Frankly, I’d like to throw Khloe, Snooki and the desperate Housewives of New Jersey under a bus.

But it seems like everyone wants to be a Reality TV star. If that’s in your plan, consider these look-good/feel-good tips from Billy Lowe, celebrity hairstylist and longtime PR LEADS client who is now offering beauty services to Reality TV wannabees:

1: Lighten up. You’ve got to know your content, and you have to be comfortable in your own shoes. I remember my first reality auditions and I was like “Ok, tell me about your hair.” Today I look back at the innocence and sweetheart personality I had going into reality television and while that works for some segments, reality loves drama. Nice may cut it for an ensemble cast but if you want to carry your own segments, you have to be sharp, quick witted, and have a sense of humor (even if it’s making fun of yourself). People that are their true, authentic selves are truly the most beautiful. It shows in their confidence, the way they carry themselves, and their overall look.

2: Have your own identity. What sets you apart? Do you have a hairstyle that’s your own? Do you accessorize a certain way that no one else does? No one can mistake the blonde ambition of Tabatha or the 6-foot something RuPaul. These are identity pieces that set you apart from the crowd; a saying, a look, a color, a sense of self. Too many people believe casting directors know what they are looking for, when in fact most of them don’t. It’s what casting calls are all about. They’ll know the role – when they meet YOU. So be yourself, bring your identity, and look the role.

3: Get a good night’s sleep. When you’re tired, it shows. Skin is lifeless, discolored, and you’re often running frantic with no time or energy to perfect your hair or make-up. Furthermore, you’ll get to the audition or meeting and feel tired or exhausted from not having had enough sleep and you simply won’t be your best. Or if you’ve already booked the gig, there’s nothing worse than getting on camera with dark circles or puffiness under the eyes and all the Preparation H in the world won’t shrink that swelling in time. With thousands of potentials watching your show or your segment – you have to be on your game.

Billy knows what he’s talking about. His celebrity clients have included Ellen DeGeneres, Katherine McPhee and many, many others. If you’re in LA, be sure to get styled by Billy before your audition! If you think you have what it takes for reality television and are looking for a seasoned expert to show you the way,

visit www.billylowe.com or call 310-430-4045 for more information.

Home sales in my area are finally up.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the price of homes sold is down.

Actually, that is good news.

It means that the economy is moving  – free market capitalism has reset the price of homes where I live.

The reset doesn’t apply just to homes.

My wife and I went into Bloomingdales a few weeks ago to take advantage of a sale. We walked into atrium in the women’s section where the expensive handbags are displayed. In years past, we gawked at the multi-thousand dollar price tags on those bags. This year, the same brands were there, but the prices of the bags were in the low hundreds, not the thousands of dollars. No, we didn’t buy anything. It was another example of the great reset-sion.

Every high school student knows that price is a meeting of supply and demand.

So why are so many coaches raising their prices?  And urging their clients to do the same? Don’t they know about the world we live in?

That’s why I’m keeping my coaching and consulting prices firm. I’d rather know that I’m helping more people at a fair rate than squeezing every last penny from them.

In the past week, I’ve been able to help several people who have generously written:

“Dan’s coaching helped me get a reality check on what works in today’s marketplace. I now have a more realistic game plan.”

Bruce Freeman
ProLine Communications

“Dan, your coaching and advising has truly added to the growth of my public relations campaign. You are a true partner and I appreciate your tireless effort to help improve and accelerate my success with the media. I am so glad to have you on my team.”

Dr. David Washington
Author of Life is a Choice: “A Guide to Success in Life”

“Dan, You’re the best. Thank you for all of your help! I am making progress on the endorsements. I will be touch.”

Steve Suggs
Sales Manage Solutions

What do I do in my coaching? I like to think of it as ABCD.
Accountability – some people don’t get anything done unless they have someone to hold them accountable.
Brainstorming – I excel in outside the box thinking.
Creativity – I’m off the charts on thinking different.
Decision making – No waffling around. Let’s make a plan and go for it.

To learn more about my coaching to see if it is a fit for you – and I’m not expecting to work with people who are not a good fit – go to www.PublicityLeadstoProfits.com.

Now’s the time to create your editorial calendar for 2012.

What articles should you write to tie into themes that your customers want to know about? What articles will reporters write that you can contribute to?

I can help you create your editorial calendar as part of a one-time coaching session so you get all the attention you deserve and the media doesn’t bypass you. Email dan@prleads.com for details.

Don’t let another year go by wondering “Why did all my competitors get quoted and why not me?”

If you’ve ever wondered “How can I sell more books on Amazon,” or “How can my book stand out on Amazon,” then you’ll enjoy today’s guest blog  by Jim Kukral, who designed the cover for my new ebook. Stay tuned for details about that!

