Posts Tagged "Help a Reporter"

ASE09: Tuesday Peter Shankman Keynote (Dominic’s Take)

Posted on Aug 20, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking, Guest Posts | 3 comments

Guest Post by Dominic Fawver.

I see that Trisha has already given a really good outline of the topics covered by Peter, so I will just briefly mention a few things that I got out of it.

This was one of the most entertaining, insightful, and inspirational speeches given at the Summit.  I really enjoyed how Peter was able to engage the entire audience by using current examples mixed in with examples from his own experience.  One of his key points was that you can not make something go viral; you can make something good, and if people like it, it will go viral.  This keynote (along with all that I learned at Affiliate Summit) has given me the inspiration to continue on with a couple of projects I had been thinking of for a while.

That’s the mark of a good keynote.

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Affiliate Marketing Fanatics #7: Tweeting, Speaking, & Blogging

Posted on May 15, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Marketing Fanatics | 1 comment

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics – A Publisher (Mike Buechele) and an Affiliate Manager (Trisha Lyn Fawver) talk about all things Affiliate Marketing. From blogging to branding, social media to search, video and more!

We’re back after a fortnight away!  We don’t do it on purpose, it just happens that way, we swear!  We’re back in the swing of things this week with a relatively short show for us clocking it at an even 30 minutes and 30 seconds!  This week we delve into our favorite topic of Twitter… I think we might as well just rename this the TwitterCast!  Specifically we discussed:

  • Twitter monkeying around with the @replies and the #fixreplies fiasco that ensued.
  • Commission Junction has finally jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, and we ponder why larger companies take so long to make the social media move.
  • We excitedly ham it up about the fact that we’ll be speaking on a panel at Affiliate Summit East 2009, and another show I’ll be at next month.
  • Mike’s discovered a HARO-like service specifically for bloggers called Blogger LinkUp run by Cathy Stucker and we talk about the two.
  • Finally we give some well deserved shout outs to our fellow ASE09 panelists Jen Goode, Stephanie Lichtenstein, and our fabulous moderator Lisa Picarille.
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Affsum Session: The Ultimate Pitching Guide

Posted on Jan 20, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking | 2 comments

Date: Sunday, January 11th, 2009.  Session 2d, 1:30pm.
Session Description:  Experts share their best (and most outrageous) secrets for getting attention from merchants, media and the masses. You’ll learn the tips, tricks and techniques to get the attention you seek. The panel consisted of:

  • Lisa Picarille, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Revenue Magazine (Moderator)
  • Anita Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, SmallBizTrends.com
  • Jim Kukral, Owner, TheBizWebCoach.com
  • Peter Shankman, Founder, Help a Reporter (HARO)

I was looking forward to this panel, and it didn’t disappoint.  I also learned that Peter Shankman never needs more coffee – he’s animated enough as it is!

Bullet Point Review!

  • A good pitch solves a problem.
  • This might be common sense, but DON’T PLAGIARIZE!
    • Make sure you have a discussion with young PR people that plagiarizing is NOT ok.
  • Know who you’re pitching to!  It will help determine the angle of your pitch.
  • Resource: The Bad Pitch Blog
  • Take 5 seconds and read what a reporter wants & oblige – that will get you in the door to just follow submission directions.
  • No attachments – filters often delete those emails.
  • A reporter must be able to get the point of your pitch in 7 seconds.
  • Getting attention from a blogger is different than getting attention from traditional media.
    • Leave comments consistently to get noticed.
  • If you develop a personal relationship, it’ll help.
  • Use the reporter’s name in blog posts.
  • Make your pitch sound like a scoop, like you’re an industry insider.
  • Do something timely and a little different to get noticed.
  • Book: Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work–And Why Your Company Needs Them
  • Some reporters now will only accept pitches via Twitter.
    • If you can’t pitch in 140 characters, you need to work on brevity anyway.
  • Try live streaming and letting people interact with you in real time.
  • Twitter has replaced focus groups with the use of search.
  • Publish your news wherever you can, like blogs.
  • Book: Marketing Outrageously: How to Increase Your Revenue by Staggering Amounts!
  • Press releases will be obsolete very soon.
  • Resource: Twittering Journalists Wiki

I don’t remember there actually being a Q&A in this session.  If there was, I think I included any good points in my notes already.

Overall this was an excellent session.  They really didn’t use any slides, so I can’t share any.  But with a session like this, it was more about their past experience and real-world knowledge than any special slides or data.

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