By Joan Stewart
Feeling proud for persuading a local radio station to air a half-hour interview with you? Or for getting a two-page spread in a national magazine?
If you’re an amateur publicity seeker, you’re content with whatever you can get. If you’re a real Publicity Hound, however, you know the fun is just beginning. The challenge, of course, is to turn one media “hit” into multiple hits. It’s not that difficult. In fact, recycling publicity is like rolling a snowball downhill and watching it get bigger and bigger.
When you get publicity, here are 11 ways to let the world know – and sometimes get even more.
1. Mention it in your email signature.
Think of all the people you email in just one day.
Let’s say you’re a parenting expert, and your comments on how to discipline children have been included in the latest issue of Parents magazine. Include an enticing one-liner in your email signature. It might look like this:
“See my 3 secrets for disciplining kids, in the August 2018 issue of Parents magazine.”
2. Share it with people on your email list.
Subject line: Great news to share with you….
Body: I want to keep you in the loop about some cool publicity I got this month in Parents magazine…
Notice that all but the first word in the subject of the email are lower case with three periods at the end. These little touches make the email look more personal.
When sending email to a group of people, don’t include all their addresses in the “CC” area. Instead, send the email to yourself and put their email addresses in the “BCC” area so they can’t see each other’s addresses.
3. Send a press release to your alumni magazine.
The short release, accompanied by a head shot, should explain the publicity you received and why. You can excerpt a quote from the article.
Don’t forget to identify yourself as an expert, if you are, and mention the title of your book. (See How to Become an Author Expert and Strut Your Stuff.)
Most of these publications have a section for short news items about alumni.
4. Send the same press release to your weekly newspaper as well as to magazines published by your professional associations.
Include a head shot. That’s what I did when PR Tactics, a national newspaper for the public relations industry, printed an article I wrote. I wrote a press release about it, sent it to my local weekly newspaper, and a reporter called me for an interview. I got a half-page story about my business, with a photo.
5. At your website, use the logos of media where you have appeared.
You don’t need a Media Room or an online media kit to do this. Dan Janal—an author, speaker and book coach—uses this banner at his website to show visitors which media have covered him:
Here’s a smaller version in which he pairs the logos with his headshot:
6. List your media hits at your website under a navigational button that says “Press Room” or “Media Buzz.”
Kathleen Watson, author of Grammar for People Who Hate Rules, presents a list of all her media hits and reviews in her online Press Room. It includes an audio of a radio interview.
I wrote about Kathleen in a March 2017 article at this blog under the headline How to Hitch a Ride on Someone Else’s Holiday to Sell Books, and explained how she piggybacks onto National Grammar Day for publicity.
Sure enough, that headline and an excerpt from my blog post were included in her list. Don’t forget about blogs that mention you!
7. Write a blog post about how you got your publicity.
Did you do an in-studio interview at your local TV station? Describe the station and how you prepared for the interview.
Did a journalist do a Skype interview with you? Did that feel awkward, always trying to remember to look at the camera and not at the screen? Link to the article. Or embed the podcast or video into your blog post.
If you have a podcast, you can devote a show, or part of a show, to your media hit.
8. Include a list of your most impressive media hits in your author bio.
Jane Friedman, an author whose expertise is creating business strategies for authors and publishers, wrote this paragraph within her bio:
9. Share your publicity hit all over social media.
You can host a Facebook Live event talking about your interview with a major magazine. Include the publicity hit in your LinkedIn bio. Tweet it. Is there a photo of you in the TV studio that you can share on Instagram?
10. Frame newspaper and magazine articles about you and display them at author events.
Take them to book signings, book fairs, and conventions and seminars where you have a vendor table.
11. When you’ve done a radio interview, ask if the host knows of other radio shows that might be interested in having you as a guest.
Many radio hosts travel in the same circles and would be happy to refer you to a colleague who needs a great guest.
These are just a few examples of how to think beyond your original publicity hit. How do you promote your publicity? Share in the comments below.
Photo: BigStockPhoto
