As a former TV news reporter/producer and a current PR/publicity professional, I have been on both sides of the media interview game. I like to think I have a good eye for what makes a good interview source, how to conduct an interesting interview, and how to give a compelling interview. There are a few tricks of the trade that can make you come off like a pro — which will make the reporter’s job easier and most likely translate into a better PR/publicity placement for you.

Here are a few basic tips to follow:

* When a publicity campaign generates a media response, try to respond as promptly as possible to that initial contact and subsequent requests. Reporters, editors and producers are on constant deadline. If they don’t get what they want from you quickly — they WON’T wait — they WILL move on to another source.

* State facts, not fireworks, keeping superlatives to a minimum. Proving your product is indeed the “BEST” is next to impossible. So don’t. Simply state the specific benefits of your product matter of factly. Let the consumer decide which product is best. As long as you have a quality product, something that should be evident by the time you implement a publicity campaign, your product won’t need “BEST EVER” or “NUMBER 1” claims to come out in a positive light.

* Speak in sentences, not phrases.
Articulate your answers in the following manner: Subject — Verb — Object — Reason

Ex: “We (subject) are launching (verb) our new product (object)
to give consumers a healthy new option in beverages (reason).”

This will help you give answers that are straightforward and easily understood. Beginning sentences with phrases, tends to make your answers seem drawn out, disjointed and most times unresponsive. This is not to say you should never begin a sentence with a phrase. Granted, some media savvy interviewees can pull it off with articulation. But until you get to that level — stick to the fundamentals.

* “Echo-answer” the main questions.
If a reporter asks: “What’s so great about your new product?” — try to paraphrase and answer: “The great thing about our product is…” That quote/soundbite is much more likely to be used because that answer can stand on its own without needing a “set-up” sentence in the article/story. A reporter can throw that quote in anywhere and it is a logical, understandable statement about the product.

* Keep quotes and sound bites concise and articulate.
If you must have a “canned response” to a question speak conversationally, not like a robot. A good rule of thumb for answer lengths: Effective TV/radio news broadcast soundbites should be around 4-10 seconds — something you can speak comfortably in about 3 or 4 normal breaths. Anything longer and it may seem to drone on. That’s why they are called sound bites. Regardless, stick to the S-V-O formula and there’s no real way you can get off track and therefore open you up to awkward follow-up questions.

* Be a well, not a fountain.
By that I mean allow the interviewer to dip in and draw out your responses instead of spewing forth a tirade of unsolicited information. (Don’t worry – most interviewers will “lead” you into discussing the most relevant aspects of your product) You will seem more genuine and less self-serving if you answer the interviewer’s questions succinctly and professionally. This is especially true in “firefighting” publicity — when your
product/business/company is being interviewed in the wake of a problem.

* Speak to the interviewer, not the medium.
Don’t get blinded by the “stage lights”. Whether you are speaking to the editor of a small town weekly newspaper or Oprah, consider the reporter just a single person in your extensive targeted audience. Treat the interview as a one on one conversation with the reporter. That will make you more at ease, allow you to think more clearly and let you be more genuine in your responses.

Search engine optimization (SEO) tips from successful Internet marketers can offer popular means of bringing more search engines and people to your websites. And more search engines plus more people is a simple formula for more clicks and sales, a win-win for online marketers in all niches.

So let’s cut to the chase, here are some top SEO tips form those who’ve been there, done that, with successful results:

1. Select a Keyword Rich Domain Name

This may not always be possible in many niche markets for the more popular keywords. Therefore you can focus on creating mini-sites that are keyword based. For example, if your website is about web hosting, you can create mini-sites about web hosting but with a lesser known keyword such as “low cost web hosting”.

2. Choose Search Engine Friendly URLs

Use search engine friendly URLs when possible. You want to be sure to use hyphens and underscores in all your URLs and preferably have the URLs be the keyword that relates to the page. For example, if the web page is about web hosting, then the URL could be web-hosting or web_hosting.

3. Check out your IP Address

For the websites you believe to be most important, ensure that they have unique ip addresses for each site. The reason this is important is many sites on a “shared” hosting service share the same ip address. If any of these sites have been banned by the search engines, it could affect your site’s ranking or even result in your site being banned as well, since it is sharing the same ip address.

4. Do some Keyword research

It’s important to do thorough research before deciding what keywords you’ll focus on when optimizing your website. A popular tool you can use is Good Keywords, a free keyword research software application.

Give these SEO tips a try and check your own results. See what works best for your products and services, and then repeat accordingly with new campaigns all year long to keep a healthy flow of traffic, clicks and sales coming your way.

There are many conflicting theories about color and layout of a website, however I would like to list a few rules that will help you improve your website visitor experiences.

I have seen literally hundreds of landing pages and websites that have great sales copy, are promoting quality products, and have a lot of potential to be a great, but the page looks horrible. Today we are going to focus on the readability and layout of a website.

The purpose of a landing page or website is to get your visitors to read what you have to say. Whether you’re selling products and services, or providing useful information, you need to be able to effectively communicate with your visitors for them to take the action you desire. That action could be clicking on a link, signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product. The size and color of your text play a huge part in communicating your message to your visitors. Having Black Text, on a white background is THE easiest form of text to read.

