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So.... Here’s your handy-dandy press checklist:

• Who’s calling and why?

• Are you freelance or staff? (Are you writing on spec or for an actual assignment?)

• What is your deadline?

• What is the subject, the lead? (opening lines of the article).

• Can you e-mail me questions you’ll be asking ahead of time? (frequently called talking points).

• If it’s a podcast, is it live or recorded? If recorded will it be edited? (If you are being recorded, you’ll need to be on a landline phone in a quiet environment. Cell phones and speakerphones don’t work.)

• If it’s a published article, can you get reprints? If it’s a blog or a podcast, will you be able to link to your web site?

• Avoid talking off the top of your head when a reporter calls. Get the details and schedule a call after you’ve had time to prepare.

Build your reputation through blogging, writing white papers, submitting articles to your local newspaper or trade journals with an interesting twist on your profession. Newspaper editors love to receive timely, valuable advice from subject matter experts in their communities. Join a local Toastmasters group and hone your public speaking skills. Invest in a webcam and create YouTube videos that showcase your expertise.

Get actively involved in professional associations; volunteer to work with nonprofits that are able to take advantage of your professional skills. Participate in your community. If you’re knowledgeable in an area of interest to a general audience, meet with your librarian and offer to give a free lecture at the library. To quote Woody Allen, “80 percent of success is just showing up.”

Peter Clayton is producer and host of Total Picture Radio—The Voice of Career LeadershipTM—www.totalpicture.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/peterclayton/Twitter: twitter.com/petertpm/.

■ NINE WAYS TO GET OTHERS TO SPREAD THE WORD

Here are a few ideas to increase your visibility, credibility, marketability, and value. You can get other people to start talking about you without having to ask or buy a round of drinks. These ideas cost little or no money. In all cases, go out of your way to invite the appropriate media:

1. Conduct a seminar. Become a strong public speaker and learn how to educate people on your industry. Simple “how-to” seminars are best. Keep it to under an hour. You can use other speakers but be sure you are seen as the primary idea person. Make sure you video- and audiotape the session. Inform the media and provide a press release. Videoblog and podcast it as well.

2. Organize a seminar. Find a need in your community and bring in speakers to fill it. If your topic is of general interest, present a version of your seminar to the public, perhaps under the sponsorship of a civic or business organization. Hook up with local media people to sponsor and promote the event. If you charge admittance (and you should, to ensure you attract serious participants only), then consider teaming with a local charity and donating a portion of the proceeds—you’ll get twice the publicity and have a willing partner if you want to do it again or take it on the road and tour the country.

3. Write. Compose a thought-provoking piece connected to your seminars. Podcast it.

4. Host a TV show. Public television stations must fill a certain amount of time with homegrown programs. Why not offer to host a biweekly half-hour segment? Invite guests and run simple question-and-answer segments. You can also distribute the tapes later or put them on your web site as videos. See www.perrymartel.com/video/janice/ for an example.

5. Host a radio show. Find a local morning news station and offer to be a guest, or better yet, guest host. Answer callers’ questions. I know people in dentistry, home renovation, journalism, sex therapy, and so on, who have received huge boosts to their careers by doing this. If you can tie in sponsors, all the better.

6. Develop