A press kit is an essential press relations tool. While it can be used to support a special event or promotional activity, it is most helpful in strategically positioning an organization or product. On a website, the "press room" is the on-line equivalent of the traditional press kit.

More expansive and educational than a press release, a press kit/room includes a variety of supporting materials from fact sheets to photographs. Their purpose is to provide a media contact with a plentiful source of current and archived information from which stories can be created.

Traditional press kits are usually presented in a custom binder or portfolio with the name, address, phone number and logo of the organization on the cover. On-line press rooms often contains links to pages which may also be reached from other areas of the site. Depending on the industry, most companies use a combination of the two to meet the needs of the press.

It’s important to regularly update press kits.

A press kit can include any or all of the following items:

• "Press releases" are the most common press communication tool. In a press kit, only current releases should be included. On-line you have the luxury of providing a press release archive to assist reporters in developing stories.

• "Backgrounders" may take several different forms and will typically support your position, mission, goals, history and/or track record. Research or article abstracts and fact sheets are two common backgrounder styles.

• A "Fact sheet" provides an "at a glance" bulleted overview of the organization. It is a bullet list of the organization’s activity, key employees, services or products, etc.

• A "Calendar of Events" is self-explanatory.

• "Bio’s" of significant leaders or key players within the organization or, if it’s an event, the celebrity attraction.

• A "Reviewer’s Guide" is important, especially if you are going to have your product included in a round-up with competitive products. It can cover your products strengths and weaknesses against the competition’s in a factual manner. Or it can just cover your company’s technical points.

• Photos can accurately present the impact of your programs and services. Make them interesting, pertinent, and personal. Avoid boring "check passing" events. In a traditional press kit, black and whites can be used in a 3 by 5 or 5 by 7 inch format. Color photos are best provided in a transparency or slide format. For website use, photos should be made available in quickly downloadable compressed .gif, .tiff or .jpeg files.

• Position statements are helpful, particularly if your organization has a political direction.

• A "Quote Sheet" provides five or six significant quotes that are approved for media use. It allows the reporter to flesh out a story without having to interview a lot of people.

• "Brochures and newsletters" provide a reporter with "another look" at your organization. It is typical to include one or more issues of your corporate newsletter in a press kit.

• It is useful to include samples of previously published articles ("clips") organization or programs to provide credibility and demonstrate the news-worthiness of your organization’s activities. With an on-line press room, you can provide links to the media’s own press page or provide a copy of the article on your own site. If you chose to do the latter, you MUST receive permission to reprint the article.

• Media should always be provided with an easy means with which to contact you. Make sure to include a phone number where they can contact you after business hours.

• Annual reports provide valuable background information.

Remember, the purpose of a press kit is to let the outside world into the inner workings of your organization. Paint a picture. Tell your story. And do it all with your audience’s listening in mind. Speak to their listening. Do they want to see your experience? Are they more interested in finding out your credentials? Or how well known you are in your community? When you are clear on what your audience wants to see from you, you can mix and match the above ingredients for maximum media coverage.

Monikah Ogando is President & CEO of Ogando Associates, Inc., a business consulting and coaching firm that works with start up and expanding businesses to implement action driven and results oriented strategies for profitability and a rewarding company culture. You can reach Monikah by email, monikah@ogandoassociates.com.

For business, non-profit and association managers, is it publicity that delivers newspaper and talk show mentions backed up by colorful brochures and videos, combined with special events that attract a lot of people?

Or could your business, non-profit or association PR dollar be better spent on public relations activity that creates behavior change among your key outside audiences that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives? And does so by persuading your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?

What we’re talking about is the kind of PR that lets you do something positive about the behaviors of those external stakeholders of yours that MOST affect your organization. Which means the right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors that help you win.

Here’s a recipe for you: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving- to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

And it can generate results like increased membership applications; prospects starting to work with you; customers making repeat purchases; capital givers or specifying sources looking your way; stronger relationships with the educational, labor, financial and healthcare communities; and even improved relations with government agencies and legislative bodies,

Once the program gets rolling, you also should see results such as new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; rebounds in showroom visits; community service and sponsorship opportunities; enhanced activist group relations, and expanded feedback channels, not to mention new thoughtleader and special event contacts.

