How Can I Get Celebrities to Endorse My Book, My Product?

Who wouldn't want a celebrity to endorse your book?

In fact when new clients come to me and show me their books, I look for the endorsements to see how "expert" they really are! Many of them do have endorsements by great people like Mark Victor Hansen, Ken Blanchard, Steven Covey and the presidents of major companies.

Endorsements do make a difference! After all, who has heard of you? You need the credibility of leading authorities!

One of my new PR LEADS clients runs a terrific business that can put you in touch with just about any celebrity! In fact, it is endorsed by my good friends, Dan Poynter the godfather of self publishing; Steve Harrison of Radio TV Interview Report; John Kremer the expert on book marketing, and many other leading PR people, so I know it is real!

The service is called ContactAnyCelebrity and I strongly suggest you try it out when you need to get endorsements for your books or products. In case you are running a charity auction, you can even use this service to try and get autographed items for your fund raisers. Lots more uses too. What a brilliant idea! Congratulations to Jordan McAuley for creating this wonderful service.

I interviewed Liz Kelly, author "Smart Man Hunting" on how she got celebrities like John Gray (author of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) to endorse her book. The tactics she shares are the kinds of things that any of us can do! Click here to get the CD and hear how Liz got celebrity endorsements for her book.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.PRLEADS.com

How Can I Get Quoted in the Holiday Articles?

The end of summer means trips to the Minnesota State Fair, the beach and saying good bye to summer.

But it also serves as a reminder that the Christmas holiday season is right around the corner -- at least in the eyes of magazine editors. For it is now that they are beginning to prepare their stories for November and December.

What should you do to get quoted in newspapers and magazines for the holiday articles?

First, of course is to find the angle that will interest your editors.

If you have a product to sell, make sure you have artwork available in digital form so you can send it to editors at a moment's notice. Better yet, put the files on your website so they can grab them. Use every file size and format possible.

If you are a content speaker, think of how you can help people during the holidays. The list is endless:

1. Stress is a big thing, of course.
2. Family relationships
3. Dating
4. Gift giving
5. Blended religious families
6. Office etiquette and parties
7. Depression

I interviewed Bill Stoller, who is an expert on getting publicity for his clients in holiday articles. The best time to start is right now -- late August and early September. For additional tips on how to get quoted, go here We've put together an information-packed CD with 60 minutes of tips and tactics that will help you uncover the secrets to getting quoted in the holiday articles.


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.PRLEADS.com

Should I pay to re-print articles on my web site?

J. Mark Davis, Valitus Group, Inc., http://www.valitusgroup.com asks:

See this link for a quote of mine that was used in today's edition of USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2006-08-21-salaries-usat_x.htm. I am still trying to figure out what makes sense in terms of reprints and website posting. The latter seems a bit steep - $1000 for posting the article on my website for one year. Does this sound typical? Thanks.



Hi Mark,

Many publications make serious money by selling reprint rights. You should also be aware of the copyright laws:
1. You cannot print the article in full on your site, nor can you print their logo, unless you have permission.
2. You can link to the article on the publication's web site. You don't have to ask permission.
3. You can use 2-3 sentences from the article without permission (i.e. USA TODAY calls Dan Janal "a true Internet marketing pioneer" which they in fact, did write.)

If the article can really help you build your business, then you might want to bite the bullet and pay the big bucks. Consider it advertising. I wouldn't do this if there were a 2-line quote. I'd just say "I was quoted in USA TODAY on August 20, 2006."

I'd also suggest you send the link to the article in an email tto everyone you know -- present clients, former clients, prospects, everyone!

I interviewed PR legend Raleigh Pinsky on "Now That You've Gotten Publicity, What Do You Do" and created a CD from the talk. You can hear Raleigh's tips and tactics that anyone can do when you listen to the CD. Raliegh, by the way, was the PR person for Sir Paul McCartney, back in the early years!


I hope this helps.

Send your questions about publicity and marketing to me at dan@prleads.com. I'll try to answer as many as I can.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.PRLEADS.com

Now that you've got publicity, what do you do?

Sunday mornings are my favorite day of the week - but not for the reason you think.

