NOTE: This is the introduction and index to a 10-part series.
My multifaceted career includes a fair amount of journalism. As a journalist I do lots of online research.
You wouldn’t believe how often I find myself cringing or slapping my forehead in amazement during the course of this work. It’s sad how many companies, organizations, and institutions still don’t seem to have the first clue about how to effectively reach out to journalists through online media! This includes high-profile outfits as well as miniscule operations.
Journalists are always in a hurry, today more so than ever before. They want to be able to find your organization online easily, go straight to your news, and learn who to contact by phone or e-mail for more info – virtually immediately. Most of the journalists I know get remarkably peeved by web sites and other online operations that waste their time or that make their job more difficult. A peeved journalist can wreak considerable havoc.
If your organization values media coverage and wants to foster good working relationships with journalists, follow these 10 tips:
- Create an easy-to-find online pressroom.
- Include a complete and current list of individual press contacts.
- Never use a web-based form as the sole channel for media contacts.
- Include complete, specific contact info on every press release.
- Publish press releases on your own site first.
- Make it easy to link to your releases.
- No PDF press releases, please.
- Publish your news by webfeed.
- Be smart about e-mailing press releases.
- Use good mailing list software.
NEXT: Create an easy-to-find online pressroom…
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