To garner such results your PR crew – agency or staff – must be committed to you, as the senior project manager, to the PR blueprint and its implementation, starting with target audience perception monitoring.

As you know, its extremely important that your key outside audiences see your operations, products or services in the most positive light. So make certain that your PR staff has bought into the whole effort. For example, do they accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit?

Review the PR blueprint with your PR team, especially the plan for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

IF the budget is available, survey firms obviously can handle the perception monitoring phases of your program. But remember that your PR people are also in the perception and behavior business and can pursue the same objective: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

But what about your public relations goal? You need a goal statement that speaks to the aberrations that showed up during your key audience perception monitoring. And it could call for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or doing something about that damaging rumor.

PR 101 says when you set a goal, you need a strategy that shows you how to get there. Here, you have three strategic choices when it comes to handling a perception or opinion challenge: create perception where there may be none, change the perception, or reinforce it. A bad strategy pick will taste like lime zest on your veal chops, so be certain the new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. For example, you don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Your PR team has their work cut out for them because now they must come up with just the right, corrective language that will persuade an audience to your way of thinking. Words that are compelling, persuasive and believable AND clear and factual. You have little choice if you are to correct a perception by shifting opinion towards your point of view, leading to the desired behaviors.

Message impact is also key in such a message, so sit down again with your communications specialists and review your message for that quality as well.. Then, select the communications tactics most likely to carry your words to the attention of your target audience. You can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be sure that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

The credibility of a message can depend on its delivery method. So, think about introducing it to smaller gatherings rather than using higher-profile tactics such as news releases or talk show appearances.

Calls for progress reports will send you and your PR folks back to the field for a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Using many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session, you’ll now be watching very carefully for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

If colleagues (or bosses) seem impatient for results, you can always accelerate things with more communications tactics and increased frequencies.

Folks act on their perceptions of the facts they hear about you and your operation. Which means you have next to no choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move those key external audiences of yours to actions you desire.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 1085 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

At the core of any successful public relations campaign is effective communication.

Yet in this technological era, there are now more methods than ever to convey important messages to different audiences.

Video production is one area that is constantly changing. Let’s take a look at some of the common applications in public relations.

1. Video News Release (VNR)

An obvious example of how PR and video production can work seamlessly together is the Video New Release. This is basically a press release in video format.

A 90 second video is created which is then distributed to television stations for airing in news programs. When VNR’s are well made, it is extremely difficult to differentiate them from a regular news story.

An example is a publicity stunt for the launch of a new airline on the evening news.

Tip: Include your script with the VNR and any suggested intro to give the network flexibility in putting together your story.

2. CD-ROMs

For clients that have complicated products and need a lot of promotional material, CD-ROM’s can be an effective medium.

CD-ROMs are particularly flexible as they can include video, audio, brochures, documents and website/email links. They are perfect for travellers who wish to reduce the amount of marketing materials they need to carry.

Mini CD-ROMs or CD-ROM business cards also come in a variety of sizes and shapes that can be made to suit your campaign. An example is they can be cut into the shape of a flower for a campaign for a seed producer. The only negative is that because of their small size they are unable to hold lots of content, unlike the regular sized CD-ROMs.

An example of CD-ROM we undertook was for a Professional Society that had a topic that it needed the press to understand and write about. A CD-ROM was used to show video interviews with leaders in the industry and also to display documents, which explained the topic in more detail. It is also contained website and email links to relevant sites and people in the industry.

Tip: Picture quality of a CD-ROM is half that of DVD. Use a high quality broadcast camera at the shoot to ensure clear and professional looking pictures.

3. Trade Shows

Go to any expo and you will nearly always find that all of the large and impressive stands will have video content constantly running.

The key to any successful trade show DVD is lots of exciting pictures with informative titles and music.

Trade show videos suit companies that have complicated products where people need to see to see how it works and in what situations.

Tip: Make sure that your trade show video conveys your messages without the use of a voiceover. Voiceovers must be avoided as they will not be heard at a trade show. Instead, use titles to tell your story.

4. Special Events

An effective way to launch award ceremonies, conferences, and corporate roadshows is by using a powerful video opener.

When planning an event, use video to set the mood. Use it to educate, inspire, motivate or excite.

If the event has a large audience, filming the event live and displaying the content on large projector screens dispersed around the room will ensure that attendees can all see the action.

