Business owners and leaders of not-for-profit organizations commonly face the dilemma of newsrooms being unresponsive to their media releases.

An often-repeated concern of  do-it-yourselfers is: “I sent the newspaper [or broadcast newsroom] a press release and it wasn’t published.”

When crafting a press release on you own, always keep in mind that it’s competing with others for the attention of journalists.

Aside from hiring a public relations professional to write and distribute your information, there are some things you can do to increase the chances of a media room publishing or broadcasting your business news.

To begin, consider these tips from Relevant Public Relations LLC:

1) Make sure your press release is truly newsworthy. Compare the nature of your announcement to other items in the news. Before writing the press release, ask yourself “Who would care about this?”

2) Keep the press release short, no more than 400 words if possible.

3) Make sure your press release is carefully written and without typos. Double- and triple-check the spellings of all names.

4) Create an interesting headline that will grab the attention of editors and reporters.

5) Use the catchy headline in the subject field when you email your press release to newsrooms.

6) Include related photos, captions and photo credits.

7) Send your press release specifically to publications and broadcast entities that have a track record of sharing stories having subject matter similar to yours.

8) Distribute your material as precisely as possible by sending it to journalists who “cover” the type of story you are offering. If it’s a story about a charity fund-raiser, for example, make certain to send it to reporters or columnists who regularly write about charities, as opposed to a political journalist, crime reporter or sports writer.

9) If you want to check on the status of a press release, politely contact the journalist with a follow-up phone call or email.

10)  Always keep in mind that even a perfectly crafted press release can fall by the wayside. Publication space and broadcast time are limited. The ultimate decision to publish or broadcast a news item is made in newsrooms, not by marketing departments or public relations firms.

About Relevant Public Relations LLC

Relevant Public Relations LLC (Relevant PR), “Where Success is Written®,” is a New York City-based multimedia public relations and marketing company with local, national and global reach. The firm’s founder and president, Barton Horowitz, is a Small Business Administration (SBA) Champion of the Year Award winner and recipient of a 2013 Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award, co-sponsored by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and the Staten Island Advance newspaper.

Economically headquartered in the New York City borough of Staten Island, Relevant Public Relations is “America’s Journalist-Empowered PR & Marketing firm®,” leading businesses, professional practices and organizations to greater heights by cost-effectively integrating all marketing and PR strategies into a single, efficiently run operation.

Relevant Public Relation’s custom-designed branding methods succeed because of an innovative recipe of press releases; traditional, digital and broadcast-news distribution; social-media management; website and blog content; e-mail marketing; commercial copywriting, and more.

Whether you require a single press release, a multimedia campaign or the information on your company brochure or website professionally written, Relevant Public Relations can help.

Relevant Public Relations is available online at www.RelevantPR.com, and may be reached at 718-682-1509 or via email: [email protected].