Rx for Pitches

Publicity hound Joan Stewart is offering a free teleseminar to help solve your media pitch problems on January 25 at 1 p.m. eastern time. Joan will choose some submitted pitches during the call. Registration is required.

In related news, you can now get the Publicity's Hounds Tips of the Week newsletter online and via RSS.

Free Info to Go

Two upcoming seminars at the SirsiDynix Institute may be of interest:

1. Knowing Who We Serve - To Serve Them Better Geo-Marketing: Customer-Based Research - February 08, 2006
   
2. Weblogs & Libraries: Communication, Conversation, and the Blog People - February 15

Don't worry if you can't make the Webinar, you'll be able to view the archived Webinar online afterwards. And if you haven't seen it already, check out Pat Wagner's archived seminar "Marketing As If Your Library Depended On It."

Newsletter Tips from a Pro

Kathy Dempsey, editor of the Marketing Library Services newsletter, gave some great tips every library newsletter writer, editor and contributor should keep in mind today on ALA's ACADEMICPR electronic list. I've summarized her tips below, with Kathy's permission:

• Don't just send the newsletter to everyone. Although opt-in newsletters "make the start-up more complicated, that's what people usually prefer to do. Sending to everyone then saying 'you can opt out' can make people resentful."
  
  
• When it comes to newsletters, one size doesn't fit all. Consider different newsletters for each audience. As Kathy explained, "faculty and students have very different needs, so if you want to create something that really matters to your audience, you need to customize for each different group."

• Give 'em what they want! "Don't forget to ask: why would people want to read this? If you give people something they want, you'll be more successful than if you push them content that you think they need. If we connect with the people first, later in the conversations we could say, "you know what else might be of use to you?"
  

Want to sign up for ACADEMICPR? From ALA's site
"To subscribe, send a message to: listproc@ala.org. Leave subject blank. In the body of the message, type: subscribe ACADEMICPR your first and last name."