At the recent Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Sustainable Cities Awards, we created a relaxing and picturesque video that showed lots of different shots of trees with autumn leaves. The theme for the night was autumn and the video was played while people enjoyed their cocktails. Autumn decoration were also used throughout the venue, as well as lighting that was created to splash autumn leaves over the walls and ceilings. It was an appealing way to set the mood for the night and it proved to be a great success.

Tip: Work out your objective and theme for the event and get your video production to reflect your theme. For your next PR project, think about how you can harness the power of video to get the right message across to your audience.

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast Productions. Digicast Productions works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au

Fiercely combative business, non-profit and association managers use every PR weapon they can lay their hands on. Which means they employ strategic, rapid-fire print and broadcast tactics every day of their business lives.

Still, many realize they need more than that to win the long-range battle. Fact is, they need a public relations budget that can deliver results far beyond publicity tactics.

The fierce and the smart know they need real behavior change among their most important outside audiences that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

So they make sure they persuade those key outside folks with the greatest impacts on their organizations to their way of thinking, then move them to take actions that help their department, division or subsidiary succeed.

The really fierce use a public relations blueprint something like this one: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

If that’s you, over time your results probably look like these: fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; prospects starting to do business with you; welcome bounces in show room visits; membership applications on the rise; customers starting to make repeat purchases; community leaders beginning to seek you out; capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way, and even politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities.

But the fierce ones don’t go it alone. They make certain every member of the PR team agrees that it’s crucially important to know how your outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Dig deep to ensure they REALLY accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can damage your operation.

Now it’s time to activate the PR blueprint and monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audience. Ask questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Lucky for all of us, your PR folks are already in the perception and behavior business, so they can be of real use for this opinion monitoring project. Professional survey firms can be brought in to handle the opinion monitoring chore, but that can cost you a lot of money. So whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the questions, your objective is to identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and misconceptions .

Which of the above abberations is serious enough that it should become your corrective public relations goal? Clarify the misconception? Spike that rumor? Correct the false assumption? Fix those inaccuracies? Or yet another offensive perception that could lead to negative results?

With your public relations goal established, you can assure you’ll achieve it by picking the right strategy from the three choices available to you. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. But be sure your new strategy naturally compliments your new public relations goal.

So what will your message emphasize when you address your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way of thinking?

Select your best writer to prepare the message because s/he must put together some very special, corrective language. Words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Happily, the next step is easy. You select communications tactics to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. Making certain that the tactics you select have a record of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

Keep in mind that HOW one communicates often affects the credibility of the message, so you may wish to deliver it in small getogethers like meetings and presentations rather than through a higher-profile media announcement.

You’ll soon feel pressure for signs of progress. And that will lead to a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Employing many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session, you will now be watching carefully for signs that the offending perception is being altered in your direction. Remember that you can always accelerate the program by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

This bears repeating – yes, fiercely combative business, non-profit and association managers use every PR weapon they can lay their hands on, and that includes strategic, rapid-fire print and broadcast tactics.

But those same competitive managers also know they need an aggressive blueprint such as this one that will deliver behavior change among their most important outside audiences leading directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

Feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 990 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

About The Author

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net. Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com

Did you Know That Even TV Remote Control Units Can Get Press and Media Coverage?

It is widely and yet wrongly believed that only very famous, fascinating or controversial people or products can get valuable press coverage and publicity through the distribution of press releases.

This would seem to shut out a vast majority of small businesses and their products and services from benefiting and profiting from the lucrative world of the press and media. It would also seem that the vast majority of online and e-commerce entrepreneurs are not in a position to reap the rewards of PR or public relations benefits. One would think that small businesses would not have a chance in the PR world. Only thing is …. that this is just not true!

In fact nothing can be further from the truth. The reality is that virtually anybody and any product or service can get valuable press coverage, capable of attracting a colossal amount of attention and the orders that go with it, thus making a huge impact on the success of any business, irrespective of its’ size or nature.

The key behind the success of any public relations campaign hinges mainly on a well written press release and high quality targeted pr distribution. The most successful press releases are the ones that highlight the most interesting aspect of a new or existing business in a way to make it press worthy and that speaks directly into a particular listening audience.

