I spoke at the NSA-Michigan chapter this weekend on publicity, article marketing, and video promotion for speakers.

The chapter treated me royally with a grand dinner at the Chop House in Ann Arbor and a ticket to the Michigan-Oregon college football game, as well as a book and gift card. They really showed a lot of class at every step of the way! Thanks, NSA-Michigan.

I also had a chance to visit with PR LEADERS April Callis (current NSA-Michigan chapter president) and Shawne Duperon. I also met a lot of great people there and heard a lot of great speakers. It is an excellent chapter!

I’ve spoken at these NSA chapters: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and New York State. I’ve also spoken to the Vancouver and Calgary chapters of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. If you’d like me to speak to your chapter, please call me at 952-380-1554.

By Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER

The blogs and the newspapers picked up many comments.

Apple’s response was to give a $100 (not $200) discount on products at iPhone stores.

This is a bad reaction for several reasons:
1. A $100 discount on products does not equal a $200 discount in real dollars.
2. Consider that if products are marked up 100 percent, then Apple is buying people off with $50 from its own pocket.
3. What can you buy in an iPhone store that costs $100 or less? Not much! So if you do buy something, chances are you’ll buy something that costs more than $100, so Apple wins again by getting more cash.

So, tell me Appple, how does this help consumers?

Not if you ask Michael Vick!

That old PR maxim just doesn’t hold water when you do something really, totally stupid and undefendable.

I guess OJ would second that opinion!

OTOH, many celebrities and politicians have “rehabilitated” their images, but only after much pain, expense and time.

Better to consider your actions before you say or do something stupid.

The world is a very small place today and if you don’t want to become the Michael Vick of your niche!

If you want to see what it is really like to be a network TV star, then you might want to start watching reality shows on the Food Network and HGTV. They both have shows where people compete to get their own TV show.

These shows put the contestants through the real paces of what TV personalities actually have to do in front of the camera.

I gotta tell you: It’s not as easy at it looks!

Check out
The Next Food Network Star to watch each episode on the Internet.

HGTV Design Star

If so, register for a free telephone seminar next
Thursday, July 26th on “The Three Big Secrets for
Getting Booked As a Guest on Top National TV Shows”
hosted by Steve Harrison of Radio-TV Interview Report
(RTIR).

In addition to Steve, you’ll hear from a former Oprah
guest booker, Fox News Channel producer and some other
surprise guests. To register go here now:

http://www.FreePublicity.com/tvcall/?10064

PR LEADS added new topics to connect experts with reporters.

These new topic areas will give experts even more access to publicity opportunities with the major media.

In addition to more than 200 topics in 12 major knowledge areas, the new topics include:

Health and Wellness – chiropractic, family planning, learning disabilities, gynecology, plastic surgery, spas, physical disabilities

Management – presentation skills, meeting planning

Living and relationships – adoption, self improvement, funerals and grief, toys, cultures

Banking and personal finance – identity theft

Computers – Web 2.0, social media

To see a complete list of topics, please see http://www.prleads.com/topics.htm

The New York Times today (May 13, 2007) wrote an article exploring why some books become best-sellers and some don’t.

They made a few good points:

1. The book industry is based on intuition. No one does any market research to find out what people are interested in reading.

2. The book industry lives on its back list — books that were best-sellers and classics, as well as the break out books in the current year.

3. Many people try to write the same book, like the Secret, but only the Secret broke out to sell millions.

So I asked myself, “What other factors contribute to success?”

Here’s a starting point. Remember, I wrote six books for John Wiley & Sons, so I know and have helped more than 2,500 authors get publicity with my PR LEADS service:

1. Having a platform. You must market your books your self. No publisher has a clue how to attack a market the way my best clients have done. You need publicity, a blog, a newsletter and any other way to reach people who really care about your message on a regular basis. Without that, you are dead in the water.

