Spring Has Sprung

My Husband Snaps a Shot of Spring Sprung

Warm weather. I am loving it. My husband and I were getting over colds last weekend and instead of enjoying our off-road motorcycles or whitewater kayaks, we planned an easy-going day in our back-yard with our husky, Lou Lou. We snapped photos of the budding flowers (see photo) and made a camp-fire. Today, Wednesday, I’ve still got cabin fever and am LOVING this warm weather. Spring has sprung and with it, my client campaigns are heating up as well. Here’s a taste of what I’ve got cooking right now:

CURRENT MEDIA CAMPAIGNS I’M WORKING ON:

> MONEY EXPERT - Learn how to “Bank on Yourself” with financial security expert, Pamela Yellen whose book comes out in paperback March 23. Should you get a money-back guarantee from your financial advisor? Yellen says you can and you should. And what about your taxes? Are you getting all you should? Ask me for her tax tips.

> NEED A BIG KAHUNA TO HELP YOUR HEALTH, CAREER AND LOVE LIFE? - I’m going to be with well-being expert, Dr. Matthew B. James in Hawaii this next week for his 40th Hawaiian Huna event. I can’t wait. He also launches his new book this month so be sure to reserve your copy so you can see how you can be your own “big Kahuna” in your own life. It chronicles 28 generations of big kahuna secrets sure to impact your energy, wealth, health and relationships with other people (and your self, most importantly).

> DREAM JOB EXPERT – Landmark Education’s Communication Expert and Performance Coach, David Cunningham was just on Seattle’s KOMO TV with tips on how to create your dream job. If you want to harness the power of language to create your dream job, or dream relationship, for that matter, Cunningham’s got guidance from working with people in seminars delivered in 120 cities world-wide.

> MUSIC EXPERT – Schools are cutting music budgets, but never fear, the ancient and inexpensive instrument, the Ocarina, is here. See a few 4 minute TV spots to learn what music can do for your family with the experts from the St. Louis School of Music. (They’re great in-studio performers, by the way, too!)

> SUMMER CAMP/TEEN LIFE SKILLS EXPERT – SuperCamp Co-founder and Accelerated Learning Expert, Bobbi DePorter was on WGN teaching tips on how to teach teens to learn; most of us don’t even know how to learn. That’s a basic life-skill we all need. Summer camp is around the corner, and DePorter discussed how to motivate teens and choose the best summer camp on San Diego TV and the blogosphere.

> OVERCOMING SUICIDE: A daring and inspirational story of how one teen overcame his mother’s suicide.

> GOT FREEDOM? At Home? With Time? Yourself? How ’bout Money? - Business Lifestyle Expert, David Wood is GIVING AWAY hard copies of his new book for a limited time in April. Take his Freedom Quiz to see if you need more freedom with your income, job, inner self or maybe where you live. He’s coaching more than 90,000 people in 90+ countries.

> FAT TO SKINNY - See this 4 minute Channel 5 segment on a man who’s lost 100 pounds and reversed potential Type 2 Diabetes. His wife lost 75 pounds too. How’d they do it? Not at the sugar shack. Give him any “healthy” meal: breakfast, lunch or dinner and he’ll visually demonstrate how unhealthy, hidden dangers lurk that put many of us in danger of diabetes.

> CAN LETTERS HEAL? – Former school principle, Dr. Raye Adkins’ father died before she was born. Through letters, she healed from the hurt and she writes about it in a book that chronicles those letters and the power of communication ~ even with the deceased. From the ashes of that pain, she launches several charities helping children in Africa and orphans here in America with a teddy bear and beauty care product line. Always creative, Dr. Adkins is also launching a new fun product that teaches little boys how “to aim” when going to the bathroom. A true entrepreneur out to make a difference with children abroad, here at home and even in the potty room.

> DREAM HOME EXPERT – Your dream home can be green and storm-proof. “Circle back” and learn from the pros the pitfalls and pleasure of building your own dream home. You can visit lots of dream homes already built around the country to see what they did right.

> RAW FOOD AND SPIRITUALITY EXPERT – How is your choice of food connected to your spirituality? Rev. Chavah Aima explains how to live the enlightened life.

> STRESS ERASER EXPERT (CONTEST) - Don Goewey’s working with people to eliminate stress for good. His “stress-off” button (in the palm of your hand) was featured in January’s 2010 Outside Magazine and he’s now conducting a contest where one lucky winner will learn the secrets of being mystically cool at work and home. April 1st is the contest deadline – because you’d be a fool to not eliminate stress from your life.

> INTERIOR DESIGN EXPERTS – How does the design of your office impact productivity? Is your home the R&R sanctuary it can be? Design experts from the IIDA show us how.

> MARKETING AND PR EXPERT – Did you learn everything you needed to know to grow your business in kindergarten? PR and Dot Com Guru, Drew Gerber says yes.

> INSPIRATION DEFICIT DISORDER? – Do you have it? Has the passion left your job, marriage, life? Hay House Publishing Favorite, Rev. Dr. Jonathan Ellerby’s book comes out in August and will save-the-day when it comes to getting inspired in life.