Jim is a 15-year Internet marketing expert who has a design team he guides. This is important because it’s not the best thing to just hand things like book covers to artists. Artists like to make things look pretty only. Marketers know how to direct artists to make them sellable. Isn’t that why you’re writing a book?” You can learn more about his book cover designs – they are hot – here  http://prleads.jfksell.hop.clickbank.net

I’m a happy customer and a sponsor!

How To Get Your Book Covers Noticed on Amazon

By Jim Kukral

If you haven’t noticed there’s a major publishing revolution happening these days. Now anyone can easily and quickly put a book up on Amazon for sale, without having to have a publisher. This has begun the official gold rush for existing and new authors. Now, hundreds of thousands of writers are able to sidestep the middleman and go direct to their readers. Oh, and also make a lot of money doing it.

Jim Kukral

When you self-publish you have to take on a few of the responsibilities that a publisher used to do for you. Those include things like editing, proofing and of course, cover design. All three can be outsourced to professionals you can find in your area or online. Today I want to talk about effective digital book cover design and how it can affect your Amazon sales.

So what makes an amazing digital book cover? As we all know the attention span of people who use the Web (me and you) is very low. We have become accustomed to finding what we need online as fast as possible and have learned how to scan massive amounts of information with our eyes in seconds flat.

For consumers that’s a great thing. But for anyone trying to sell anything online, it makes our challenge greater. As an author, we have only seconds (sometimes less) to engage a Web visitor and tell them a story about what the book is about.

Do a quick search over at Amazon.com for books in any genre, it doesn’t matter which one. Notice how you quickly look at the book icons on the page along with the book title, and quickly scan down the page. Notice how your eye is drawn to some covers and others not so much.

As an author with a new book coming out, if you don’t have an amazing and eye-catching book cover you’re going to have a tough time making sales on Amazon.com. Here are few tips to help you out.

Image Is Everything

First off, it’s important to realize that design matters. Sure, you could do your book cover yourself, or pay your nephew who’s in college $10 to do it for you, but what you will probably end up with is a home-made book cover. Readers are expecting more, especially on Amazon.com. Your book is going to be sitting right next to thousands of other books with professionally designed covers. Chances are that if you don’t fit in to what’s expected, a potential reader isn’t going to take a chance on your work.

The Thumbnail Matters
When you upload a book to Amazon, the Amazon system automatically sizes your book cover to an appropriate, preset, size for display on their website. There are a few thing you should know at this point so that your book looks as good as it possibly can.
Number one, you should follow the sizing guidelines on the Amazon KDP page to the tee. If you don’t, your book cover may end up looking garbled and hard to read. That’s bad. The other thing to worry about here is that if you have designed your book cover with small type, it’s probably not going to be able to be read without zooming in on it. That’s also bad.
When you’re scanning through Amazon notice how all the top selling books have great looking thumbnail images. That’s because the authors and their designers knew how to design the cover for maximum readability.

Images Count

Whether you want to use a photograph, or an illustration, or whatever, you should know that images help make your book cover get noticed. As most Web designers will tell you, when you add images of people, places or things into your design you have a much better chance at getting the viewer to relate. Why? Because pictures tell stories better than words.
If you have a book about aliens from outer space, there’s not going to be a better way to convey that than to have an alien like image on the cover of your book. If you’re writing a book about butterflies, well, you get the point.
The bottom line is that if you don’t have a readable and beautiful digital book cover your sales are going to be compromised.

Jim Kukral is the CEO of Digital Book Launch, a company that helps authors market and sell a ton of books. He is an author of five books of his own, and has been working on the Web as an Internet marketer for over 16-years. You can read more about Jim at www.jimkukral.com

I’ve been correctly predicting Internet marketing trends since 1994 when I wrote one of the first books on Internet Marketing. I’ve been right before so there’s no reason to think I won’t be right again. You can bet the farm on most of these trends and get even money on the others.

