Book Summary Preview : Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul

The Big Idea
Speaking woman-to-woman, this book is the complete guide for anyone who needs to know the PR basics to promote her business. Susan Harrow, publicist, marketing strategist, and consultant to big clients such as iVillage, Random House and Pacific Bell offers loads of practical information from how to prepare professional press materials to getting nationwide television publicity. The art of self-promotion comes from Harrow’s years of experience: from knowing how to create a great press kit, being the message, mastering the interview, forging media relationships, to getting mileage on your own terms.

In this book you will learn how to:
• Stay true to yourself
• Know your message
• Practice presenting your points
• Be yourself
• Become the message you want to give
• Persevere

These are the six main areas of utmost importance to women. Women in particular need media coaching because they have been trained all their lives to be modest about their achievements. Men are very comfortable talking about their own accomplishments and there are social skills and ways of developing media savvy, which women need to use in their own way.

Women also prefer not to cheat along the way to their goals. They prefer to get to where they want to go with integrity and without making so many enemies.

This is a book with woman-centered language, principles, and concerns based on the author’s experience working with mostly female clientele such as iVillage. There is deliberate non-use of aggressive war-like language. Such as “kill your competition” or “win the battle of words”. Women do not find that tone appealing at all. Finally, this book offers very clear examples of materials you can fashion to fit your own unique style. Your distinct voice will come through with the helpful guidance of this author’s experience.

Understand Publicity And What It Can Give You

• Publicity markets your services more effectively than advertising or your parents. Today publicity is the key to communicating with your target audience, especially to women. Women tend to notice the peripheral or subtle rather than the blatant in-your-face ad. Advertisers buy space to plug their products. “For advertising you pay, for publicity you pray,” says veteran publicist Alyson Dutch. Publicity depends on how newsworthy you are to the editors and producers you approach.
• Publicity offers you instant credibility because people tend to perceive that if an editor or producer has chosen to feature a story on your project or business, then it is deemed true and worth a read, or a listen. That’s why everyone’s trying to get on Oprah.
• Publicity sells your products for you. From articles and interviews the written and spoken word brings your message to the audience and even just a subtle mention embedded within a really great story can get you raving fans.
• Publicity encourages customers or clients to give you ideas for products or services or books they want you to develop. Many authors end up developing books that grew from small articles they put out in a newspaper or magazine. Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First are products of the demand readers had for his ideas. When people keep telling you that you should write a book, they mean it!
• Publicity gives potential clients a chance to trust you. Audiences trust the media, so if the media gives you some airtime or space, you must be worth it.