, professional speaker and marketing coach who helps clients build their businesses by improving their strategy for using publicity, marketing, Internet marketing, e-commerce and sales. To see how you can improve your business, go to http://www.prleadsplus.com

Want to get your business quoted on top media sites – guaranteed? Check out this special report: http://www.prleadsplus.com/toptiermedia/

This article can be re-printed on your website, blog or ezine.

I’m a big fan of TV competition shows to find the next Food Network Star and the next design star. So you know I’d love it when someone takes that great idea and brings it to a level that you and I can benefit from. So let me tell you about my friend Linda Claire Puig and her great idea.

She’s hosting a contest called “Next Top Newsletter Showdown.”

I love this idea!

Here’s an excerpt from her pitch letter:

It’s not only a contest with some great prizes and exposure, but it’s also the kickoff to nearly a month of newsletter-related, events, learning, prizes and exciting opportunities related to newsletters and creating newsletters — easily — that can massively affect your business growth.

If you have a newsletter, enter it THIS WEEK in the contest. (I’m entering mine!) Nominations close Sunday, July 25, at 9 pm Pacific, and voting is the following week with winners announced August 2.

If you don’t have a newsletter (YET!), definitely go anyway. This is a SUPER-RARE opportunity for you to see what your peers are doing with their newsletters and to take advantage of Linda’s free resources and expert newsletter information.

You’ll get educated. You’ll get inspired. And my hope is you’ll get into ACTION!

http://ow.ly/2da29

ALSO, be sure to register for the free webinar that Linda’s giving on August 2. In addition to announcing the winners and exploring WHY they’re winners, she’ll also reveal some of the newest trends affecting newsletters and let you know about some BRAND NEW resources that will help you get going (easily!) with your own newsletter.

So head on over to the “Next Top Newsletter Showdown!”
http://ow.ly/2da29

Here’s why I love this idea:

When you host your own contest, you will be perceived as a leader in your field.

Following Linda’s model, you’ll get these additional benefits
1. Build a list of people who are interested in your topic.
2. Build credibility with that audience.
3. Build trust.
4. Get a lot of great ideas from seeing the entries.
5. Network with the contest entrants.
6. Create a news story for the media.
7. Become an expert source for the media.
8. Get new clients.
9. Charge higher fees.
10. Set yourself apart from competitors.

What contest could you hold? What partners can help you promote it? How will get the word out? What will the winners receive? How can you make money from the people who follow the contest? How will you get the word out to the media so you can be seen as the thought leader?

Answer these questions and you’ll be closer to being seen as the leader in your field.

Dan Janal is a very successful entrepreneur, professional speaker and marketing coach who helps clients build their businesses by improving their strategy for using publicity, marketing, Internet marketing, e-commerce and sales. To see how you can improve your business, go to http://www.prleadsplus.com

This article can be re-printed on your website, blog or ezine.