Highly successful press releases campaigns have been conducted on a wide variety of different products and services. It is surprising to know that some of the products that have received extensive coverage as a result of quality targeted press release distribution services include what one might normally consider as common items such as: golf ball washers, TV remote controls, eyeglass lens displays, shopping websites, bracelets and a host of other everyday products and services.

Such seemingly everyday ordinary products have been the subject of press worthy articles that have led to coverage in numerous large newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald and the San Francisco Chronicle amongst others.

Skillfully written press releases can also lead to full write-ups and photos of products in Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine, Family Circle Magazine, Home and Graden and many other publications. This is also not to mention TV segments in popular television shows like the Regis and Kelly show and Good Morning America… or perhaps the motherload of TV exposure - the Oprah Winrey show.

Quite often press releases offer the sort of editorial coverage than no amount of money can buy and often times it results in a total image transformation with a meaningful impact in the market. Much of the best exposure can be in particular trade publications the offer the most reward to a business. It has been said many times before that targeted press release distribution can offer an element of exposure that than no amount of paid advertising can come close to achieving.

It is important to note that the size of a particular business does not really matter. In the hands of a skilled PR person or spin doctor (as the press are fond of referring to them as), any entrepreneur with some clear minded focus and a quality marketing and advertising company can get press and media exposure they need to generate some meaningful publicity that can dramatically transform the fortunes of their small business.

For more information on how you can get a quality targeted press release written or have your press release distributed to the targeted media contacts in our 600,0000 press and media contact database, please visit our Advanced PR department at Majon International.

About the Author

Matthew Hesser is President and CEO of Majon International, one of the most popular internet marketing and advertising companies on the internet located at: http://www.majon.com

To get a high quality targeted press release written and/or distributed to the press and media, as well as get GUARANTEED media and press coverage for your business please visit: http://www.advanced-pr.com

Sorry about my otaku with this issue (otaku = more than a hobby, a little less than an obsession).

Many of you may know me, since I run Imediafax, the Internet to Media Fax Service. I send out over a million news releases a year for people via fax and email. You probably think that I’ve got news releases failing on me day in and day out.

Actually, I don’t. The news releases I write and send out for people do quite well. My clients are quite happy with me because they are successful with their outreach efforts.

It’s the draft news releases that people send to me that are my problem.

Fixing the problems I see in the news releases people send me takes forever. It is also very painful.

I’ve seen a lot of news release failure over the years, and I now know what the key problems look like and how to fix them.

My plight as a publicist is that I spend a lot of time educating my clients trying to get them to understand the psychology of dealing with the media.

The rubber meets the road in the news release because this single sheet of paper is the key nexus for all communications with the media. The importance of the copy on a news release cannot be overstated. It has to be free of negative issues or factors that will reduce or eliminate media interest and response. One fatal error and it’s all over.

So identifying the problems and revising the news releases is crucial. I spend a tremendous amount of time and effort trying to avoid sending out news releases with problems still in them.

The issue is that when people send me news releases, it often takes a long, long time to identify and communicate the problems, and then more time again to explain and negotiate all the word changes with the clients, and more time still to finalize the news release and have it ready and approved for transmittal.

Honestly – it can be very painful for all involved. I’m quite brutal on my clients, since their success is all that matters. I don’t pull any punches. My comment process can bruise a lot of highly inflated egos of some otherwise very accomplished people, on the way to a problem free news release that maximizes the chances of success when finally sent. Lots of people think they can write a news release. Very few of them can do it very well.

They simply haven’t followed the media response to enough news releases to learn the errors that are made when they write news releases. They haven’t yet learned what the mistakes are, so there is no learning from continuous improvement.

This is where the blood, sweat and tears of the copywriting business is truly found. It gets even tougher when another professional publicist wrote the news release for the client. Now the client is getting opposing advice from two professionals. One says “Make it Hot” and the other says “Cool it”. What’s a publicist to do?

So my motivations for doing this article are really quite selfish. I want to spend less time doing this. My life will be significantly improved if my clients send me news releases that take less time and energy to fix. Very simply, for each and every news release that comes in and doesn’t have these problems, I’ll free myself to spend more time doing things that are more profitable for my clients and me.

The issues listed here have all been identified as reasons for the failure of a news release. This is based on over 20 years of experience in dealing with the aftermath – the actual number and quality of responses generated from the transmittal of a news release.