> TAKE OUR DAUGHTERS AND SONS TO WORK DAY – Millions participate. I can connect you to the founders and organizers.

> TEEN DATING/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – Judge Eugene Hyman has tips for families and solutions for our family and juvenile courts.

Get Personal – I did

Do you share personal stories about yourself with others? Do! Especially the media. They cannot resist a good story. They love them even more around holidays, like Valentines Day! In this case, the mention didn’t get my companies mentioned but it does prove my ability to work with a freelancer to get top-notch coverage, so see, even if you don’t get “a plug” you get exposure. And, best of all, you spread good cheer in the world. I often say to my clients, “I’m just a goodwill megaphone for you.” And I truly believe that. What gets me so excited about being a publicist is I share positive, life-impacting stories with the media that may even uplift and inspire you. To that end, click on this link to enjoy this very personal story about me on AOL Personals. Oh – and Happy Valentine’s Day.

Want to see the card my husband used on moving day/Valentine’s Day to catch me off guard and propose to me? Here you go. I grabbed it from my souvenirs box.

Record Your Life

I got the funniest recording of a phone call today. A friend sent me a recording from Tom Mabe. I looked him up on the Internet. He’s a comedian who keeps a recording device by his phone and when he gets a telemarketing call, he pranks them. Hysterical. The one I heard he told the caller he was a detective investigating a homicide and now the caller should be investigated too because he’s calling the home where a crime was committed. It really was funny. So check out Tom Mabe whose sells, “Revenge on the telemarketer.” He’s got free downloads at his site. But here’s what we can learn from this comedian. Number one, have a sense of humor when you make a phone call (receiving or making). Number two, record your life. How incredible! To make products out of his everyday life?! I started to do the same thing years ago – not as funny as Tom, but still - when people started asking me for free advice. I thought, “Whew, what’s in this for me? I’m giving all this free advice and it’s taking loads of my time.” So, what I started to do was set up recorded phone calls with the advice seekers and viola, instant line of recordings for the public at large on how to do PR. It’s been great — for everyone: the people seeking PR advice (they get it free), me (I get to turn my recordings into products, articles and more) and you (the public) because you get to listen in and learn tips of the trade. You can sign up to hear the recordings at my PR firm, Wasabi Publicity. All in all, the best evidence to record your life. Maybe you can profit from it too!

A Good Thing

Ever wonder what to do with great media coverage? Why not turn it into a contest like Don Goewey whose stress elimination tips were featured in Outside Magazine this month. He turned the article into a stress eraser contest. If you want to eliminate stress for good from your life, sign up. You just can’t get enough of a good thing, right!?!

Music to My Ears

I’m in New York media training a client. Meanwhile, my other client appears on Fox Boston and scores all her sound bites about Teacarinas and Ocarinas while giving the TV producers there excellent information about music education. Are you media trained to not be overly promotional in your media interviews? If not, tell me why. Laura Yeh discovered it was music to her ears in this segment.

Fox TV In My Front Yard

A publicist’s dream … wake up one morning and a news truck is in your front yard. It happened to me Saturday, quite a snowy morning! See my sound byte on Fox Carolinas.

Snow Stops Santa!

I thought you’d get a kick out of the email below I sent to a news assignment desk. Santa was almost stopped by snow!

Fox News was outside my house this morning.  Are you maximizing iReporter moments ~ especially when weather strikes? Who knows? My poor mother might even be picked up by National Fox due to her bare-feet spa moment. Whew, the presents for our niece and nephews made it to the post office! I was so concerned Santa may be stopped. From snowy North Carolina … happy holidays.

 

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Michelle Tennant <tennantmichelle@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Subject: HOME VIDEO Christmas Packages Getting to Post Office This Morning
To: foxcarolinanews@foxcarolina.com

Hey Everyone at Fox:

Can you forward this email, please, to Steve and Will? I met them this morning due to the snow in my yard.

 

I saw Steve and Will’s Fox truck at my neighbor’s this morning and since I’m a publicist, I couldn’t resist talking to them. Plus, I was on a mission to get my nephews Christmas packages in the mail by noon. Steve saw me “stick” my all-wheel drive pretty good before he and Will had to take off. I thought he might like to see our home video. My husband was a bit peeved we had to use his winch to pull me out of the snow.

 

The good news? We made it to the post office! (In my husband’s 4-wheel truck). We had to pass 4 ditched cars on the way and my husband said the road felt like driving on an off-road motorcycle track, which we do regularly.

 

Here’s us being Santa despite the snow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwJtt3kN_mE

You can of course use the footage.

