Posted by Elena del Valle on December 4, 2015
Publicity From The Trenches
Photos: Sherri Rosen
Because of the fast moving publishing environment gaining attention in the increasingly crowded space of digital and print books can be challenging for new and experienced authors. Some authors know little about publicity self promotion.
Keeping that in mind, Sheri Rosen, head of Sherri Rosen Publicity in New York City wrote a book. She believes that in order to do publicity for a client’s book the publicist must care about the book. She shares tips based on her experience and knowledge with a touch of self promotion in a book for authors. She published Publicity From The Trenches: For Published and Self-Published Authors Paperback, (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, $19.99), a 132-page softcover book (the PDF review copy had 124 pages) March 2015.
The book is peppered with colorful designs and photos, and highlighted quotes. In the section titled The Bottom Line About Publicity, she asks readers, “Imagine publicity with your style, your natural fit, your price, and always your personal satisfaction. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? We thought so, too, but every day, we strive to be a truly custom publicist. That’s our bottom line.”
Sherri Rosen, author, Publicity From The Trenches
She points out that authors are a business and it requires promotion. At the same time, they should spend their time writing while someone with the experience and interest in their work promotes their book. About social media she says it can do a help and also it “… can be a tangled web of wasted time…” Further on in the book she talks about the importance of branding, building a platform and personalized publicity.
Before leading her own publicity company for 17 years, Rosen was in live theater in New York City. According to her website, she writes articles for the Examiner.com, Elephant Journal.com, TheGoodmenProject.com, and for her own Redhead’s Rap Blog.
Click to buy Publicity From The Trenches
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Posted by Elena del Valle on November 20, 2015
The Art of the Start 2.0
Photo: Guy Kawasaki
This year, Guy Kawasaki, author of The Art of the Start first published in 2004, released an updated edition 64 percent longer than the original book. In it, he shares his ideas on starting a new business or launching a new product or service and advice about social media, public relations, advertising, business plans, pitching, and crowdfunding among other topics.
In The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything (Portfolio Penguin, $29.95), a 326-page hardcover book, he says business plans are part of the past along with advertising and public relations.
The book is peppered with questions and answers sections and exercises.
Guy Kawasaki, author, The Art of the Start 2.0
It is divided into 13 chapters in four sections: Conception, Activation, Proliferation and Obligation. In Chapter 6, Kawasaki says, “I pitch, therefore I am.” Through the sentence he seeks to emphasize the importance he assigns to seeking buy-in through fundraising, agreement, partnerships, sales and hiring staff. He ends the book with a short chapter, recommending that readers seek a greater goal than riches and self promotion. He proposes that they help others who cannot reciprocate.
Kawasaki, chief evangelist, Canva, is trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and executive fellow at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. Formerly, he was an adviser to the Motorola business unit of Google and chief evangelist of Apple. Some of his other titles include APE (see Entrepreneur, app developer self publish book on digital publishing), The Art of Social Media (see Social media fans share their techniques in book), and Enchantment (see Guy Kawasaki, former Apple executive, discusses Enchantment in book).
Click to buy The Art of the Start 2.0
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Posted by Elena del Valle on November 11, 2015
Sergio’s Mahi Mahi
Photos: Sergio’s Restaurants
Twenty percent of sales at Sergio’s Restaurants, a Florida company of Cuban franchise restaurants, are to customers with special dietary needs or preferences. The company caters to people who care about what they eat, be they vegetarian, vegan, lactose intolerant, or paleo-friendly. For example, by the end of November 2015 the restaurants will serve all-natural, hormone and antibiotic free, Wagyu beef fed a vegetarian diet from Jackman Florida Natural Wagyu Beef in Clewiston, Florida.
Citing a Lactose Intolerance: Information for Health Care Providers, a 2006 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development publication that estimates 50 percent to 80 percent of Hispanics suffer from lactose intolerance Sergio’s Restaurants recently added products for people who suffer from lactose intolerance.
