5 Ways to Make Google Your Publicist
- Push out timely blog posts.Every author should have Google
Alerts set on at least five keywords related to their topic area. Each
morning, review the stories that are running in your topic area and
consider how you can add to the discussion. Odds are the media members
are searching for resources and insight on those timely topics and when
you create a blog with your take and tag it correctly, you widen your
net to attract attention from journalists looking for experts just like
you. Extra tip: host your blog on your website
and make sure one of the main links will take media members to a “press
room” where they can find links to previous media coverage, press
materials and contact information for you or your publicist.
- Conduct an online brand audit.If I am a radio host and my
friends at Smith Publicity have told me what a perfect guest you would
be for my show and I Google your name to book you, what will I find? If
you don’t currently have a website or any online platform, do I have any
way of getting in touch with you? If I can’t find you quickly, I’m
moving on to the next guest. If you do have a website or blog, is what I
find when I arrive there going to reinforce my decision to have you on
my program or make me wonder about your credibility? Also, think about
those media members who may not know your name, but are searching for
someone with your exact credentials . . . does your website or any of
your blog posts come up in even the most specific search? Extra tip:
Watch every single video that comes up in a simple search for your name
on both Google and YouTube. Put yourself in the shoes of a producer at a
top morning show and ask whether or not the video would encourage or
discourage them booking you. Take down any videos that detract from your
brand.
- Pay it forward to journalists doing a good job in your topic area.When
you read articles or hear stories in your topic area that you believe
are well done, pay attention to the name of the media member responsible
and find a way to help them drive traffic to the story. The best way to
do this is to search for the journalist’s Twitter handle and drive your
followers to the story with an encouraging tweet: “Love this story by
@JohnSmith in the Wall Street Journal today (link) Really smart take on
this, John.” While most journalists get hundreds, if not thousands of
e-mails a day, they get far fewer @ replies and often pay attention to
those talking about them on Twitter. One key point is to never pitch
with an @ reply on Twitter . . . all of your journalist-related content
should add value and contribute to the discussion. Extra tip: Use MuckRack.com to sort and find journalists on Twitter by category and media outlet.
- Consider your social media infrastructure as an online press kit.
In today’s changing media environment, the first place that readers,
media members, colleagues and others are likely to interact with you and
your book won’t be at Barnes & Noble or even Amazon – it will be on
your website, or perhaps more likely, via your various social media
extensions. In many ways, these online extensions make up your virtual
press kit, and you must make sure that your branding is consistent and
you are providing value across each. Extra tip:
Nothing looks worse to media members or readers than a social media
extension that hasn’t been updated in months. Don’t set up a Facebook
page or Twitter account unless you intend on engaging and providing
consistent, valuable content there. If you have social media accounts
that you don’t update, cancel the accounts.
- Be interesting. Your odds of getting your content in front
of a journalist within social media are dramatically improved if you are
writing pieces that your readers want to share with their networks.
People don’t engage with those who stay in the middle of the road—so be
interesting and thought-provoking with your content and make sure you
give people a reason to share your insight. Extra tip:
Blog titles often make all the difference in the world. Consider ways
to spice up your headlines to attract more attention from journalists
online.
