Media & PR -- Finding places to send your press

What a week. Doing research this week for several different clients I found what amounted to a gold mine of media connections. Who would have known that you can go to a site and find all the newspapers, radio shows, TV broadcasts and more. I also found two of the best books on publicity. One is Marcia Yudkin's book, 6 Steps to Free Publicity, and the second is Dan Poynter's book on marketing. Here are some of my amazing finds for your media connections. http://newslink.org -- Newslink / www.radiotalk.org -- Talk Radio / http://www.news365.com -- News 365 / http://www.ecola.com -- Ecola.com. These are just a few of the great resources available. BTW, my new site, http://www.Publicity-VA.com is coming live this week. We are offering free text ads. Stop by!

Smallpox...is there a real threat?

How Safe Are We Really?

Could the Next Terrorist Attack Be Against The United States

and Our Milk Supply?

Los Angeles, California, July 25, 2005. With the tragic events unfolding in London on July 7, 2005, the scare of terrorists attacking on US soil, rampant reports of the possible threat to our nation’s milk supply, and school less than three weeks away, one is left to wonder how safe we really are? Could terrorists use biologic agents, such as smallpox or anthrax, against us? And has the government done all it can to protect its citizens? Dr. Paulo J. Reyes thinks we need to do more and continues to bring awareness about what he considers “clear and present danger.”

Headlines of the dangers to our milk supply were stirred by a recent report by researchers at Stanford University. This report generated significant press coverage including articles in Washington Post, Fox News, USA Today, and CNN to name a few. It reiterated the vulnerability of our nation’s milk supply. Study leader Lawrence M. Wein, noted what raised even greater suspicion was the fact that the government tried to delay the report’s release. Rick Weiss wrote in the Washington Post on June 29th concerning the report, “About a third of an ounce of botulism toxin poured by bioterrorists into a milk truck en route from a dairy farm to a processing plant could cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in economic losses, according to a scientific analysis that was published yesterday despite efforts by federal officials to keep the details secret.”

Dr. Paulo J. Reyes, a practicing Emergency Room Doctor and First Responder to Disasters in Los Angeles, California with a medical career spanning 25 years, is also the author of the medical thriller, Sledgehammer (ISBN # 0-595-66984-0). He has spoken for years about the threat of a smallpox attack and is an avid supporter of nationwide vaccinations. Through extensive research, his training as a First Responder for terrorist’s attacks, and his understanding of the health care system, he feels there is enough evidence to support the possibility of terrorists using smallpox as a weapon against us. Reyes contends, “What if smallpox, a disease thought to be eradicated, was used to devastating effect as a weapon of mass destruction? U.S. intelligence has publicized the possible existence of stocks of smallpox in Iraq, North Korea, France and Russia as grounds for concern that it might be used as a weapon of mass infection against us. Knowing what we know about the workings of al-Qaeda, shouldn’t we do more to protect ourselves against this?”

Reyes’ book, Sledgehammer, details an outbreak of Smallpox and its devastating and fatal effects. It portrays how rapidly the disease spreads, the potential extensive devastation if air-borne, and the fatality of those in contact. Of utmost importance is the alarming realization that the government won’t accept the reality and diagnosis because of their belief smallpox is no longer a threat. Reyes acknowledged once having first hand experience of a case in the ER while working, which presented with symptoms similar to smallpox. However, in contacting the CDC he was informed of the improbability of it being that disease. Reason given -- This disease no longer exists. We know that the danger exists today. Let’s bring this possible threat to the table and address it, solve it, and then rest assured that our nation has done all it can to fight the evils against it.

For more information on the dangers of smallpox go to Dr. Reyes website at http://www.pauloreyes.com. His book, Sledgehammer is available online at Barnes & Noble and other leading bookstores.

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Media -- Dr. Paulo J. Reyes, the Author of the fiction thriller, Sledgehammer, has previously appeared on CNN and is available for TV, Radio, newspaper and other media interviews. Please contact Diana Ennen at Diana@virtualwordpublishing.com or (954) 599-3067 to schedule Dr. Reyes.

What is an aggregator?

An aggregator allows you to read all your blog feeds in one centralized location. They are a great way to keep up with all your favorite blogs without having to remember to go to each individual blog site.

There are two types of aggregators. Web-based aggregators allow you to read all your feeds online through a website. Other aggregators must be downloaded onto your computer before you can use them. A few aggregators you can try out are:

Newsgator
BlogLines
NewsIsFree
NewsDesk BottomFeeder
EffNews RSS Reader
NetNewsWire (Macintosh)
NewsMonster (Mozilla)
FeedReader
FeedDemon

Posted by Mel of Ballyhoo Virtual Services

The joys of Pinging!

