Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Self-Promotion or Death: PR Tips from Sara Dobie

Tip of the week: Don’t get an ear infection, because you will never get it to go away. (Sigh.) Okay, seriously, let’s talk Twitter. I’m a baby Twitter user. I just started to master this 140-character power tool a month ago. However, there’s one thing I’ve learned, and if you want to become a Twitter guru, you should know about it. The first thing you need to do when you sign up is find your local media. Sounds obvious, but we forget. In the publishing world, we daydream about CNN, Oprah, and Publishers Weekly. We forget about our local newspapers, TV stations, and radio announcers. And yet, these are the people who build your fan base. You have to start somewhere; I suggest you start local. So as soon as you get into the Tweets, start following your local media. Often, they will return the favor. And then, if you’re interesting and clever enough (and of course, you are), they’ll see how interesting and clever you are, and they’ll set up an interview. Case in point: within three weeks of being on Twitter, our company co-founder was fielding a phone call from our city paper. This is the city paper that seemingly had no idea we existed. And yet, thanks to Twitter, they heard about the good stuff we do in the community and beyond, and we had a story in the newspaper four days later. Tweet on.

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