Earned media is more important than ever. The economic crisis has forced many organizations to slash their advertising budgets and rely on PR, or “earned media,” to get their message out. Targeted PR is considerably less expensive than advertising and helps establish third-party credibility.

But do you have a story to tell? To get reporters interested, you have to be newsworthy. This means your story is intriguing enough to entice a reporter to take your call, read your email (and maybe even respond), or, best-case scenario, agree to meet you for coffee.

Keep in mind that reporters receive dozens of pitches every week. At the major media outlets, they may receive dozens of pitches every day. The competition for media mindshare is fierce. So while you (or your client) may think your story belongs on the front page of the New York Times, the newspaper’s editors probably won’t.

The most effective PR pros will manage their client’s expectations realistically from the onset. Don’t promise the Washington Post and deliver the Smallville Times. For most organizations, a good media “hit” is a feature article in their local newspaper or trade publication. Therefore, set goals that are measurable and achievable.

The following checklist will help you determine whether it’s time to pitch a story or wait until a meatier opportunity comes along.

A newsworthy story includes at least one of the following attributes:

1. Local

People care about events that happen close to home. A warehouse fire in Atlanta has local interest but probably won’t be covered in other cities, unless it’s catastrophic (significant fatalities, explosions, etc.). Then it’s a national story as well (see “Catastrophic” below).

Consider this scenario: A real estate developer is breaking ground on a new shopping center – a legitimate news hook for the local newspaper and maybe real estate trade publications, especially if there’s a unique twist to the project (see “Unusual” below). Will Business Week care? Probably not, but the developers are reaching their target audience (i.e., local retailers and future shoppers), and that’s the goal.

2. Controversial

How many times does your local TV news show cover a city council meeting? Probably not much – they’re routine and (no offense) rather dull. But what if 100 angry citizens show up to protest a proposed sales tax increase? Now that’s a newsworthy event.

Or, say the local Chamber of Commerce learns about the city council’s proposed new sales tax. Concerned that it might negatively affect local businesses, the Chamber issues a statement strongly disagreeing with the “controversial” proposed tax. You get the picture.

3. Seasonal

We’ve all seen them – the feel-good Thanksgiving news stories or the profile of a local war hero on Veteran’s Day. Maybe they’re cliche, but the media is always looking for a local angle when covering holidays, anniversaries, etc. Check your calendar to see when an upcoming event may present an opportunity for your organization to pitch a timely story.

4. Unusual (first, largest, smallest, etc.)

Reporters like stories that are exceptions to the rule. Remember the real estate developer breaking ground on a new retail complex? What if the complex will house the area’s first outdoor ice-skating rink? Go through the checklist. It’s local and it’s the first. What if the rink is the largest in the Southeast? Even more potential media interest.

5. Human interest

A human interest story is the PR equivalent of a homerun, but they’re hard to score, especially as newspapers scale back on staff and “feature” writers. Pitching a human interest story requires creativity and finding the right reporter at the right time. Suppose that the real estate developer wants to build an ice rink in his shopping center because he’s a former professional hockey player and loves the sport? Interesting…

6. Catastrophic

Catastrophic (i.e. hurricanes, tornadoes, bombs) will always be newsworthy – because they’re unusual, involve a human interest component and, frankly, feed our natural fascination with cataclysmic events.

From a PR perspective, a catastrophic event might highlight the actions of a non-profit, a corporate donation, or an even individual act of kindness (i.e., relief supplies for Hurricane Katrina victims).

7. Visual

Never underestimate the power of telling your story visually. If your media pitch includes a visual hook, you’re ahead of the game. The city’s first ice skating rink on opening day – local, unusual and visual!

8. Celebrity

Let’s put it this way: everything President Obama does is newsworthy because of his celebrity – playing basketball, buying a new dog, walking down the Capitol steps. That’s why he has an entire press team to handle the volume of media requests he gets in a single day.

Karen Preiss Miller is a partner in JKP Group, a marketing communications consulting company. For more tips, visit this site

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Tags: newsworthy, media, media relations, specialist, relations

Here is more great information on the art of writing an effective press release and the correct press release format to use.

1. Headline. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Be creative and keep it to one sentence.

2. Capitalize the first letter of all words but do not use all caps.

3. Exclamation marks (“!”) only sell your release as advertising, not news.

4. Paragraph 1 City, State, Month, Day, Year – Begin with a strong introductory paragraph that captures the reader’s attention and contains the information most relevant to your message such as the five W’s – who, what, when, where, and why. This paragraph should summarize the press release and include a hook to get your audience interested in reading more.