So here are the most common reasons why news releases fail:

1. You wrote an advertisement. It’s not a news release at all. It sells product. It fails to offer solid news of real tangible interest, value-added information, education or entertainment.

2. You wrote for a minority, not for a majority of people in the audience. You simply won’t compete with other news releases that clearly are written for a larger demographic of the media audience.

3. You are the center of attention, not the media audience. You focus on your business and your marketing, instead of things the editor and his or her audience will be interested in.

4. You forgot to put the five W’s up front. (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY THE AUDIENCE WILL BE INTERESTED). You didn’t clearly and succinctly tell the media why the audience would be interested in this.

5. You are too wordy and text dense. You focused on details and minutia, instead of the most important ideas, issues, factors, facts, and news angles. You fail to address the real significant impacts your story has on people.

6. You place too much information on one page – the one page news release has a font size so small an editor needs a magnifying glass to read it.

7. You included corporate logos and other non-persuasive low value added graphics that distract the editor from your key message. You may have also used an unusual fancy font or a file format that turns to gobbledygook when it goes through a fax machine.

8. You wrote a personally biased article for the media to publish, instead of pitching the idea to the media and the objective reasons why the media audience will be interested.

9. You wrote about features and facts, and forgot to explain what it means to real people. Tell a story about real people. Add in real life human interest.

10. You wrote about how your news ties in to someone else’s fame and glory. Forget it. Never stand in the shadow of someone else. Make your own light. Tell your own story.

11. Your news release responds to something that just happened. You’re too late. You’re behind the eight ball. Forget it. Get out in front of the news.

12. You included too much hype, self-laudatory praise, pithy quotes, useless testimonials, jargon or gobbledygook. Get rid of it.

13. You may have also identified prior media coverage, which indicates it’s no longer a new issue. Get rid of it. Let each news release stand on it’s own two feet.

14. You tried to impress and be clever or innovative but you come off naïve, less than expert, biased, flippant, arrogant, or crazy. Tone it down. Get straight.

15. You made vague and unsubstantiated claims, or wild and outrageous claims, or you included a statement that simply rubs the media the wrong way. Get rid of them.

16. You are trying to be different, just for the sake of it, but you come off eccentric. Forget it. Don’t create a false or inflated image. Be yourself.

17. You wrote a rant and rave, worthy of a letter to the editor, instead of a problem solving tips article, worthy of a feature story. Decide what you want, put your best effort into it.

18. You are simply not credible. It could be your ideas are simply not well thought out, or that you’ve offered old well-worn material, or that you are too extreme or controversial, or not qualified. You may not be expert enough, or sufficiently qualified, to make the statements, compared to others in your field. You need to present information that qualifies you properly and adequately.

19. You provided poor contact information. You need to identify the best single point of contact and the correct phone number so interested media can reach you and get the best possible attention and response from you to meet their needs. One key person, one phone, no fax, one email address, and one URL (with no long string addresses).

20. You did not include a clear media call for action. You didn’t tell the media what you want them to do with your news release. You need to tell them what you are asking for or suggesting or offering. Then you need to offer the media incentives value-added reasons to do so, like free review copies, free test samples, interview questions and answers, media kits with story angles and stats and data, relevant photographs, etc.

21. You did not incorporate and integrate a primary response mechanism. You need to include a value-added reason, which motivates the editor to publish or mention your contact information, which will generate calls, traffic, interviews, or requests for more information. This usually means something unique and of special value to the audience, that the editor feels good about mentioning. Use an offer for a free problem solving report.

22. You sent the release to the wrong media. Target the media that your clients read, watch and listen to when they are in the right mood, that is, receptive to hearing about your news, and willing to take action when they get your message. Work with your publicist to target the right media.

23. You rely on a single fax or an email to produce an avalanche of media calls. You conduct no follow up. Get real. Follow up properly and you can triple or quadruple your media response rate. Better still, you can ask the editors “what can I give you to support a feature story and meet your needs”.

Finally, the biggest reason for news release failure is one of attitude. How do you define success or failure? It’s called unrealistic expectations.

Get real. You won’t get rich off one news release. You’re chances of getting famous are just about as slim.

You might be able to break even.