Pinging is a way of letting RSS feed aggregators and Blog directories know that your Blog has new content added. In theory, the more often you Ping your Blog, the better your Blog will do in directories and search engines. Take note though that some sites have rules on how many times you can have your blog pingged in a set amount of time.

So how do I ping my blog?

You can use PingMyBlog or my personal favorite Ping-o-Matic.com either one are simple to use. Just enter your Blog information, check off all the boxes, and click "Submit Pings." You will receive a confirmation that your Blog was pingged by each of the sites you checked off.

It’s fast, easy and well worth it.

There’s also a PHP Blog Pingger that you can download but I haven’t had time to check it out yet. It’s called Blogpingger

The following sites will also let you ping your blog:
Blo.gs
Blogdigger
Blogrolling
Blogshares
Blogstreet
Feedburner
Feedster
Moreover
My Yahoo!
NewsGator
PubSub
Syndic8
Technorati
Weblogs.com


Posted by Mel of Ballyhoo Virtual Services

How and why to start a blog

Internet marketers often use blogs as a way to promote their products or services. The use of blogs has become quite popular because the constantly updated content allows the search engines to spider them quickly and keep them indexed. A blog, simply put, is an online journal or diary where articles and updates can be posted frequently with the intent of drawing traffic to your web site. There are several types of blogging software that can be used to create your own blog on whatever topic you choose.

You can choose to use a free blogging service such as the one we are using (blogger.com - my personal favorite) or you can host your blog on your own site (if your website hosting package allows for it) or purchase a separate hosting package strictly for your blog.

A lot of people say it's a good idea to purchase a domain and host your blog without using free services if you are using it for your business because it looks more professional. Instead of your blog name being mybusinessblogname/blogger.com it would just be mybusinessblog.com. Although I see their point and would agree if it were a website, with a blog being less formal, more friendly I think its your choice and it won't make or break you either way.

There are benefits to using a free service such as having pre-made templates at your disposal, the ease of use - you can have your blog up within a half hour, and you don't have to know HTML to name a few.

Once you have your blog up, a good way to get lots of content is to quote and reference material found on other blogs and web sites relating to your topic, and posting comments as you see fit. Now, I'm not saying to copy/paste other people's work word for word but if you find things that are related to your topic and think your readers might find it interesting or helpful, then quote or reference it. In time you can start to blend in longer articles to express any additional thoughts you may have.

Keep in mind that you should write about the things that are of interest to you. If you try to post to your blog about topics you think your readers will enjoy but its things that you dislike, you will become frustrated and you may lose interest. I found an article on another blog called the Top 10 Topics to Blog About and they have some great ideas listed there.

You can draw attention to your blog by linking to the blogs of others and making appropriate comments. If your posts to other blogs are interesting and informative, they will eventually link back to your blog, making their own comments, which will lead to an increase in traffic to your blog and your web site.

When creating your blog, make sure you have a comment form and your email address readily available so your visitors can send feedback. At first you might not get much feedback and it can be frustrating but the more interactive content you add and the more you leave comments on other people's blogs, the more comments you will get.

It is also a good idea to create a page giving your readers a bit of personal information as to who you are and what type of business you operate. Blogs tend to be more "personal" than a typical website so your readers will feel more comfortable if they know a little about you.

Having a Blog can help you increase your web site traffic which should result in increased profits. The best part is that blogs are quick & easy to get started and if you decide later on that you don't have time or it's not drawing more profits, you can always delete it with no hassle.

Posted by Mel of Ballyhoo Virtual Services

Easy RSS for Bloggers

Do you need help adding RSS feeds to your blogger? It’s really easy and here is how you can do it:

Log into your blogger account

Go to "settings"

Go to "site feed"

Copy the "site feed url"

Then go to www.feedburner.com

Scroll down to "try feedburner today" and paste your "site feed url" and then click next. You'll be at "select services" There are lots of options on that page and you can look through them all, but to get to the feeds you need to go to the bottom of that page and click on "next".

Then you can log in or sign up. It's free to sign up. After you fill in your info then click and that page will allow you to "activate your feed". Click on that and then click on "launch your publicity tools" and then click on "chicklet chooser". Then you have many options. I personally always choose the “my yahoo”, “my msn”, “newsgator” and “xml”. Click on each one and you'll see the code you need to grab. You have to do it for each one.

Then just go back to your template and put it in. You're set. As you can see there are other different things you can do too. So look around in there and check them all out.

But that is just the very basics of getting a feed up. Now, when you get that feed added let me know so I can add you to my personal “my yahoo” page!

Nell Taliercio is the owner of a leading work at home mom resource website packed full of unique information for the telecommuter, business owner and virtual assistant.


**Permission to reprint granted by Nell of www.mommysplace.net