“Sergio’s is always thinking outside of the box in order to better serve our customers – and this means making more options available,” said Carlos Gazitua, chief executive officer, Sergio’s Restaurants, via email when asked about why the restaurant chain caters to customers with varied needs. “We respect everyone’s diets.”
Sergio’s dishes
Its La Flaca menu offers healthier alternatives to customers including cauliflower rice, baked (instead of fried) dishes and recipes with coconut oil. Some La Flaca dishes are Grilled Chicken with garlic, herbs, and pico de gallo rice; Mahi-Mahi with pico de gallo; and Turkey Picadillo with Lean, Cuban-Style ground turkey.
Target customers range in age between 25 and 50. Staff reach out to customers via Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, and Instagram. The restaurants appear on NBC Miami for Food Presentations and competed in the Tampa Cuban Sandwich Showdown. Founded in 1975 in Westchester, Florida by Blanca Cabrera, Gazitua’s mother, and her mother, Sergio’s has six restaurants and two cafes in South Florida. They are independently owned.
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 6, 2015
Twitter Power 3.0
Photo: Wiley
Joel Comm and Dave Taylor believe Twitter is a powerful business tool, that viral content doesn’t happen by accident, and that videos and photos are necessary to engage effectively with customers on the social media site. In the updated edition of their book, Twitter Power 3.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time (Wiley, $20) published this year they discuss measurement, case studies and their strategies to connect on Twitter, among other Twitter related topics.
They are convinced that the power of Twitter is the possibility of immediate feedback and its broad reach. At the end of the book, they share a short list of people they follow on Twitter and recommend to readers.
“Not really,” Taylor said by email when asked if there were any unexpected findings for the new edition. “Twitter is a pretty straightforward system and while things like sponsored hashtags are relatively new, the basic idea of engagement remains the same as it was from the early days both of Twitter and social media in general. If you use it to broadcast, it’s not interesting or successful.”
The 272-page softcover book is divided into 12 chapters that address social media in general, Twitter’s popularity, first steps as well as setup and design, finding followers, communicating with customers and teams on Twitter, brand building on Twitter, using Twitter to influence the behavior of followers, making money on Twitter, and third party tools.
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Twitter is definitely trying to find its way, but Joel and I are confident that the future is bright: It’s a simple, popular service with a realtime aspect that’s unlike any other popular social media service and widespread adoption in the media. We’ll all get to see how that plays out!” Taylor said in reply to a question about the future of Twitter given recent news of staff layoffs and profitability uncertainty.
Comm, a serial entrepreneur, is the author of ten other books, including The AdSense, a New York Times bestselling title. He didn’t reply to email questions. Taylor has launched four internet startups, written 22 books and is the host AskDaveTaylor.com.
Click to buy Twitter Power 3.0
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 26, 2015
Doug Simon, CEO, D S Simon Media
Photo: Doug Simon
A podcast interview with Doug Simon, CEO, D S Simon Media, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, he discusses his company’s Media Influencers Report with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Doug is also the founder of D S Simon Media now Simon Media. His firm pioneered Internet Media Tours and its unique approach to guiding clients, PRketing, was awarded a trademark by the US patent office. He’s provided strategic counsel and executed campaigns for Pfizer, Fidelity, Lincoln Financial, Macy’s, HOOD, the Consumer Electronics Association, Whitney Museum of American Art and the American College of Physicians.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right side, then select “HMPR Doug Simon” and click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the October 2015 section of the podcast archive
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 21, 2015
Vitamania*
A 2011 Journal of Nutrition report indicates most consumers rely on foods fortified or enriched with synthetic vitamins for their essential micro nutrient intake. That is not surprising given that most of the vitamins we consume today are synthetic, according to Catherine Price, author, Vitamania. What may surprise many is that while in the early years of synthetic vitamin development the United States played an important role, today most of the market is under the corporate thumb of two European companies. And the majority of their production facilities are in China.
