Our New Medium Needs A New Message
by B.L. Ochman

The Internet is the medium of instant communication, constant change, rocket speed. So why hasn't the message changed with the medium? Why is the format for electronic press releases the same as that of print?

What's next for online publicity?

A new format for a new medium.

This article pre-supposes that those writing press releases understand what constitutes news...that the content of releases are worthy of news coverage. In question here is how to transmit a message to fit the new medium.

Press Releases Are A Waste Of Time
by BL Ochman

I've been a publicist for the past 20 years and I'm going to share a trade secret with you: press releases are a colossal waste of time.

You are a senior business, non-profit or association manager. So, chances are you call the shots for your department, division or subsidiary.

Which means you can make your decisions stick.

To many marketers, the press release is something of a "one size fits all" proposition. You want to get media coverage, you knock out a press release, send it to some journalists and sit back and wait.

Of course, smart Publicity Insiders already know that's a prescription for failure. You know that your press release has to have a "hook", be well-written and sent to appropriate journalists in an active, not passive, manner. But there's another part of the puzzle that even savvy publicity-seekers sometimes miss -- you can't just write "a press release", you have to write the right kind of press release.

There's no such thing as a "one size fits all" release. Smart publicists have variations of the press release model ready to be go, depending on the occasion.

Lights...camera...ACTION.

That's what often happens when people think of using media for advertising or other promotional purposes. It's the focus on 'action' that often means the results are somewhat less than expected. A bit of planning can greatly improve your chances of success.

If you want create a PR campaign that is effective and consistent, you must learn to market your story to the news media. You must learn to treat reporters as the customers who will either buy or reject your product: raw news.

You should apply the techniques of PR Rainmaking, which is the practice of using the news media to attract customers and clients to your enterprise.

Any effective campaign of PR Rainmaking is grounded in three fundamental ideas:

a) The reporter is the consumer.
b) The story is the product that must be tailored for and sold to that consumer.
c) Reporters will buy your story for their reasons, not yours.

The Reporter is the Consumer

Today's PR specialists often forget this basic principle. The bad ones - the ones that reporters ridicule as mere "flacks" - never learn it.To some of these folks, the reader or the viewer is their primary consumer. Others consider their client or their CEO to be the consumer of their work.

Wrong.

Smashing the Myth of the Press Release

Bill Stoller, Publisher
Free Publicity, The Newsletter for PR-Hungry Businesses http://www.PublicityInsider.com/freepub.asp

A musician spends years honing his craft. He writes world-class songs and performs them in a manner that moves his listeners to tears. He records a demo tape and sends it to record labels. He gets a contract and becomes rich, famous and adored.