Dan Janal | Publicity and PR Leads Blog

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?

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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.

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Publicity can be a great tool to build your webinar profits. Here’s a great way to get the press to promote your webinar!

1. Write a press release and send it to reporters who cover your topic. There are many trade publications  - online and in print – that print notices of events. The press release should contain the essential information of your webinar, including:
   1. Title
   2. Date and time (include time zones!)
   3. The cost of the webinar. If it is free, say so. That’s always good!
   4. What topics will be discussed
   5. Who the appropriate audience is (perhaps by skill level, i.e. beginner, intermediate or advanced)
   6. How to register. List your website sales letter. Don’t list the front page of your web site. They might not find the link to register.
   7. Contact information, including your phone number, email and website
   8. Send this via email about a month before your event to online publications and blogs. Send this via email to print reporters about four months before the event. For a list of reporters, go to www.BullsEyePublicity.com They have a database of more than 50,000 reporters in every vertical market you can think of. They are always looking for a good story to write about!

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