Wanted: Missing Gingerbread Pal (click for story)

Ah… kids get out early today as we begin winter break. We don’t have anything planned except a couple of trips to Grandma’s in Fort Worth for the younger set. Maybe play some board games. 5th grader has to work on his science project. I imagine there will be movies and board games happening during the break. What about you?

Please vote for your top 25 books on writing.

Brain food…

• How to Track Freelance Job Leads Via Spreadsheet: Excellent and simple set up.
• Top 100 PR Websites and Resources Part 1: News websites, business, PR & marketing and social media [Link: Sarah Evans]
• Top 100 PR Websites and Resources Part 2: PR corporate sites, PR newsletters, news distribution, PR software and communication misc.
• 36 Twitter Tips for Book Publishers: “Tweet your way to successful title and author promotions.”
• Flashlight Worthy: “Handpicked books on hundreds of topics.” I could spend hours on this site.
• Reflections on, Takeaways from #eBookSummit: Guy LeCharles Gonazlez has done a lot of reporting from conferences and we stay-at-homers appreciate it.

And for fun because we’re allowed… FailBlog edition (most links from the I Can Has a Cheezeburger crew)

• Very Demotivational: When you need to get off your high horse.
• This is Photobomb: Where photojackers of the world unite.
• Autocomplete Me: “Feeling luck just got weirder.”
• Poorly Dressed: Note to self, stick with sweats and tees. Can’t go wrong… can you?
• 10 Real Houses Inspired by Cartoons: Simpsons, Flinstones, Hobbit…

The recent trip to Austin for Texas PTA’s awesome leadership seminar and PTA meetings to prepare for packet pickup blanket me with the feeling that school’s almost here. Is it time yet? Three years ago: school would’ve started this week.

But Texas legislature wanted to pump up tourism and cheap employment, it changed the required start date to late August. Thanks. We have bigger problems to worry about than when to start school.

We have a little over two weeks until school starts. We parents and guardians still have to deal with the packet pick up days and registration before then. (Read: write a lot of checks and pay lots of money.) Enough shootin’ and stompin’ and time for linkin’.

• 10 Reasons Twitter Might Actually Matter: For those who don’t want to bother reading the list of 62 ways to use Twitter.
• 30+ Principles to Better Landing Page Design: I happen to be reading and doing an abstract on Landing Page Optimization. Both give you the what and why.
• WebQuest: “A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web.” [Link: misscj]
• 10 Words I Would Love to See Banned from Press Releases: These are the types of words I tend to delete when I decide to publish a PR.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Fancy Fast Food: Food network meets fast food = pretty fast food.
• Tweet song lyrics to @lyricrat of http://lyricrat.com/ to get the title and artist.
• Smokin’ Apps for mobile devices. Be sure to pick something other than “today” because nothing might appear.
• Want a ‘do from the ’80s and be able to fix your way out of trouble? Here’s the salon for you.
• Can it rain clouds? Or did someone have a giant whipped cream machine nearby?

I have the fondest memories of field day in elementary school. All the classrooms would have their own shirts with their teacher’s name and a mascot. I’ve been a Haines Hound, Vickers Viking and Strickland Spartan. We competed against other homerooms in the same grade levels and won ribbons at the end of the day. I still have my good sportsmanship ribbon from first grade. Probably the only time I ever deserved it

Imagine my surprise when I went to field day at our main elementary school when my daughter was in first grade (she’s in ninth now). The whole school wears one t-shirt (there may be color variations) and there are no ribbons or anything. Just a fun day with lots of group activities ending with a teacher’s tug-of-war. I think it’s a wonderful way to emphasize good sportsmanship and having fun while exercising.

• Tips for Usability Professionals in a Down Economy (applies in an up one, too).
• Social PR Survey II: Continued disconnect between clients, agencies
• Ten Twitter Mythconceptions
• 31 Ways to Get Inspired
• Industry-specific Twitter Guides by Profession
• Styling your Lists: 20+ Brilliant How tos and Best Practices
• The Ultimate Collection of The Best Light Swirl Photoshop Brushes

• 11 Geeky Mouse Pads: I have the color code, but don’t use it as a mousepad (not enough traction).
• Invisible cat door
• *PEW PEW*, NOM NOM: An AT-AT Cake
• If Microsoft ruled the world

Sad to hear Fort Worth’s Mayfest is off this weekend thanks to swine flu. Attendees enjoy arts, entertainment and crafts. It also hit many of us with allergy and asthma attacks with all the hay (it almost always rained before or during Mayfest).