Last week in my note about Vitamania (see Journalist believes devotion to supplements keeps us from good health) I indicated Catherine Price, the author, had declined to answer questions. It had been two weeks since I had sent her questions and the deadline for replies was long past. Saturday, October 17, 2015, I received an answer.
Catherine Price, author, Vitamania*
Below are the questions and answers:
HispanicMPR.com
What was the main reason you wrote the book (other than the question your husband asked you in Lithuania)?
Catherine Price:
I wanted to gain a better understanding of a subject I took for granted. I also was curious about how the story of vitamins might change the way we should think about nutrition as a whole.
HispanicMPR.com:
In one sentence how do you define a vitamin or a nutritional supplement?
Catherine Price:
(Sorry, I can’t do it in one sentence!)
There’s no chemical definition for a vitamin — the word was coined in 1911 before they had been chemically isolated, and it turns out they’re not all part of the same chemical family. The public tends to define vitamins (of which there are only 13) as a chemical that we need in very tiny amounts, and that we usually get from our diets, that is necessary to prevent a specific vitamin deficiency disease, but there exceptions to each of these statements.
A dietary supplement (that’s the official term, not nutritional supplement) is defined by the Food and Drug Administration (which is the administration responsible for regulating America’s supplements) as “a product intended for ingestion that contains a ‘dietary ingredient’ intended to add further nutritional value to (supplement) the diet.”
There’s more info on what substances that definition includes here: fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm195635.htm
HispanicMPR.com:
Are you opposed to vitamins?
Catherine Price:
To clarify: we have a habit of using the word “vitamin” to refer both to the 13 essential vitamins (A, C, D, E, K and the 8 B vitamins) and to the much broader category of dietary supplements (there are some 85,000 dietary supplement products on the market in America). There’s no way you could oppose the 13 vitamins — we need them in order to survive! But I don’t think that most people need to take them as pills. As for dietary supplements, I’m not necessarily for or against them, but I have a lot of concerns about their safety, efficacy, and the authenticity of their ingredients.
HispanicMPR.com:
What was the greatest challenge to the book project?
Catherine Price:
A lot of the questions I thought were simple (what is a vitamin, how do vitamins work, what do they do, how much of each do we need) do not have answers.
HispanicMPR.com:
What was the biggest surprise?
Catherine Price:
That was also probably the biggest surprise. But once I got over the terror of not having solid answers to my questions, I realized that we should use this uncertainty as a lesson: vitamins are a great example of how little we actually understand about human nutrition. Their story has taught me to stop obsessing about the minutiae of nutrition, and to just eat naturally nutrient-dense food.
*Photos: Penguin Press, Sara Remington
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 16, 2015
Vitamania
Photos: Penguin Press, Sara Remington
While it is true that there are 13 chemicals or vitamins essential for good health. And that the lack of one or more of those compounds result in the death of millions of people around the world. Catherine Price, a Philadelphia journalist, is convinced that the word vitamin has become an easy replacement in our vocabulary for healthy, and that “the very power of vitamins makes them a double-edged sword.”
She believes despite scientific uncertainty about vitamins many people use vitamins as a sort of health insurance that can ensure we live long and healthy lives. In Vitamania: Our Obsessive Quest For Nutritional Perfection (Penguin Press, $27.95), a 318-page hardcover book published this year, she explains the reasons behind her thinking.
Catherine Price, author, Vitamania
Price, who did not respond to questions via her publishing company, points out that the further removed from its natural state food is the lower its nutritional content. Eating a broad diet of nutritionally dense foods, including vegetables and fruits, and staying away from heavily processed foods and sugary beverages may be the best approach to acquiring all the vitamins we require, she says in the Epilogue. She strives to challenge readers to reevaluate their own beliefs about vitamins, nutrition and food. She suggests that while nutrition is complex eating healthy in a pleasurable and scientific way is easy.
Click to buy Vitamania
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 9, 2015
WalletHub’s Most & Last Ethno-Racially Diverse Cities
Image: WalleHub
It is no secret that the face of America is changing. Immigration, native births and mixed ethnicity marriages may be among the factors leading to a growing racial and cultural blending across the country.