Using color schemes that clash, or cause the text to be difficult to read will many times cause your visitors to leave your page immediately. If you want to use a different color background or text color, make sure that readability is not negatively affected. Below are a few rules that will help you improve your website.

1. Do not use dark text with a dark background. Dark text on dark background makes it hard to distinguish text from the background color. Thus making your eyes have to focus harder.

2. Do not use text colors that clash with background color. White text on a black background has a “glowing” like affect that makes your text hard to read. Red on blue also creates a negative glowing affect.

3. Do not use large text for your main sales copy or body paragraphs. It is ok to use larger text for links and headlines, but the main text of your page should be Arial Size 2 (12pt). Arial Size 2 is the internet standard.

4. Do not waste the space at the top of the page with unnecessary graphics, flash, or banners that have no purpose. Simply listing the name of your website, or domain name is a very poor use of this prime real estate space. The first fold of your website is the most important space that you have because it is the section of the page that is visible as soon as your page loads. Do not take up this space with unnecessary graphics, flash, or banners. A Strong headline that states the benefit of your product or service is always better than a banner that has no purpose.

If you are struggling with site design or if its taking too much of your time, here’s some tools that can greatly help you.

Site Rubix: Not free but well worth the investment. Cost less than most website builders. This website builder enables you to create professional looking websites within 5 minutes, all without any Html knowledge.

DreamWeaver: This software is allows you to build visually appealing websites without Html skills, but may take you awhile to get past the learning curve that the software presents. DreamWeaver is one of the more popular but expensive website builders.

Nvu: It’s free, but will take you longer to make a website and generally the site will not look as professional.

Remember, your website serves a purpose, whatever that purpose is make sure your visitors can easily read and understand message. I hope the tips provided above assist you in creating a professional looking website that you can take pride in.

There are many ways to help ensure the success of your home business. Even something as simple as your frame of mind can determine whether or not your home business will be successful. Here are a few tips to help make your home business live up to its potential.

First, in keeping with the idea that a positive outlook helps your home business, remember that not everything is as bad as it seems. When things with your home business are not going well, or you feel frustrated and discouraged, continue on. Perhaps there is a new sale for your home business, or some other bit of positive encouragement right around the corner.

Second, remember that you can do almost anything that you set your mind to do. With hard work and determination, your home business can be all that you’ve dreamed it would be. Don’t let people or problems discourage you or get you to let go of your home business dreams. At the same time, don’t sit idle and expect your home business dreams to happen without your help, either. Your hard work, tenacity, and determination can cause your home business to prosper in all the ways you’ve hoped.

Third, it is important to remember not to let your pride get in the way of what you want to accomplish as a home business owner. Build bridges with your home business customers and other colleagues by admitting when you are wrong, making up for mistakes, and doing whatever it takes to earn their business. Additionally, in your home business, it is important to share credit with any other business partners or colleagues that have been part of something positive. Carrying out these good home business practices will keep you in good standing with your customers and business associates.

Fourth, remember to write down the goals for your home business. It is a proven fact that a home business, or any other venture, will get much farther toward the goal if it is written down. Make a home business plan for yourself. What do you hope to accomplish in your home business within the next year or two? What about five years from now? How can you make that happen? This is beneficial to your home business, not only by causing you to remember your original intentions, but also by helping you to break down your hopes and dreams into smaller pieces of a home business plan.

There are so many opportunities on the internet offering to set people up in their own home based internet business that it can be difficult to separate the real, legitimate opportunities from the ones that only want your money. Knowing what to look for hidden within the offers can mean the difference between finding a legitimate business to operate and ending up helping someone else make money while losing your own.

With most fraudulent offers for in internet business there are four red flags that need to be thoroughly investigated before signing up to work for the website. Understand that not all of the companies that make these claims are out to take your money, but these are four things that many less than honest companies have in common:

1. Large upfront investment
2. The chance to make big money with little work
3. Do not clearly state what you will be selling
4. Lack of available contact information

While it is not uncommon for business to want a fee to become a representative for their business, you have to consider the amount demanded from you before you can start selling their product or service. You should also have a clear picture of what you will get in return for your investment. It is common for the term training to be listed, but many times the training consists of links to other sites where you are expected to learn about the company’s business model.

The training may also focus on how to recruit others into the business, offering to pay a “bounty” for bringing in new people. A company that focuses on bringing in more people instead of selling the product may be on the border of being illegal.

Anyone who has ever been involved in a business knows it takes work. One of the most common pitches is the promise of a big payday without having to work more than an hour or two a day…or even a week. There is no such thing as a free lunch and those who try to convince you otherwise and not being totally honest. That disclaimer about income may not a representative of the potential earnings, should beg the question about why even bother to list it.

If you have been reading an online based business opportunity for several minutes and have no idea about the product or service you are being asked to sell, it could be an indication of a scam. Many keep it a secret until you have spent your money and find out there is no way you can sell this to others with a clear conscious. Know what the product is, and how much it will cost, before considering the offer any further.

Look for contact information. If the only means of contacting the company is through an email address, it could be they don’t plan to be around long enough to answer any questions or complaints. Money back guarantees are also only about as good as the contact information. Email addresses and post office boxes are not good contacts.