• How not to be hated in Facebook
• 10 people to unfollow in Twitter
• 10 techniques for an effective ‘call to action’
• Is PR really in the relationship business?
• 10 reasons to be grateful for difficulty
• Letter from a Proofreader with Edits
• The difference between male and female leaders: I always find these types of conversations fascinating.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• John Williams is the man! A Star Wars-themed four-part a cappella musical tribute. Performed by Corey Vidal and Moosebutter. Closed-captioned,too!
• Swinefighter: Swine flu fighting game. Need a break from all the swine flu bad news? Here you go.
• 17 cool magnet tricks
• Spreadtweet: “So, you work at a big corporate, huh? And you’re not allowed to use Twitter… Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were a Twitter tool that looked just like Excel?”

Photo credit Mike Wade

The popularity of Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out (affectionately known as HARO) proves many of you, your company or clients want to get in the spotlight. Occasionally, Peter kicks folks off the list because they can’t follow one simple rule:

By joining this list, just promise me and yourself that you’ll ask yourself before you send a response: Is this response really on target? Is this response really going to help the journalist, or is this just a BS way for me to get my client in front of the reporter? If you have to think for more than three seconds, chances are, you shouldn’t send the response.

I use the mailing list from both sides: as a journalist and as an expert. Thank goodness I am a journalist because it helps me do better on the other side of things. I often put in my requests to use “HARO Subject” in Subject. You’d be surprised how many fail to do that. Based on this, it’s no wonder people disobey Peter’s numero uno rule. Furthermore, people embarrass themselves by sending a press release (PR) to media that have nothing to do with that industry, topic or anything. OK, I admit — sometimes we reporters don’t make ourselves clear (me, too).

So what are these simple, common sense rules that too many fail to follow? My top 8:

1. Read the publication: Businesses and PR pros send me PR regarding video and audio apps. It doesn’t take much to figure out I don’t do video or audio unless it has captions.
2. Contact the right reporter: You’re not going to send a company’s new computer product story to the sports reporter unless it’s about sports statistics.
3. Copy the column style: Many publications have regular columns and features based on businesses and people. When submitting for these regulars, copy the style to improve your chances of getting in.
4. Provide story ideas: Rather than tooting your company’s latest award (whoopee dee do), help the reporter by offering story ideas. Awards are best left on the company’s site and distributed in online PR sites rather than sent to reporters. I’m sure there are a few exceptions.
5. Share trends: Noticing a trend in your industry or business that few know about yet? Help the reporter jump on it (remember to contact the right publication and the right reporter so it doesn’t go to waste).
6. Select a few publications: Rather than trying to befriend everyone — pick a handful of publications and build those relationships. Simply contact the reporter to introduce yourself and ask if he/she is working on anything and needs resources.
7. Follow the reporter’s request to a tee: I often provide what I need from folks, yet some people respond with the “John Doe is an author of such-n-such and speaks on this topics. Call me to set up an interview.” Hello? The questions are right there — answer ‘em or kiss the opportunity good-bye.
8. Respect the reporter’s preferred communication method: I always put “No phone calls” in my requests. However, I know that some think it applies to the initial contact and that I’ll call ‘em. When it’s in my control, I skip the calls. If your expert doesn’t have time to email, I know others who do.

Bonus points: Research the reporter before making contact. Here’s a challenge. What can you find out about me? Both personal and professional?

My favorite story: I received a book about adopting cats to review. The only time I’ve ever mentioned cats was a few years ago when there was a internet cat joke floating around. I’m a dog person and I don’t review books about animals unless the title just happens to have an animal in the name such as Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? (it’s NOT about cats!).