Since 2011, more than half of children born in the United States have been part of ethnic or racial minorities; and by 2020, the total minority population may grow to 40.7 percent from 30.9 percent in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
To get a glimpse of the situation today, Richie Bernardo, personal finance writer, WalletHub, and the folks at his personal finance website researched the topic and consulted 12 academics (six men and six women). With their help he identified what could be the “most ethno-racially and linguistically diverse landscapes.” He compared 313 of the most populated cities nationwide with three criteria in mind: diversity by racial and ethnicity, language and United States region of birth and produced 2015’s Most & Least Ethno-Racially Diverse Cities, a short report.
The report concluded that four of the 10 most diverse cities are in Maryland, and two are in California. They are: Gaithersburg, Maryland; Jersey City, New Jersey; Germantown, Maryland; New York, New York; Oakland, California; Spring Valley, Nevada; San Jose, California; Silver Spring, Maryland; Renton, Washington; and Rockville, Maryland.
At the bottom of the list two of the bottom ten are in Wisconsin. They are: Birmingham, Alabama; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; O’Fallon, Missouri; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Duluth, Minnesota; Warwick, Rhode Island; Parma, Ohio; Oshkosh, Wisconsin; and Livonia, Michigan.
Interesting findings include that although Laredo, Texas has the highest concentration of Hispanics, 95.2 percent, the racial and ethnic diversity of Oakland, California is four times higher than in Laredo. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, has the highest concentration of whites, 90.6 percent. Detroit has the highest concentration of blacks, 79.1 percent. Miami has the highest concentration of Spanish speakers, 69.4 percent; and Honolulu has the highest concentration of Asian- and Pacific Islander-language speakers, 32.6 percent.
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 2, 2015
Carmit Yadin, author, How to Boom B2B Sales
Photos: Bohlsen Group
After years in the high tech industry Carmit Yadin began to work in sales. She had to learn how to be a salesperson on her own. In How to Boom B2B Sales (Archway Publishing, $11.99) she shares the insights she gained.
“With dedication, tons of mistakes, studying, asking questions, consulting people I knew and people I didn’t, I found my way,” Yadin said in a press release. “I don’t want anyone with a passion for sales to toil as I had to. Business is between people, not companies. We must provide solutions for these people and stop trying to sell if we want to ultimately boom sales.”
The 121-page book published in 2014 is divided into 22 chapters. In it she stresses that readers should focus on the customer’s financial results rather than their own, break the sales process into small pieces, pursue sales through social media, and develop B2B sales leads and qualify them before following up.
Yadin, a Tedx speaker, focuses her time on helping business leaders increase sales. She lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Click to buy How to Boom B2B Sales
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Posted by Elena del Valle on September 25, 2015
On Romantic Love
Photo: Oxford University Press
Love is an emotion and as such may be rational or irrational. It may be experienced in degrees; it may be conscious and unconscious; and it may be controlled so that we may fall in and out of love. So says Berit Brogaard, professor of Philosophy, University of Miami.
In On Romantic Love Simple Truths About A Complex Emotion (Oxford University Press, $21.95) a hardcover 270-page book published this year, Brogaard attempts to get to the bottom of love’s many contradictions. The book includes black and white photos and original line drawings by illustrator Gareth Southwell.
Why does it matter? She explains that love, unlike marriage, seems to lead to happiness. The reference to love is not only about romantic love. Other forms of love such as friendship, parental, sibling, and companion also are linked to feeling blissful.
George E. Vaillant, a researcher she quotes in the book, says: “Happiness is love, Full stop.” He concluded after years of study on the subject that the ability to be intimate with another person was a strong predictor of health and happiness. The author believes that is too strong a statement. In its place she suggests instead that rational love leads to happiness.
Brogaard’s previous book, Transient Truths, was published in 2012. In her academic research she specializes in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and the cognitive sciences.
Click to buy On Romantic Love
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