Improve your chances of impressing newsroom decision makers
by avoiding typical media-release blunders

The end of October is the time of ghosts and goblins – and for many small-business owners, it’s also the time for ramping up pre-holiday marketing efforts.

One of the best ways to promote your brand is to share your company’s worthwhile news with others. Regardless of the time of year, this traditionally required sending a press release to one or more newsrooms, and hoping a story would be published or broadcast.

But conditions have changed.

These days, with fewer newspapers, a reduction in available print space, and airtime translating into valuable dollars, convincing a local media room to echo your business news is a daunting task, if not at times impossible.

For entrepreneurs, there is an upside: The Internet provides bountiful options for posting and sharing news content. However, since many successful “traditional” media outlets now have online editions with large audiences, it remains advantageous to be on their radar.

One of the most common complaints I hear from small-business owners is, “I sent a press release to the newspaper and they didn’t publish it.”

The goal of your press release is to attract the attention of journalists – not scare them away, or have them ignore it. That fact is, there never is a guarantee that a newsroom will “pick up” your business story, but aside from hiring a professional publicist, you can improve the odds by avoiding these all-to-common mistakes:

• The Announcement Isn’t Truly Newsworthy

When considering whether to send an announcement to a newsroom, ask yourself, “So what?” If your news isn’t of interest to a large enough public audience, or is better suited for internal sharing, don’t bother sending it to editors or reporters.

• The Press Release Doesn’t Look Professional

In order for your press release to be considered for publication, it first needs to be read by the journalist. It should have an accurate headline that will grab the recipient’s attention, and content that is easy to read. Your contact information should be included. Professionally crafted public relations releases have a polished look that editors and seasoned journalists expect, so it’s wise to research the basics before sending out a release.

• The Release was Sent to the Wrong Person

Newsrooms are busy, hectic places, where multitasking and deadlines are the norm, so you need to make certain that you send your press release to the right person. Remember: Editors, reporters and columnist may not have the time or propensity to seek out the colleague who is a best match to your press release. Before emailing your release, do your homework to ensure you are sending it to the journalist who writes about the type of topic you are pitching.

For example, you don’t want to send a release to a sports editor if it is about your restaurant’s new franchise opportunities. Before emailing such a release, you would first need to determine who in the newsroom covers the food and/or restaurant “beats” and who has a track record of writing about this subject. Also, check out the business writers: Is there someone in the newsroom who commonly writes about franchises?

— Barton Horowitz, President, Relevant Public Relations LLC

Ramp up your business marketing with Relevant Public Relations LLC

Based in New York City, Relevant Public Relations LLC™ (Relevant PR), “Where Success is Written,” is a multimedia public relations and e-marketing company with local and national reach.

Economically headquartered in the city’s borough of Staten Island, Relevant Public Relations is “America’s Journalist-Empowered PR & Marketing firm.” The agency leads businesses, including professional practices and not-for-profit organizations, to greater heights by cost-effectively combining all digital and traditional 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 content marketing, 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].