Famous PR Quotes Archives | Jane Tabachnick & Co

How to Get Celebrity Endorsements For Your Book

Having celebrities endorse your book will lend credibility, prestige and authority. It will also help you sell more books.

Big brands have been using celebrities to sell products for ages. Think Michael Phelps on the corn flakes box to Ellen Degeneres in Cover Girl makeup commercials. They pay big fees to the celebrities because these endorsements help sell more products.

The good news is, with a little bit of effort on your part, you can get industry influencers and busy celebrities to endorse your books- and you won’t have to pay a fee.

To understand why celebrities will give you an endorsement, even if they don’t know you, see Part 1 of this series Why you should ask Barbara Corcoran for an endorsement

I reached out to a top industry expert who was also a multiple New York Times bestselling author to get an endorsement for a client’s book. They agreed. We were thrilled! An endorsement from them would add incredible cache and authority to my client’s book. Weeks went by. We heard nothing. After more than a month, I reached out and asked if it would help if I sent some sample endorsements.

The expert’s assistant wrote back with a one word response: “Absolutely”.
We got their endorsement the next week!

The key to having celebrities endorse your book is to put in time up front, and to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes.

Here is how to get celebrity endorsements for your book

Create a simple, ‘package’ with all your information and materials to send via email.

Start by sending a very short, detailed note about your book along with your request and why you think they are the perfect person to endorse it. [Genuine flattery goes a long way!]

Offer a copy of the book as well as a representative sample

Many celebrities and experts will not want to read your entire book; however, you should offer them a copy of it as well as a representative sample [intro, table of contents and a chapter]. Rather than send the sample as an attachment, host your sample chapter in the cloud [drop box, google doc…] and offer a link to the files in your email.

Offer Sample Endorsements [3 -5 samples]

Let them know you recognize that they are busy, so you have drafted a few sample endorsements that they are welcome to use as is, or edit. This can make it easier for them. They can simply select one of your samples and email you back which one to put their name next to, or they can customize a sample endorsement to make it more ‘in their own voice’.

This last step of offering ‘sample endorsements’ can make all the difference between getting an endorsement or not, as you can see from my client example.

Sending sample endorsement works for two reasons. People are intimidated by a blank page. They aren’t sure where to start. By offering them some samples, you are helping to give them some suggestions and direction. They don’t have to think hard about this, and can comply with your request, by customizing one of your samples in a minute or two.

Remember, you are asking a busy people to take an action on your behalf. You want to have celebrities endorse your book. They get a lot of requests. The easier you make it for them, the greater likelihood you have of success.

Fast Track Your Results & Get More Celebrity Endorsements

Related Content :

Part 1: Why you should ask Barbara Corcoran for an endorsement

Part 3: How to Contact A Celebrity for a Book Endorsement

Listen to our podcast: The Self-Publishing Blueprint

Do Your Own Book Publicity

The top 3 challenges authors have with book publicity

If you build it, they will come. It turns out that readers and clients don’t just show up. Even established authors use book publicity to promote their work.

With one book published on Amazon every 5 minutes, it can be hard to get your book in front of your target readers. Unfortunately, this can be a tough realization for you authors who work so hard on your book to then publish it, only to hear crickets.

I hear this unfortunate story all too often. The two biggest concerns I hear from authors are getting more visibility and how to leverage their book to get more clients. The fastest way to accomplish these two is with book publicity.

Publicity done right can put you in front of your ideal audience, establish instant credibility, instant expert status and be perceived as an endorsement from the media. It gives you free access to a wider audience, while positioning you as a top expert. It also creates a sense of ‘know, like and trust’ that is needed before people will buy from you. Because of these factors, book publicity can help you convert your media coverage into paying clients when done right.

Many of the authors that I speak with aren’t using publicity due to 3 major challenges. I hear these challenges so often, that I have come to call them the Big 3:

Lack of Time
Lack of Money
Lack of Know-how

Due to these 3 factors, authors often stay stuck and don’t do anything regarding publicity for themselves and their book. Or, they mistakenly think that they need a big, expensive PR firm to do the publicity for them. Billionaire and Shark Tank judge Mark Cuban has said, “Never hire a PR firm.” He and I believe that you are the best person to do your own book publicity because you are the most passionate about your book and work, and know the most about it.

