1.)  Do some keyword research to see what keywords people are searching for to find products or services like yours. Make sure that the keywords that you choose have a decent search volume; at least a few thousand searches a months is a good target.  Put your best keyword in your headline.  https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal is a great tool for keyword research. Example - if people are looking to lose ... Continue reading

Since I specialize in online publicity, every press release that I write links to someone's website. I always check out the websites that I am going to be linking too. Most of the time, they are well designed and professional in appearance. However, a certain percentage of my clients have websites that look as if they were designed by their fifth grade kid for a class project. Ugly design with massive blocks of text, garish colors, blocks of text overlapping ... Continue reading

I've had a number of clients come to me for help after they hired someone else to write a press release, and the press release was rejected all over the place for being poorly written, or for violating certain press release conventions such as sounding like an advertisement rather than a short news announcement. When I read those press releases - it was clear that the person who wrote them had no experience in writing press releases. This means the ... Continue reading

I was reading an article in the Romance Writers Of America magazine, Romantic Times, the other day, and in the article a book publicist was asked by an author how to get people to visit her website. The publicist responded that the way to get people to your website is to give people something worth reading when they get there. Which is what inspired my post today.  Think about the blogs and websites that you visit regularly.  I can just about guarantee ... Continue reading

A number of clients hire me to rewrite press releases, or write new ones from scratch, after a press release that THEY wrote was rejected by the online press release distribution sites. And the number one reason those press releases were rejected? They sounded too much like advertisements. A press release needs to read like a short news announcement, not a big screaming ad. I know there can be a fine line, because after you are writing a press release - or ... Continue reading

If you've got a small business, product, book, ebook, online course, etc., that you want to publicize,  you don't need to spend thousands of dollars a month on a publicist to start getting the word out. The internet has made it easier than ever. And it's basically free; all that you have to invest is your time.   Here are some simple first steps that you can take, which can return big results. 1.) Write press releases about your business and submit ... Continue reading

When I see the same kind of problem cropping up in my client's press releases again and again, I figure that it's time to write a blog post about it.  Frequently, when my clients ask me to edit their press releases, I see headlines which ramble on and on and take too long to get to the actual news. Here's a made up example. Let's say a personal trainer who lost a bunch of weight is releasing an exercise video for busy ... Continue reading

1.) Word of mouth - clients refer me to their friends. So remember to be nice to your existing clients, people! They are gold!  2.) Twitter. Twitter is the awesomeness for networking and finding a new base of clientele! 3.) The Warrior Forum - a wonderful site for internet marketers. Tons of great free information there. www.warriorforum.com. I seriously could not tell you why they are called The Warrior Forum, it makes them sound like some geek video game site, but really, ... Continue reading

 When clients ask me to edit their press releases, there are some common problems that I see. Sometimes these will get the press release rejected by press release distribution sites,  sometimes they will just make the press release read really poorly and will be a turnoff to visitors. I was a newspaper reporter for eons and I've read stacks and stacks of press releases, so I have a pretty good feel for what works and what doesn't.  Here are some common ... Continue reading

 I have a list of free press release distribution sites that I like. One of the services that I offer clients is to submit their press release to all of the sites on my list, for $40. When I do this, what I have found is that for the first week or two, the first few pages of Google listings are filled with the press releases that I have submitted. This is great for ... Continue reading