If you have a product or book, you can send it to the publication, blogger or web site. But contacting them first ensures a better chance of seeing the item get reviewed. Besides, why waste a copy of Taking Care of Your Adopted Cat on me? I just donate it and hope someone can use it.

FYI: I don’t make a big deal out of those who can’t follow the simple “Subject” instructions — just giving you an example of something that’s easy to follow.

What other ways do you build your relationship with the media and get publicity?

We won’t debate the changing PR landscape and how PR folks need to reach out to journalists. Instead, let’s talk about how companies can better serve journalists.

Jakob Nielsen provides five reasons journalists visit a company’s web site:

• Locate a PR contact (name and telephone number).
• Find basic facts about the company (spelling of an executive’s name, his/her age, headquarters location, and so on).
• Discern the company’s spin on events.
• Check financial information.
• Download images to use as illustrations in stories.

As a person who targets journalists and is the subject of PR targetting, this list captures the bulk of the reasons. Yet, many companies fail to provide such simple information.

The following lists the frequent mistakes I see when going to business web sites:

• Not telling what they do… FAST: Oh, most do talk about what they do, but it takes more than a few minutes to figure it out. Get tips for communicating what a business does.
• Incomplete About pages: Companies forget to add names, photos, and bios of their management team. Create better About pages.
• Generic contact information: Companies neglect to provide points of contact beyond the generic info@ or support@. Journalists want a name and real address.
• Lack images: Companies may think journalists grab the logo on their web site. But usually those logos don’t meet the journalists’ quality needs. Add high quality images of your logo, product, and executives somewhere on the About page or Press page.

I try to walk the talk. I remember working on a redesign of my web site and noticing “meryl’s notes” in the navigation. It dawns on me that even my mother doesn’t know what that means. So “meryl’s notes” turned into “meryl’s notes blog” or “Blog.”

We take our own information for granted because we live and breathe it on a daily basis. If you need help, have friends and family members look at the web site to see if something doesn’t make sense, at least, not as fast as it should. Or you hire a consultant to give you a fresh pair of eyes.

Still can’t write, but discovering great stuff in whiling away the time reading and learning… and social networking…

• Scottish Vernacular Dictionary [Link: Joanna]
• How Alltop Powers Bloggers
• How to Use Twitter as a Twool
• Top 10 Tweeters to follow by subject… be warned… long list.
• Convert your blog into a podcast [Link: Deborah] I’ve added it here. What do you think?
• Real life LinkedIn stories leading to opportunities, 100 Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn, and Success Stories [Link: Scott].
• Pitch Engine: Run your PRs through it. My first PR in PE.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Sequart Research and Literary Organization: “a non-profit organization devoted solely to the study and promotion of the artistic and literary medium alternately known as comics, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, manga, sequential art, and sequart.”
• Help a friend & her mother. Maybe you can hire her as she’s a QuickBooks pro. Even folks like me who love software don’t like QuickBooks. Took a class and a lot of courage to finally get the hang of it.
• Wonderglen Productions: Satire site a la Christopher Guest, Best in Show, and Spinal Tap. Half the fun consists of trying to figure out who the site’s actual authors and owners are.
• 15-Second Film Festival: To heck with two hour bum numbing movies. Hello, 15-second movies.
• Models made out of books [Link: Guy]. Amazing and detailed work.
• Eyeballing game [Link: Steve]
• Regiftable: Regifting stories.

• Twitter PR: Fabulous and easy to get presentation without sounding dumbed-down. I’d love to take Corrine Weisgerber’s social media PR class.
• Social media will not kill PR, but it does expose industry weaknesses.
• What’s Your Least Favorite Part of Freelance Writing? Mine: Phone interviews.
• Your First Steps to Becoming a Writer: Mine was submitting an article in a newsletter contest. Today — I suggest blogging and contributing articles to article sites, blogs, and non-profit organizations.
• PR Pap of the Day: Funny, but serious.
• Do You Know Your Style Guides? Some, yes. Some, no. Most familiar with AP and Harvard styles.
• Dumb Things Small Businesses Do That You Can’t Afford: One is the worst number.
• 10 Tips on Querying Magazines and Websites.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 911 is serious business, but these callers abuse the service. 911callers posts recordings of legitimate calls and wacky calls as a lesson in what to do and not to when calling 911.
• delivr: Create free ecards from thousands of photos.
• Old-school Nintendo game done in paper.
• Smub.it instead of use URL shortening services.
• Argh! Guess Your Number figures out my number [Thanks, Steve].
• One Sentence: True stories in one sentence. Funny stuff. Steve’s fault, too.
• Guitar Hero by bike. Hot damn! [Link: Jason]
• Top 5 Black Friday Shopping Tips.