Why I Created the Author Visibility Builder Program

I feel so strongly that authors like you are missing out on what can be the single biggest leverage point in getting more visibility, readers and new clients – publicity, and it doesn’t have to be that way. I want to show you how to succeed with PR even if you have little time, a tiny budget and have little or no PR know-how. I felt I had to help authors; you put so much work into your book, you deserve to reap the benefits book publicity can provide.

That’s why I created the Author Visibility Builder program. It’s for non-fiction authors just like you who want to do your own book publicity. You know that if you just get in front of your ideal audience, you can share more of your gifts as well as turn more of your audience into paying clients.

The Author Visibility Builder program will empower you to do your own book publicity, give you a simple system you can easily follow to do your publicity and get results. I’ll also show you how to leverage the publicity you get to generate more opportunities – publicity, speaking gigs, new clients…

Preview the program here

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How Not to Be One of the 45% of HARO Media Pitches That Suck

Not getting responses to your Help a Reporter Out HARO media pitches? The reason may be that your pitches don’t include the 7 must-haves for a successful HARO media pitch. Either you aren’t giving journalists what they need, or your pitches simply stink. The pitch that does satisfy on all counts, gets the publicity.

I am not a journalist, however I occasionally use HARO to find sources for a story, a blog post, or book that I am working on. My team and I use HARO to get publicity for myself and my clients, and we’ve had a lot of success with it.

After posting a query on HARO recently, I was surprised by the number of pitches that missed the mark. Some simply sucked. And it doesn’t have to be that way.

In an effort to help you not be one of the 45 % of pitches that suck, I analyzed the responses I received. The collated results are presented here. It was a small sampling; not sufficient to call this a scientific study, but valuable information if you put it to use. I also interviewed a few journalists on best practices for HARO media pitching, and what they like to see in a pitch.

I started by asking for insight on succeeding with HARO from its founder Peter Shankman, who said:

“In the past ten years, journalists have been tasked with doing ten times more with five times less. Truly want to get your story placed? Do as much of the journalist’s work as you can. Give smart background. When you offer a source, make sure they can talk and know what they’re saying. Beat the herd by being just a little bit better.

Oh, and be fast. Super, super fast. Get your reply out within five minutes of receiving the HARO.”

The key to pitching HARO successfully comes to, as Mr. Shankman says, “doing as much of the journalist’s work as you can.” In an age of 24/7 news, with reduced newsroom staff, journalists’ jobs are more challenged than ever, so your key to getting the publicity you want is to literally help a reporter out.

How journalists use HARO:

To find sources, as well as to help develop a story idea they are working on
When they are on a tight deadline, as well as for stories with more lead time

“I use it both for same-day deadlines and for long-term features and I’ve really gotten wonderful stuff for my stories from it – both from average people, whose opinions and experiences are hugely important in my work, and from experts from every field,” – an editor for a major U.S. news organization who uses HARO several times a month [they requested anonymity].

To get started let’s look at a sample HARO query – broken up into sections.

What Journalists want in a response to a query:

Journalists told us they want you to provide all the requested information in a concise response so that if they are on a tight deadline, they have all the information that they need to use you as a source without needing to speak to you. That said, it’s very important to include a phone number and other contact information, should they have the time and want to follow up and verify information, do an interview or get additional information.

What Journalists don’t want …

Busy journalists don’t want to have to guess who you are, what information or expertise you have to share, to have to try and locate your contact info, or try and locate you. This may sound obvious; however, many pitches were missing some or all contact info.

I encourage my clients to think of their pitch like a gift, with their entire pitch and supporting assets nicely and attractively packaged, so it’s all in one place. Incomplete, off topic or unclear pitches just clog a busy journalist’s inbox and often just get deleted.

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

7 Must-Haves For A Successful HARO Media Pitch:

Get your pitch in asap.
The number of responses to a query can be anywhere from 10-100 depending on the topic or media outlet. Queries from top national publications tend to get more responses than smaller or lesser known media. Busy journalists often go with the first great pitch they receive.

Create a compelling subject line
In a sea of responses [average query gets 35-100 responses], your subject line can help your email get noticed, though a long query title, leaves less room for your unique pitch to show in the journalist’s inbox view.

24% of HARO media pitches rated ‘very good’

Use a greeting
Business communication usually start with a greeting. Granted, some HARO queries are posted anonymously, so you don’t have an actual name of a person to address. This is not something our journalists noted, nor a requirement, however a greeting is a standard business pleasantry. One that addresses the journalist by name is courteous and also demonstrates you have read the query carefully, which goes a long way towards your credibility.