Look at your investment and compare it to what you need to break even on your investment. If you need to sell 100 books to cover the costs of a $500 outreach effort, you need ten articles because each article only produces ten sales. So that’s your breakeven goal. More books per article, means less articles will satisfy your needs.

You may simply have to be realistic and understand that while you are wildly interested in the topic, it may not have the broad general public interest that you have for the subject. If you wrote an article that has local interest and you expect national media to pay attention, think again.

If you want to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show, then you’d better pray because chances of doing it off one news release are very slim, near zero in fact. Get real. If she calls, then congratulations are in order. But don’t count on it.

If you wrote an advertisement and wanted a feature story and interviews, don’t be surprised if the only media to call is the advertising manager offering you a package deal. You get what you ask for. What you offer is often times what you will get.

Even if you do get publicity, it may not come out exactly the way you want it. More often than not, the bigger the media, the less likely they are to run contact information.

Often times, the quality may be there while the numbers are not.

One or two quality media responses may be what you want or need. If you get that, it’s a success.

One article in USA Today may out perform ten articles in small dailies and weeklies in the mid-west.

On the other hand, it may not. The small high quality articles may outperform the small mention in the big media.

Similarly, one quality 30-minute interview on a well-liked talk show on a radio station in the middle of nowhere out in the mid-west, will likely outsell a five-minute interview on an Arbitron rated radio station in the middle of the morning talk show in a major metropolitan area. You can’t tell the listening quality of the audience.

So when you write a news release please review it against these criteria to see if you’ve made any of these errors. Then fix each and every one of them yourself, and when you are done, feel free to send me your final draft. I’ll be happy to take a look at it.

So listen to your publicist. Heed these warnings and reduce the risks of failure. Fail to pay attention to these issues, proceed at your own risk.

About The Author

Paul J. Krupin is the author of the book “Trash Proof News Releases” and creator of IMEDIAFAX - The Internet to Media Fax Service .a personal publicity service that transmits news releases to custom targeted media lists via fax and e-mail His website http://www.imediafax.com/ is packed with articles and a comprehensive media jump station. The 244 page first edition of “Trash Proof News Releases” is available as a free pdf file download or via email upon request. Email him directly at Paul@imediafax.com 800-457-8746 509-545-2707

I often begin my media training sessions by asking members of the audience to raise their hands if they’ve been interviewed by the media. Almost all of the hands in the room go up. I then ask them to keep their hands up if they’ve ever been misquoted. Not only do virtually all of the hands remain up, but the usually nod their heads vigorously, followed by laughter.

Being misquoted is one of the biggest plagues for any spokesperson. It can cause deep consternation for the interviewee, who has to sheepishly explain to her colleagues that she didn’t actually say what the reporter claimed she did.

A former colleague from California, a well-respected scientist, recently e-mailed me the following note about an article that appeared in one of the largest newspapers in the United States.

“Don’t know if you saw it, but the paper did a write up of our work last week. The body of the story was fine, but the writer attributed some quotes to me that never came from my mouth and had some horrific technical errors. So what do you do?”

There’s good news and bad news here. The bad news is that you can never guarantee that the reporter will get your quote perfectly right. Journalists, being subject to human flaws, will occasionally get it wrong. But the good news is that you have a lot more control than you think – and can exponentially increase the odds that the reporter will get your story right.

Here are four ways to reduce your risk of being misquoted:

1) Give Them the Facts: Let’s face it – the more you say, the more you stray. A lot of spokespeople get misquoted because they say too much. Instead of spending most of your interviews providing reporters with endless background, write a one or two page fact sheet which lays out the basic facts for them.

Providing a reporter with a written fact sheet accomplishes several things. Most importantly, it allows you to tell the reporter what the story means during your interview instead of telling him what the story is. By doing so, your quote will contain your interpretation of the facts instead of raw facts devoid of context.

It also saves you time, since you don’t have to explain the basics of the story to each reporter who calls. Finally, because you’ve said less and repeatedly emphasized the meaning of the story, you’ve given the reporter more opportunities not only to get your quote right, but to make it meaningful.

2) Click, Clack, Repeat: If you’re giving a phone interview, listen for the sound of typing on the other end – you’ll hear it when you say something that intrigues the reporter. That’s your cue to slow down, make sure the reporter has time to capture every word, and repeat what you’ve just said.