1.     Mobile marketing will take off in ways you never imagined.
2.     People will be saying, “Visit my app,” in addition to – or instead of -  “Visit my website.” The app will be the brochure, website, and starting point of interactivity.
3.     Small businesses on Main Street will have apps that provide basic info and coupons – even if they don’t have a website.
4.     Doctors, dentists and other appointment-based businesses will rely on text messages and other mobile communications to confirm appointments so they don’t lose money on no shows.
5.     Your prospects will think all types of written or spoken intellectual property –ezines, books, articles, webinars, teleseminars – ought to be free.
6.     You will think that all information ought to be free – except your information, of course.
7.     It will be harder and harder to convince people to pay for intellectual property that is available online. They will pay for customized services specifically for them. Start planning your services menu accordingly.
8.     Entrepreneurs will finally heed Michael Gerber’s mantra to work on the business, not in the business. But they will take action by HIRING outside professionals who can do the work for them instead of waiting to do the work themselves. Productivity and profits will increase while procrastination will decrease.
9.     This phrase will be on everyone’s lips and t-shirts: “If you get something for free, then you aren’t the customer. You are the product.” I didn’t make this up. I wish I did. Think about it. We aren’t Google’s customer, or Facebook’s customer. We are the products they are selling to advertisers. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being considered an “eyeballs.”
10.  Spam will invade social media sites in overt and covert ways, making visits to those sites less enjoyable.
11.  There will be more people showing you how to sell speaking services than there will be companies who can hire speakers. Okay, that one was low. <g>
What are your predictions?

I’ve been correctly predicting Internet marketing trends since 1994 when I wrote one of the first books on Internet Marketing. I’ve been right before so there’s no reason to think I won’t be right again. You can bet the farm on most of these trends and get even money on the others.

1.     Mobile marketing will take off in ways you never imagined.
2.     People will be saying, “Visit my app,” in addition to – or instead of -  “Visit my website.” The app will be the brochure, website, and starting point of interactivity.

3.     Small businesses on Main Street will have apps that provide basic info and coupons – even if they don’t have a website.

4.     Doctors, dentists and other appointment-based businesses will rely on text messages and other mobile communications to confirm appointments so they don’t lose money on no shows.

5.     Your prospects will think all types of written or spoken intellectual property –ezines, books, articles, webinars, teleseminars – ought to be free.

6.     You will think that all information ought to be free – except your information, of course.

7.     It will be harder and harder to convince people to pay for intellectual property that is available online. They will pay for customized services specifically for them. Start planning your services menu accordingly.

8.     Entrepreneurs will finally heed Michael Gerber’s mantra to work on the business, not in the business. But they will take action by HIRING outside professionals who can do the work for them instead of waiting to do the work themselves. Productivity and profits will increase while procrastination will decrease.
9.     This phrase will be on everyone’s lips and t-shirts: “If you get something for free, then you aren’t the customer. You are the product.” I didn’t make this up. I wish I did. Think about it. We aren’t Google’s customer, or Facebook’s customer. We are the products they are selling to advertisers. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being considered an “eyeballs.”

10.  Spam will invade social media sites in overt and covert ways, making visits to those sites less enjoyable.

11.  There will be more people showing you how to sell speaking services than there will be companies who can hire speakers. Okay, that one was low. <g>
What are your predictions?

When I was a kid, every comedian had a standard joke about the post office and the punch line was that a letter sent 27 years ago arrived today. The post office used to be massively inefficient.

Now, the USPS is a model of efficiency. Mail can reach its destination the very next day.

Most days.

Netflix built its business model on the reliability of the post office delivery. Did you ever have to wait more than a day to get a movie from Netflix? Thank the post office.

But now, because of budget calculations, the post office has announced that they will no longer be able to offer next-day service for first-class mail. This is a horrible business mistake and a horrendous branding mistake that will lead to a crisis communications quagmire.

What business consultant would tell its client that is losing its market share to make the service worse?

How can providing less service help bring about more business?

It can’t.

It can lead only to more customer dissatisfaction, which will lead to customer defection. Then the comedians will step in like vultures descending on a carcass.

I, for one, loved the efficiency of the post office – and my very friendly counter people. Now, I think I’ll be forced – by the post office – to pay my bills via e-banking, which is extremely reliable.

My 42 cents may not amount to a hill of beans, but added to the millions of people who already pay bills with e-banking, it will be the bean that broke the camel’s back.

I see a death spiral for the post office – and a fortune to be made by crisis communications managers and branding experts.

Many small businesses aren’t getting publicity for the oddest reason: They talk themselves out of it!

Here are 10 common problems I’ve seen with entrepreneurs who want publicity.

1.     You think you don’t have anything newsworthy to say. That’s false because it is up to the reporter to decide what is newsworthy. If you tell yourself there’s nothing newsworthy going on, you could be wrong. It takes a reporter or a PR person to look at your business objectively and find out what is news. Some of my clients think they don’t have anything interesting to talk about. But when I ask them about their business, I can see that they are doing things that no one else is doing. That’s news! And they get coverage by reporters in their business journals who are interested in this information.
2.     You don’t think of yourself as an expert. That’s not true because you have developed a level of expertise by running your business and dealing with customers, suppliers, vendors, bankers and government agencies. You know a lot more than you give yourself credit for. I’ve had many clients who suffer from this. They don’t give themselves credit for all their experiences and obstacles they have overcome. Once I point out how much they know, they can’t wait to tell their stories to the media.