52% started their pitch with a greeting, addressing me by name. The balance had no greeting at all.

Establish your credentials
To be used as a source by a journalist, you need to let them know what your credentials are, concisely, right within your pitch. Demonstrate you are a good, expert source for their story. One mistake we see repeatedly is “my bio is on my website.” A busy journalist with 95 other responses, will either hit delete or just move on to the next pitch which contains all the information they are seeking.

64% of HARO media pitches established their credentials within the email

Fit the requirements
While not all pitches have requirements, the ones that do have them for a specific reason, so it’s important to respond only if you are a fit.

47% of pitches fit our requirements, 35% might be a fit but needed clarification, 16% didn’t fit at all

“And a lot of the people weren’t on target. I was very specific in my HARO query about how I was looking for responses on how to invest. Another example, in a query on the business side of co-working spaces, a lot of people responded back saying, ‘Oh, I work at a co-working space. Would you like to talk to me?’ And that’s not useful.” – Dawn Reiss, freelance journalist /writer for various national outlets.

Complete, Cut and Paste Response
The ‘cut and paste’ response is where the person has answered the questions posed in the query, right within their email pitch. A busy journalist doesn’t want to interview you to find out if you are the right source for their story. Or they might like to interview you, but with limited time, they’ll have to do with taking your response as is, and cutting and pasting it into their story, citing you as the source.

“I much prefer a response that actually provides the comment or information the person wants to share.” – An editor for a major U.S. news organization who uses HARO several times a month [and requested anonymity].

In other words, if a query asks for you best tips for mobile marketing, include your best tips for mobile marketing right in your email pitch.

Include a phone number
While our journalists have stated that they often don’t have time to speak with you for a story, they still expect you to include your phone number. That way, should they want to get additional information, touch base before going to print or interview you, they already have your contact info.

Only 41% of our respondents included a phone number in their pitch

I hope you will use this information to help you succeed in your HARO media pitches. To your publicity success!

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Inspiration From Successful Entrepreneurs

I’m still inspired a week later……..and can’t wait to share with you some truly great things… A week ago I was attending the Entrepreneur Magazine 360 Conference here in New York City, getting inspiration from successful entrepreneurs.

It was a very energizing day hearing from a variety of entrepreneurs ranging from:

Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas to Daniel Lubetsky founder of Kind Bars, Olympic Skier/NFL player/Philanthropist/Entrepreneur Jeremy Bloom, to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanion.

I was inspired, impressed, validated and educated- I still am, here are some of the highlights and takeaways from the event:

Are you a Visionary or an Operator?

Les McKeon gave a great presentation on the journey a business goes through. He demonstrated why:

“You are either a Visionary or an Operator – you can’t be both.”

Will.i.am was intelligent, innovative, inspired, visionary, awesome…. He hardly spoke about music, and spoke more about his company i.am+ which is going to compete directly with Apple with its wearable tech.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Entrepreneurial ideas come frm fusion = Mixing + inspiration + needs + community.@iamwill ” quote=”Entrepreneurial ideas come from fusion = Mixing + melding inspiration + needs + community.”]

In 2015, everything is going to be wearable and functional. Maybe a jacket instead of a phone.

<<< >>>>

Sometimes you miss major success by 1 Inch

Jeremy Bloom- Olympic skier, NFL football player, philanthropist and entrepreneurs founder of a 100 million dollar company, had a 22 second shot at making Olympic Gold… yet missed by 1 inch. It’s what he did after missing that was so inspiring!

You may have heard the expression Fail Fast. Jeremy gave himself 48 hours to have a pity party. To replay in his mind all the things he could have/should have done differently and then he moved on with his life.

<<< >>>>

Daniel Lubetsky, founder of Kind bars, proves you can be successful and be kind [pun intended]

When you move from a skeptic to an evangelist, nobody can stop you.

There were so many wonderful ideas, inspirations and insights! I hope these examples have inspired you as well.

One more thing… all these entrepreneurs have one major accomplishment in common. Can you guess what it is? Please place your guess in the comments below. The first person to post the answer wins a special prize!

Whenever you have the opportunity to be around and get inspiration from successful entrepreneurs, grab it. As Daniel Lubetsky said, “Entrepreneurs are probably the most fun at a party.”