The same is true during an in-person interview when a reporter is scribbling notes in a notepad. When you see her scribbling, slow down and repeat!

3) Click, Clack, Send: Some reporters allow their interviewees to respond to questions over e-mail. If you’re fortunate enough to have a reporter agree to an e-mail interview, you will have total control of your words. Just be sure to have a colleague check your response for unintended meanings and phrases that can be taken out of context.

Although you can use e-mail interviews occasionally, you probably shouldn’t rely on them all the time. Your goal is to build long-term relationships with reporters – and that’s something better accomplished over the phone or in person.

4) Now, What Did I Just Say: Although reporters are under no obligation to read your quotes back to you, many of them will. If you don’t like the way you said something, they may not change it – but if you misspoke and said something factually inaccurate, they will. You should ask them to read back your quotes during the interview, not afterwards.

You can also offer to help the reporter fact check the finished story. If you don’t like the way the reporter framed the story, she will be unlikely to change it. But if she has objectively gotten a fact wrong, she will almost always correct it.

Brad Phillips is the founder and president of Phillips Media Relations. He was formerly a journalist for ABC News and CNN, and headed the media relations department for the second largest environmental group in the world.

For more information and to sign up for free monthly media relations and media training e-tips, visit http://www.PhillipsMediaRelations.com

Public relations writing when writing press releases can be a real challenge.

When writing press releases the most important part is the headline or title.

This is the information the media reads first so it has to grab their attention.

How can you write better press releases that get used instead of deleted?

Well the headline is essential when writing press releases.

Take this real life example of public relations writing.

"Triple Bottom-line Community Net Benefit Decision Time for Sustainable Economic Development Decisions Needed Says Economist"

This is an actual headline on a media release from MacroPlan Australia published in The Australian newspaper’s Media Section on Nov 13, 2003.

Would you want to read more if you got this on your fax machine or email inbox? How can you write better headlines and improve the likelihood of your media release making the cut?

Writing a good title for a media release is essential for effective public relations writing. Here are my Top 9 Tips for Writing Better Headlines:

1. KEEP IT TO ONE LINE.

More than one line and you are likely to lose a busy journalist who would receive hundreds of media releases a day.

2. EDIT FOR BREVITY.

You probably won’t achieve point one on the first go. Rewrite and edit every time. Remember with headlines that ‘less is more’; so keep it to five words or less.

3. DON’T TRY AND BE TOO SMART.

Writing headlines for the print medium is a real art form. Leave it to the professionals, namely, newspaper sub-editors. Remember that newspaper headlines have to sell papers, your headline has to engage one reader - a cynical journalist or editor with a ’so what, who cares’ attitude.

4. WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF THE STORY?

The headline should summarise the story and answer the who, what, why, when and where.

5. USE A BIGGER FONT SIZE THAN THE REST OF THE RELEASE.

Don’t go smaller than size 12 for the main body of the text and use size 14 or 16 font or bigger for your headline or title.

6. USE THE SAME FONT STYLE AS YOUR TEXT.

Never change font styles in a release. Times New Roman is the most accepted and professional.

7. USE BOLD TO MAKE IT STAND OUT.

8. CENTRE IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE.

9. ALWAYS SPELL CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK FOR TYPOS.

Nothing harms your credibility more than a typo in the headline!

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.

You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com.

Your boss just stopped by your office. He tells you that he has decided to put you in charge of a major upcoming news release. He wants you to reach the broadest possible audience. He explicitly tells you to leave no stone unturned.

You respond by promptly ignoring 38 million Americans.

According to New California Media, 13 percent of the U.S. population now turns primarily to ethnic media. If you only pitch publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Time, you will leave out a huge chunk of your potential audience. More than ever, a complete media strategy requires reaching out to ethnic publications.

You might consider a publication such as Latina Magazine, with its 800,000 upscale Hispanic female readers.

Or Chinese Daily News, with its 720,000 Asian readers in California.

Or Black Enterprise, with its more than one million professional African-American readers.

In fact, ethnic media is so hot, that categories such as “Black,” “Hispanic” and “Asian” may simply be too broad. According to The Washington Post, specialty magazines are being published for groups as specific as Indians in Silicon Valley and Arab American business leaders.