3.     You think that someone else is better qualified to talk to reporters. That may be true, but that doesn’t matter. Reporters will talk to the person who is available right now. If the hotshot expert you are deferring to is on vacation, too busy to talk to reporters or not interested in talking to reporters, then the reporter won’t ever get a chance to speak to you.

4.     You don’t think their news is important. This is also not true. Many publications have columns for small pieces of news from local companies. They want to know what is going on. It might not wind up on the front page, but it very well might wind up in print or on the web.

5.     You don’t know what to say or how to say it. That could be true. That’s why they can hire a media coach to teach them how to say things, or they could hire a PR person who can speak or write on their behalf and make them sound great.

6.     You don’t know how to contact the media. While that might have been a problem years ago, it has never been easier to contact the media. Nearly every reporter can be found on Google and contacted via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+.

7.     You don’t think PR can help them. Very false. Publicity can help build their brands, create instant credibility and provide widespread visibility. For example, we wrote a press release announcing new training programs for the Reiki Institute. The press release was printed in many online media websites and her site was flooded with new visitors who inquired about her programs.

8.     You are afraid of being rejected. Okay. That’s true. But if you don’t try, then you’ve already been rejected.

9.     You don’t have a big budget to hire a PR firm. That could be true since PR firms can charge $30,000 and up for a 6-month contract. However, there are many low cost tools and free tools on the Internet that can help small businesses that want to do their own publicity. Plus, there are many small PR agencies that can take on small projects to help small businesses – and charge affordable rates. We offer the key tools at http://www.PRLEADSPLUS.com

10.  You are afraid of success. You wonder how they can deal with all the traffic to their business or website. Well, that’s a good problem to have!

Why you are talking yourself out of getting publicity? You might be passing up a golden opportunity.

Dan Janal works with small businesses in all industries that want to increase their effectiveness and improve profits. He offers a complimentary “Thought Leadership  Strategy Session” that helps you get clear on the tactics and strategies to help your overall marketing program so you can become the thought leader in your market. Contact Dan at dan@prleads.com or 952-380-9844 or visit http://www.PRLEADSPlus.com

Nearly every client I have says  their perfect client is “everyone” because “I can help everyone” or “My book can help everyone.”

That might be wonderful but it is bad business. You can’t afford to market to “everyone.” And “everyone” doesn’t want you. They want to work with someone who specializes in “them,” not in everyone.

That’s why I was delighted when I signed a new coaching client who works with lawyers who are in a certain transition point in their careers and must make career and life choices. How cool is that!

If you are still struggling to find the perfect client – and we all suffer from this because we really do want to help as many people as possible – I suggest you use three guidelines which I created and hereby trademark as “Dan Janal’s Rules For Finding the Ideal Client.”

1. Pay you. Yes, you could help the world, but executive women have more money to spend on coaches than women who are at the beginning of their careers – unless that’s the market you want to help.
2. Understand each other. You work with them because you’ve been there, done that and proven it. They know that you know. And you know what they need to know.
3. Get excited about working with them. All clients’ problems being equal, wouldn’t you want to work with someone you click with, someone who you really like and who really likes you? Shouldn’t business – and coaching – be fun? You can probably tell me horror stories about bad outcomes when you hated going to work or working with certain people. Didn’t we start our businesses so we  could avoid that?

If you ask yourself those three questions, you might just find your ideal client.

Then you’ll know what to write about in articles, press releases, blogs and tweets. You’ll know how to position your website and your marketing material. Your audience will find you. At least that’s what happened when I realized I needed to focus on my ideal client.

If you think I could help coach you to find your ideal client, send me an email or go to http://www.PublicityLeadstoProfits.com . I’m available for one-time coaching as well as longer-term coaching that is personalized to meet your needs.

PR LEADS has always offered an unlimited number of keywords to find queries from authors.

Unlike other services that charge for each keyword, PR LEADS offers an unlimited number of keywords so our clients can find all the leads that pertain to their interests for one, affordable price of only $99 per month.

Because our keyword list is expansive and inclusive, our clients find all the leads that are relevant to them. We don’t nickel and dime our clients for each keyword.

For example, if you are an internet marketer you’d get everything related to that topic, including such terms as “web marketing,” “email marketing,” “social media marketing,” “mobile marketing,” “search engine marketing,” “video marketing,” “pay per click,” “web advertising” and so on. If someone has a lot of keywords (and who doesn’t?) the cost of paying for each keyword would be very expensive and much more than PR LEADS charges, which is only $99 per month.

Also, because our keywords are inclusive, we have few “false positives” or inappropriate leads.

To order PR LEADS, go to http://www.PRLEADS.com