I frankly don't like Ezine. I'm sure Ezine works great for a lot of people, and I'm not really out to discredit them. However, they've annoyed me enough with stupid run-arounds that I just got frustrated. As an alternative to that, I'm pursuing other PR to drive traffic. I've had some reasonably good luck getting articles written about me and some interviews in blogs etc. My "artist development consultant" sent me this article that I thought was excellent, so I thought I'd share it:
How to Win Great Publicity Without a PR Firm
How would you like to be featured on CNN, CBS News, the BBC, and VH1? If you’re San Francisco area artist Steven Backman, that’s just a few months’ coverage; over the years, he’s been profiled by scores of top-tier international outlets. But unlike many top professionals, he doesn’t use a high-end PR firm to shill for him. Instead, he’s become his own publicity machine – and his lessons on winning great press can benefit any executive or entrepreneur who seeks a higher profile.
1.Build a good media list.
Backman – who makes elaborate and meticulous sculptures out of toothpicks –
began by developing a target list of publications he’d like to be featured in.
Next, he identified (through the masthead or looking online) the email addresses
for key staffers. “I wouldn’t just email one person,” says Backman. “I’d email
the whole staff, the art director, the managing editors.” Journalists might get
angry if he did that all the time, but he ensured his messages were timely and
interesting. His media list is now up to over 2000, and he says that he each
press release he distributes results in at least 2-3 stories.
2.Find a hook.
“If I didn’t have a compelling story, people wouldn’t give the time of day,”
says Backman. He’s sculpted Prince William and Kate Middleton (in time for their
wedding), President Obama, and others. Anniversaries have also been popular
media hooks; his toothpick sculpture of the Empire State Building (commemorating
its 75th anniversary) was a particular publicity boon. Your pitch,
advises Backman, “has to be intriguing to the viewer.” If you’re a hot dog
vendor, he says, boasting about “the most delicious hot dog” is a standard claim
– but a offering gold-plated hot dog or a hot dog full of caviar will get
people’s attention.
3.Your email subject line is critical.
When it comes to media outreach, your email subject line makes all the
difference, Backman says – otherwise, reporters won’t even read it. The subject
line should be intriguing and make them want to open it, and the best email
messages are only a few lines long. He includes links to photos of his art (the
media love good visuals), but avoids sending .jpg files, which may be trapped by
spam filters.
4.Follow up thoroughly.
“If I send an email,” says Backman, “a day or two later I’ll do a follow up
call: ‘Did you receive my email?’” He’s brief and never pushy, but gives a quick
pitch and reminds the journalist to check out his website. Backman credits his
success to his “tenacity and being aggressive in a nice way.”
5.Have your soundbites ready.
When Backman prepares for an appearance, he always mentions his next show or
where people can see his work in person. And he’s sure to cite his website
URL
repeatedly, and even asks the network to display it at the bottom of the screen.
After one Today Show appearance in which he cited his website twice,
Backman says he received a million hits in just a few hours.
6.Keep reaching out.
“You always have to engage new people,” says Backman. “You can’t keep contacting
the same editors over and over again, or they’ll get tired of your story. I
always fill my funnel with new people.” But because journalists network with
each other – and some have actually profiled him repeatedly – he is sure to stay
in regular touch: “I used to send out a blurb once a month, but people would get
annoyed. I now do 3-4 a year maximum, and I get a better
response.”Backman credits his grandfather – an insurance salesman during the Great Depression – with teaching him the sales and marketing techniques he uses today. But for executives and entrepreneurs who would like to win media coverage without hiring an expensive PR firm, Backman himself is teaching the lessons. Dorie
Clark is CEO of Clark Strategic Communications and the author of the forthcoming What’s Next?: The Art of Reinventing Your Personal Brand (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012). She is a strategy consultant who has worked with clients including Google, the National Park Service, and Yale University. Listen to her podcasts
or follow her on Twitter.
I have an app on my Droid called News and Weather. You probably have something similar. I can set it to look for smooth jazz news. It gives me the news and, with it, the names of the writers. If they've written about smooth jazz once before, they'll probably be open to doing it again. There's my list. I hope this helps you out.
Yeah, a lot of people get irritated with EZA. the thing to remember is that they are just trying to make Google happy. So often, when they come back at you it's because you are doing something that would hurt you regardless of the site you are posting to. Often it's just a slight rewording or improvement in the message of your article. But they are not for everyone, I'm sure. I've made a lot of money with EZA so I like them. But more and more I'm moving towards just creating my own sites.
The plan is to actually create a much more covert music network just like EZA. So in other words, I am in the process of creating some high value music sites that are very targeted and which give musicians more control than something like EZA, and then let IC and MMM members post to those sites. Kind of like EZA but just for musicians, and spread out over multiple sites for safety. It will also be private and not noticeably a directory, but rather an authority site that you'll all have access to. Still a ways away though.
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You just keep giving us more stuff to look forward to John, Thanks!
What would a jam session with Gordon Lightfoot, Collective Soul, and Damien Rice sound like?
Check out Greg Parke and you’ll have a pretty good idea!