You seek, every Sunday morning, the New York Times arrives at my doorstep and I read the "Career Couch" column in the business section. Without fail, anywhere from 3 to 5 PR LEADS clients are quoted in that column! What a great way to start the day!

Of course, I let my clients know they've been quoted in the New York Times so they can reap the benefits. Since many people don't subscribe to the NY Times, this is the first way they'll know they've been quoted.

Isn't that the way with most publicity? Most people don't read every publication unders the sun, and even if they did, they'd probably be looking for their names, not yours!

So the question is, "How can I let people know that I've been quoted?"

Simple.

Send them an email with a link to the article and a subject line that says "Joe Jones quoted in the NY Times."

Send this email to everyone who is in a position to help you: your clients, your former clients, your prospects. Even send it to you banker in case you need a loan one day. Send it to your mother-in-law so she finally knows what you do!

I interviewed PR legend Raleigh Pinsky on "Now That You've Gotten Publicity, What Do You Do" and created a CD from the talk. You can hear Raleigh's tips nd tactics that anyone can do when you listen to the CD. Raliegh, by the way, was the PR person for Sir Paul McCartney, back in the early years!


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
www.PRLEADS.com

How can speakers and consultants brand themselves?

This is a question I hear often. Fortunately, I have three important answers.

1. Bob Pike, the legendary trainer, told me that all speakers should strive to be the go-to guy, the only person that meeting planners think of when they say "I need a speaker." (of course, you can substitute the word speaker for consultant, trainer, etc.)

Unfortunately, most speakers are commodities and they all get lumped in with all the other people who offer the same services and speeches.

You need to break out from the pack.

2. I might boldly suggest you can do this with publicity in the mainstream media (http://www.prleads.com/) or with a targeted plan to publish articles on websites read by your target market (http://www.prleads.com/article.htm) but that would be too self serving.

3. So point to another NSA legend Thom Winninger, a past president of NSA and winner of every award and honor known to speakers.

In a speech to NSA about six years ago, he shared his formula for being the "go-to guy" in three industries. I don't remember the entire speech, but a few points still stand out.

1. Select a market. You can't be all things to all people. And people will pay you more if you an expert in their topic. So forget the rational of "I speak to everyone on everything." That's how you become a commodity.

2. Become an indispensable member of that community. Thom volunteered to write articles for their trade magazines, serve on advisory boards and committees, and just be available for them. Who do you think they are going to hire when they need a speaker or consultant? The guy they know.

Follow the advice of these NSA sages and your branding, name recognition and sales will no doubt increase.

Additional resources:
- I interviewed branding expert William Arruda about how authors, speakers and consultants can do "personal branding." For info, see http://www.prleads.com/club-arruda.htm

- I interviewed with publicity expert Joan Stewart on how to create an expert personae for the media. For info, see http://www.prleads.com/club-expert.htm


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.PRLEADS.com

NSA San Diego Chapter interviews Dan Janal

I just spoke to the San Diego Chapter of the National Speakers Association today (August 8, 2006).

The good news for you is that we recorded the presentation on my telephone replay line, so you can listen to it from 1 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday August 10 to September 8, 2006.

I spoke about:
- how speakers can brand themselves
- how Thom Winninger became the "go to" speaker in three markets
- how you can use the media and the Internet to become the go-to guy in your niche
- how to find a niche you can have fun with
- how to understand what the media really wants -- and how to get on the front page of your local newspaper
- how to use articles on the web to build traffic to your site
- why you need to blog
- whether you should continue using your newsletter, or just blog
- how to create teleseminars
- how to create products
- how to price your teleseminars
and much, much more in this 90-minute presentation.


You can listen for free by calling (218) 936-1055
Conference ID:
229247#

Yes, you must pay the long-distance call.

No, the call won't be available after September 8. No there won't be a transcript.

If you'd like your own conference line to create your own coaching sessions or teleseminars, plus have telephone replay at no cost, click here:

http://www.myfreeteleconference.com/promo/

Conference lines are great for business, but don't forget -- you can use conference lines for family get-togethers as well.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com