What all the entrepreneurs who spoke at the Entrepreneur 360 Conference have in common is that they are all authors.

To your publicity success!

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Publicity, The Lottery and Your 90% Advantage

When it comes to publicity, there are a few takeaways from the lottery that are worth considering. Getting publicity can feel like winning the lottery as it often comes with a lot of the positive attention and benefits. It can also create a cash windfall it that can help to attract more clients who now see you as a top expert who they are willing to pay top dollar to work with you.

The takeaway I want to bring to your attention is, a concept that has been used to promote the New York state lottery for years. Their campaign slogan: You have to be in it to win it.

It’s an apropos statement that applies to Public Relations. 90% of entrepreneurs and small businesses don’t do any PR, missing out on incredible free opportunities for visibility, increased traffic and recognition, as well as the value of transferred authority that media mentions convey.

Simply by adding PR to your promotional initiatives, you can jump into the top 10% of businesses, many of whom may be your direct competitors. Advantage Yours.
I recently wrote a guest blog post entitled: Why PR Should Be Part of Your Content Strategy

There are 2 great reasons PR should be part of your content strategy.
“We are living in a world now where visibility creates opportunities and reputation builds trust,” according to Dan Schwabel, author of Promote Yourself and a Forbes magazine contributor.

Your content can achieve both for you – create visibility and trust – in one easy step with public relations. Consider this: you are already creating content. Why not designate some of your pieces for public relations. You’ll need a few strategic pieces written for and pitched to targeted media where your audience already flocks.

When it comes to PR, don’t depend on Luck
Unlike the lottery, where luck and odds are your silent partners, PR shouldn’t depend on luck.

By definition, PR is the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by an organization or a famous person. Its also, the technique or process of attracting attention to people, products, etc.

A competitor’s media coverage that you may think was a stroke of luck for them, was most likely the result of a savvy strategy, PR plan and consistent implementation on their part.

I believe that Publicity happens when preparation meets opportunity. By becoming PR savvy and actively creating and implementing a PR strategy – you prepare, create and attract media opportunities on a regular basis.

With the definition of media and the number and type of outlets continually expanding [think Instagram, tablet magazines… ] there are increasing opportunities for media coverage and mentions. Journalists, bloggers, publishers all need steady stream of fresh content and expert sources – in other words they need you and your stories.

Your advantage gets even better if you utilize optimization. Create your pitches and press release on topics of interest to your target audience, utilizing language or keywords that they themselves would use. It helps create an emotional connection with your audience, resonating deeply and helping them connect with you better. It can also help you potentially rank higher in the search engines for your targeted keywords.

Ready for a PR win? Time to get in the game.

Want my help with your PR efforts? – check out my program Magnify Your Message

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Top 30 PR Quotes

Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad
Richard Branson

Public-relations specialists make flower arrangements of the facts, placing them so the wilted and less attractive petals are hidden by sturdy blooms
Alan Harrington

Don’t believe your own publicity. You can’t; you’ll start thinking that you’re better than you are
Leif Garrett

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers
Daniel Boorstin

If you don’t tell your story, someone else will
Unknown

You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want

Zig Zeigler

To get something from nothing, you need the validity that only third-party endorsements can bring Al & Laura Ries

Journalism is the ability to meet the challenge of filling space
Rebecca West

It is always a risk to speak to the press: They are likely to report what you say
Hubert H. Humphrey

You can buy attention (advertising). You can beg for attention from the media (PR). You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales). Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free
David Meerman Scott

PR is extremely important, and being able to use it in the right way means everything. You have to market your success
Lee Haney

I’m all in favour of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let’s start with typewriters
Frank Lloyd Wright

At the end, you’re different or you’re cheaper
Guy Kawasaki

You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take
Wayne Gretzky

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough
Albert Einstein

Copy, not from your industry, from others. You have to go where there is no competition
Seth Godin

Think like a publisher, not a marketer
– David Meerman Scott

The most guileful amongst the reporters are those who appear friendly and smile and seem to be supportive.
They are the ones who will seek to gut you on every occasion
Ed Koch

If I had my last marketing dollar to spend, I would spend it on PR
Bill Gates

The questions don’t do the damage. Only the answers do
Sam Donaldson

Skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where its been
Wayne Gretzky

Have a favorite Publicity Quote? Let us know

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