In our continuing campaign to identify top Internet public relations resources, we ask for your suggestions on resources to use in producing online tours.

Touring has a long history in public relations, whether it's a candidate riding a train to drum up local news coverage, or a recording artist making the rounds of online radio stations. Booking online tours can be quite difficult. We are looking for resources that help people locate tour sites, resources that help publicists sell the tour to show hosts, and resources that help the guest prepare for online touring.

One resource I use all the time in producing online tours is the Chat Profile. A chat profile (or tour profile) is a web page used to pitch a show idea to a host. It should contain everything the host needs to promote the show once he or she has agreed to participate. Items included in a Chat or Tour Profile are:

* Guest's name & professional title
* Color photo of guest, properly formatted
* Title for program (Make it Snappy)
* One-paragraph show promo
* Introduction to guest used on show
* Sample questions for guest
* Color image of product being promoted
* Links to guest's web sites

A template for the Chat Profile I use is available for free download from my web site. I offer it in Word or HTML. It's one of the handiest tools in my kit. I hope you like it.

Now let's see what resources *you've* found.

STEVE O'KEEFE
Vice President, IAOC