2. Do research. Just because you have a calling to write a book doesn’t mean there’s a market for it. In my days as a high-tech publicist, I’d cringe when a new prospect would tell me they created another spreadsheet program. The world didn’t need another spreadsheet that was 1 percent incrementally better than what was out there. Ask the market what they need, and give it to them. That very well could involve surveying your list of customers, or surveying a traditional mailing list to find large markets that would be interested in your message. Any good list broker would be willing to share their insights into their markets with you.

3. Promote the book like crazy. Nothing happens without awareness. It is up to you to create that awareness.

Recommended Services:

PR LEADS can put you in touch with reporters who are writing articles about your field. 2,500 happy clients can’t be wrong. See other posts on this blog to see recent success for clients, and the PR LEADS website for hundreds of testimonials.

Low cost press release services like ExpertClick can distribute your press releases to thousands of reporters and make sure Google indexes your press releases so reporters will find them.

If you want to hire a PR firm, go right ahead. But ask them to prove that they have the contacts you need. In today’s email-overloaded world, reporters will only respond to PR people and experts they know on a first-name basis. Find a the PR firm that has those contacts and you will have made a good investment. Email me if you need recommendations, but be very specific about what you are looking for and what you are trying to accomplish. A client who has unrealistic expectations will have disastrous results.

What tactics have you found that helped sell books? I’ll post the best responses.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Tom Hopkins spoke at Dan Kennedy’s Super Conference in April and I’m glad I heard him because we sold a lot more services for PR LEADS!

Tom instilled in us the idea to ask questions instead of just telling what we do. The difference was dramatic. We engaged more attention from prospects. We found out what they were doing and what was working and what wasn’t. Based on that information, we could tailor a solution to meet their needs. The result was worth thousands of dollars to us in the short term and possibly tens of thousands of dollars based on the lifetime value of the client!

Everyone should have Tom’s landmark books on selling. They are just as relevant today as they were years ago. And they should be read and re-read every year.

Thanks, Tom!

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
http://www.prleads.com/pr-leads-resources.htm

I’ll be at the Dan Kennedy Super Conference for Internet Marketers this week. If you’re going to be there, drop me a note so we can plan to get together. I love meeting my clients face-to-face.

Or look for me at the conference. I’ll be wearing my PR LEADS logo shirts.

I’ll also have a booth in the Exposition Area. Look for me or Eric Gruber, my director of article marketing services for the PR LEADS Article Marketing Experts service.

Sorry, but I can’t report on what goes on there. We need to sign waivers saying we will not disclose any proprietary intellectual property from the speakers.

But I will post pictures of the famous people who attend!

Press releases aren’t just for reporters any longer.

Not only can press releases get you visibility in the media, they can be instrumental in getting people to your site. Learn the new rules for press releases so you can get indexed by Google where millions of potential readers and clients could find you.

We’ll interview Mitch Davis, of www.publicrelationssoftware.com as he explains how to write press releases that create business for you. His service www.PublicRelationsSoftware.com can guarantee your press releases will be indexed by Nexis/Lexis, the largest search database used by reporters, and considered by Google for indexing as part of their standard agreement.

You’ll learn:
- how to write headlines that captivate reporters
- how to use keywords and other tools to work effectively with search engines to get great placements
- how to guarantee Google will review your press releases without any chicanery or hidden tricks
- how to distribute 52 press releases a year for less than $20 apiece
- how to ensure your press releases are indexed and saved by Nexis/Lexis, the largest and most used search tool by reporters

You’ll also learn why you should create videos to position yourself as an expert with your clients and reporters.
To register for the teleseminar and/or receive the MP3 file for listening at your convenience, register here:
http://www.prleads.com/2007series/mitchdavis

Mitch is a long-time expert in publicity for authors and speakers. He’s been the publisher of the Directory of Experts and Authorities, a standard reference in America’s newsrooms for several decades.

The one-hour teleseminar will take place on Thursday, March 15 beginning at

2 p.m. Eastern
1 p.m. Central
Noon Mountain
11 a.m. Pacific

To attend this conference or receive the audio file for later listening, please register here:

http://www.prleads.com/2007series/mitchdavis