 

Here’s our husky enjoying the snow and my visiting German mom lovin’ the cold on her feet – I guess she thought it was a spa moment.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ugROFnvO-Y

Michelle Tennant Nicholson | Wasabi Publicity, Inc. |  Blog & Social Networking Links 411 Page: www.StorytellerToTheMedia.com | 828.749.3200
“Michelle’s a great publicist. She knew what I needed before I even asked,” Brian Curtis, Anchor/Reporter, NBC5 Dallas-Fort Worth
“Michelle is a five star publicist,” says Mable Chan, Good Morning America Producer

PS: http://www.PitchRate.com (PR & source tool for you)  

Picture This

 

Give media photos. Include doggies! We all love animals. Here’s my family 2009 holiday shot … with my husband (Shannon) and my rescue husky, Lou Lou. Pets are great news hooks. Check out this breaking news I’m covering for Give-A-Dog. Move over George Costanza’s human fund, I’m saving dogs with Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas. See the post below for lots more! I’m a busy media elf for sure.

Busy Media Elf

Be Santa’s helper … a little elf and make your media friends’ jobs easier this December and January. Want to know what this elf is working on? Here’s a glimpse.

UNIQUE GIFTS (Music and Pet Lovers)
What’s not to love about giving a musical flute instrument  (that’s also a “tea” cup) or giving a gift that saves a dog’s life? 
STL Ocarina and Teacarina
Fans of the video game “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” and parents seeking an inexpensive, easy-to-play instrument to introduce their children to music lead a resurgence of interest in the ocarina. And STL Ocarina is ready to equip them with thousands of the pocket-sized, pottery wind instruments in all shapes and colors. Now, it’s even a tea-cup. See the video of how a tea cup becomes an ancient wind instrument.

Pets Alive 
(Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas just donated money to this unique charity! Want to find out some favorite dog cookie recipes to celebrate?!)
With many people seeking a simpler, more meaningful holiday season, GiveADog.org offers the perfect gift for dog lovers everywhere. This unique foster care program for dogs is offered through Pets Alive, one of the nation’s oldest no-kill animal sanctuaries. It allows people to save dogs that would otherwise be destroyed!

FAMILY COURT
What happens when mom does kiss Santa (but it’s not dad). Surviving divorce during the holidays and how to have your juvenile not get a lump of coal in 2010.
Judge Eugene Hyman
The Honorable Judge Eugene M. Hyman is recognized as an international expert in preventing juvenile, family and domestic violence. A 2008 recipient of the United Nations Public Service Excellence Award, Judge Hyman has created a model to reform how courts help families end the cycle of domestic violence and crime.

NOBEL PRIZE STORY
Funny story about sitting next to a king and what to wear when your spouse wins the Nobel prize 
Anita Laughlin
Anita Laughlin tells what it’s like to be married to a Nobel laureate — the joys and trials that go into winning the world’s most prestigious award, the triumph of traveling to Sweden to accept it, in her new book Reindeer with King Gustaf.

BRAIN EXPERT
Maybe the Grinch was just stressed out? He needed these tools from Don Goewey to rewire his brain: 1) The ’easy button’ to eliminate stress (Hint: it’s in the palm of your hand) and 2) The one question to ask yourself to train your brain to be creative instead of primally scared.
Don Joseph Goewey (say Go EEE)
In the aftershocks of the economic crisis, millions of people worry about their financial future. Living in constant stress, worry and turmoil has become a sign of our times. It does not have to be that way. Neuroscience shows we can lower or even eliminate levels of stress by tapping into our minds’ ability to constantly change, grow and adapt. Enter Don Joseph Goewey, an expert in stress reduction and human potential, corporate trainer and author of the new book Mystic Cool.

PURPOSEFUL TRAVEL EXPERTS 
Who doesn’t want to go some place exotic? Especially if it means getting more in touch with your self so you feel like every day’s a vacation. 
Matthew B. James
Known as the Trainer of Trainers, Dr. Matthew B. James integrates the ancient Hawaiian practices of “Huna” with cutting-edge therapeutic techniques to help us build the solid foundation necessary for true transformation.

Patricia Cori The 2012 Transition Expert  
For more than 25 years, author and metaphysician Patricia Cori has studied the spiritual paths of indigenous cultures, from the jungle pyramids of the ancient Mayans to the desert tombs of the Pharaohs. Audiences and readers worldwide trust Cori as their fearless guide through ancient mysteries and modern changes. Her message resonates because of her ability to bring people practical insight into satisfaction and meaning in their lives today.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION EXPERT
How will stay on track with your goals? Try Paving it Forward.
Elisabeth Fayt
Elisabeth Fayt is an international speaker, owner of RnR Wellness, and author of the new book Paving it Forward. Through her seminars, workshops, retreats, speaking engagements, and book, Elisabeth Fayt teaches others how to use their thoughts and intentions to pre-pave a new road to the best possible day and life.

  

See my other clients online press kits at Search Press Kits. Or, if you have a specific need to reach more than 16,000 people check out Pitch Rate. (You can even be anonymous.)

300

How do you turn one media interview into 300 with a phone call? Scoring national syndicated radio, that’s how. Thanksgiving week I’m going to share with you how I landed a client on the old Larry King radio show spot this past Thursday and how they essentially did 300 interviews in one that day. Stay tuned!  Gobble, gobble.