So how can you reach the ethnic media? Here are three ways:

1) Work With Your Ethnic Expert: Do you work at a law firm with an Arab attorney? Is a verdict about to come down in a high profile lawsuit the Arab community has been following closely? Contact an Arab news publication and let them know you have an Arab expert available to comment.

2) Use a Translator: Foreign language ethnic media means having to translate your story not only into another language, but to another culture. If you are having your story translated into Spanish, Arabic or Mandarin, for example, use a translator who can also point out any potential sensitivities you may have inadvertently included in your release.

3) Spot a Trend: Have African-American youth suddenly started buying your product? Have Hispanic women suddenly started volunteering for a particular cause in record numbers? Has a group of Korean men started taking ballroom dance lessons at your studio? These types of “trend” stories are likely to appeal to ethnic media.

Working with the ethnic press may take extra work. But with an audience of 38 million Americans who otherwise wouldn’t have seen your story, it just may be worth your time.

Brad Phillips is the founder and president of Phillips Media Relations. He was formerly a journalist for ABC News and CNN, and headed the media relations department for the second largest environmental group in the world.

For more information and to sign up for free monthly media relations and media training e-tips, visit http://www.PhillipsMediaRelations.com

One of the greatest ways to promote your product or service is with publicity. Many people have little, if any, understanding of how to go about securing publicity, never mind free publicity. Fact is, people will pay more attention to free publicity than they often do to paid advertising.

A simple way to gain free publicity is to write and distribute a well-written and well-formatted press release. A good press release is one of the most effective, and yet, most underutilized, of publicity tools. Simply put, a press release is an announcement you send to magazines, trade journals, newspapers, and newsletters. Also to radio and television. Often what you send to radio and television are referred to as PSA’s (Public Service Announcements).

I have one client who hosted an event and submitted one well-written and well-distributed press releases to the media. When the release made it in print, they went from having a 50% booking for their event through some direct mail efforts to filling up the entire room in less than 48 hours. This was worth a substantial amount of money to them.

Necessary steps

Prior to writing a press release, determine the following:

Develop a system for writing and distribution of releases. Stay organized. Know how to send the press release to a specific media outlet and person. Each has their own preference as to how they want to receive it. It will be to your benefit to find out. A quick phone call will often provide you with this key information.

Editors are inundated with information. If you want their attention keep the release short and to the point. During busy times, like before a huge event in a city, they will be in information overload.

Don’t use massive amounts of buzzwords such as “its all-new, interactive, interoperable, cross-platform, new multimedia solution.” Avoid jargon. The general public will have no idea what your industry jargon means and editors rarely will take time to find out.

Give them the who/what/when/where/why as articulately as you can. Make your information is complete. Incomplete information is far more likely to get your press release in the trash bin than anything else.

The 5 Ws of writing a press release or PSA.

Who should attend? Who will be there?

What is taking place? What will come from this event? Is it a fundraiser?

When is it happening?

Where will this occur?

Why would people be interested in the information? Why would they attend the event?

Sending press releases

Many journalists prefer that you send press releases via e-mail. You will find some die-hard snail mail folks, and a few who like faxes. If you’re about to start working with a new journalist, and you’re not sure how they prefer to receive their press information, ask. Once they tell you how they prefer the information, honor that request.

E-mail should be sent as a plain text file: the simpler, the better. Do not send a press release via email with an attachment. Most media people will automatically delete due to the concern of a virus. Do not send your email out via a mass email. Actually, if you use a good contact management database, you can send it by mass email and it appears as if each is a personalized email. Don’t send a press release to your entire press list, with the entire recipient list visible.

When an editor calls for more information, respond to their call as quickly and professionally as possible. There is not substitute for building good relationships with the media. Don’t ever think you are too busy for them.

By making yourself available for the media, they tend to make themselves available for you. And what more could you possibly ask for?

Copyright: © 2004 by Kathleen Gage

Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your web site, or in your print publication provided you include the resource box at the end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required.

About The Author

Kathleen Gage is a business advisor, keynote speaker and trainer who helps others gain marketing dominance and visibility within their market. She is the recipient of the 2004 Giant Step Award for Business of the Year in the State of Utah. Call 801.619.1514 or email Kathleen@turningpointpresents.com. Get Gage’s online newsletter called Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions by visiting www.kathleengage.com.