You’ve probably read or heard many experts say that keeping your clients costs less than obtaining new ones. A Bain and Company study reports that boosting customer loyalty by 5 percent improves your profits by 25 percent at the very least and can go up to 95 percent. You can’t ask for better numbers than that.

I’ve been fortunate that 99 percent of my clients use my services a second time. While maintaining strong customer relationships helps keep clients, remember that marketing should always be a part of your job as a freelancer. Overbooked or not, I must keep on marketing as projects end, clients move projects in-house, or a business closes.

Here are six easy ways to hold on to your clients:

1. Listen. Sounds obvious, but freelancers might not understand the client’s request and start working on the project without understanding what the client said. It’s OK to ask for clarification. Better to ask and get it right the first time than produce something off target and have to do it again.
2. Ask for feedback. After working for a client for a reasonable time, I ask for feedback letting the client know it can be short or long — whatever works for the client as I don’t want to take up the client’s time. I ask one yes/no question and one open-ended question: “Are you happy with the work you’re getting from me?” and “What can I do to better serve you?”
3. Ask what the client wants. When starting with a new client, I ask for samples of what he/she likes so I can incorporate that into the content. A client couldn’t provide samples (they were in a language I didn’t know), so I asked for details such as word count, formatting requirements (headers, bullets, etc. acceptable?), quotes allowed, and so on. Something worked because he was pleased with the article.
4. Handle mistakes with grace. You and I are human not machines. We make mistakes. I believe how a person handles those mistakes can make a big difference between success and screw up. You could not charge a client extra for the added time to fix something, provide a discount on the next invoice, or simply apologize and move on.
5. Think of your clients. If I see a PR opportunity that fits my client, a comic strip pertaining to the client’s interest, or some other valuable resource — I pass it on to my clients. I want them to be successful and have all the knowledge they need.
6. Thank your clients. Every year I send a handwritten note to every client. Yes, it means serious carpal tunnel for my southpaw, but we don’t see enough handwriting anymore. My handwriting isn’t special, but it’s more personal than typewriting.

Ready to see your profits to soar over 25 percent? Listen well and watch out for opportunities such as customers asking for a new service or a product that your business should and could handle — get on it! How do you keep ‘em happy?

• Small Business Administration Free Online Courses
• Language Is a Virus: Cures for writer’s block, poetry generator, character name generator, and many more cool tools for writers.
• 11 Irresistible Reasons to Write Everyday
• SOBCon08 recaps: Long list of entries related to SOBCon, event for bloggers held in Chicago. [Link: Starbucker]
• Create a free web site.
• Bad Pitch Blog: For many writers, it seems illogical that PR people would pitch something off topic for a resource — but they do all the time. I’m still receiving pitches for a defunct newsletter and they’re not even close to being on topic. You can get this and many more from PR and Blogging Wars list.
• 7 Reasons Odd Numbers Can Power Up Your Headlines.

And for fun because you’re allowed…

• Vanity Plates… that go hilariously wrong
• Creepy and kinky hotel rooms
• Sites that let you spy on friends: I don’t encourage it… just educatin’ ya.
• Create your own ceiling cat [Link: DeFillippo]
• 29 Ways to Carry Out Random Acts of Kindness Every Day: I believe in always doing something nice for others. My dad did this every morning when he walked. He’d carry a bag of dog bones and give them to all the neighbors’ dogs and he would move newspapers from the sidewalk to people’s doorsteps. I miss you, Dad.

And because we need to face reality… sorry.

• Portion sizes: Then and now