5. Paragraph 2, 3, 4, etc. These paragraphs should contain more detailed important information, and make up the body of the release.

6. Make sure you use correct grammar so as not to affect your credibility negatively.

7. Use quotes or information about businesses and most importantly have an angle that will appeal to journalists (often by connecting your release to current events or issues).

8. Effective releases usually utilize a strategy known as the inverted pyramid, which is written with the most important information and quotes first.

9. The body of your release should be more than one paragraph.

10. The final paragraph should restate and summarize the key points of your release.

11. Additional 1 Provide avenues for the reader to obtain additional information, demos, samples, etc., but please DO NOT include Internet links.

12. Additional 2 Trademark acknowledgment, product or event time lines, availability, logistics, etc.

13. Additional 3 Background information about the company featured in the release, if appropriate, as well as any applicable safe harbor statement. ### (end with these characters) A FINAL NOTE: With an effective release, it should be possible to cut off the bottom half of the release and still provide journalists with sufficient information.

Clyde Thorburn

Search Engine Optimisation Services Specialist

Johannesburg South Africa

Click here for information

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Clyde Thorburn – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: public, relations, specialist, career, jobs

Success in business is a rare thing. Most businesses fail today, not because they were built upon bad ideas, but because most business owners do not focus on what truly makes the difference between success and failure.

There is one skill, above and beyond any other skill, that is critical to your success in business. If you do not learn to adapt this skill, your business idea will probably either fail or not reach your intended level of success like ninety-eight percent of all start up businesses in the world today.

It does not matter whether you are running a restaurant, a retail store, an Internet business, or a home-based business; the necessity is still the same. This one skill is the biggest reason for success and failure in business.

Oprah knows the secret; so does Time Warner, Ted Tuner, McDonald’s, Google, and Bill Gates. I could go on and on. They know the secret. Do you?

What is the secret?

It is the art and science of “Media Placement.” This one skill reaps more rewards than any other aspect of business. You want to become a “Media Placement Specialist.”

You might ask, “What is a ‘Media Placement Specialist?’” Well, first of all, this is not about getting a certification to put on your resume to get a job. It is how to specialize in the skill of placing media to promote your business. It is also bigger than “traditional marketing.”

When someone masters the art and science of placing media, they start to control the game. If they master many areas, they are what many experts call a “media mogul.” A “media mogul” controls different forms of media and, ultimately, marketing.

Oprah Winfrey is a great example. She is self-made. She is a self-made billionaire media mogul. Oprah is now the owner of Harpo Productions, has her own TV show, had a radio show, and does print media and Internet marketing.

When you master the art and science of media placement, the idea is simple. Start small, and find one or two methods of media placement that work for you. You could start by trying Internet media placement, direct mail, pay-per-click, co-registration, or articles. The idea is to find a couple of means, start them working for you, and then you can grow your business and expand the types and amounts of media you use.

Today, Internet marketing is one of many media placement strategies you could use. It could be the single fastest, least expensive, low-risk type of media available today if you take the time to learn some of the secrets. Once you do your testing on the Internet, it makes it easy to expand into other types of media quickly.

There are many resources you can find that are available to learn the art of marketing, but there are very resources that teach the mastery of media placement. Take the time to learn it. It could become the best investment you have ever made.

Mary Gersten is the V.P. of Operations for Global Cashflow Network, Inc., a continuing education and business development company best known for their industry changing ‘Certified Media Placement Specialist (CMPs)’ program. No Obligation Free Tips And Training here. Find out if you qualify to be trained as a CMPs at this website.

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Tags: media, business, public relations, marketing, specialist

As this year fast comes to a close, it’s time to determine your top three, high-return lead generation methods and evaluate how consistently you apply them. So often, we make single attempts at any variety of marketing or public relations tactics, only to abandon them before giving them the benefit of consistent application. Let the New Year be the year you apply focus, discipline, and consistency to the top three high-return lead generation methods in your business-building toolbox so you can reap the greatest rewards.

To that end, here are ten powerful media relations tactics for growing businesses serious about generating quality leads.

1. Write how-to articles for the media that have the greatest influence with your ideal customers. The value of editorial placements is said to have three times the value of advertising placements. How-to articles reach a wide audience of decision makers and decision influencers with one pass. They serve as credible, affordable brochures and often reside online indefinitely. They demonstrate your expertise in a way that inspires quality leads to get in touch with you to learn more. And, business journals are eager to receive your commentary and perspective to lend insight to their editorial plans, as long as you do so in a manner that delivers your expertise without directly selling your company.

2. Post your how-to articles in the online article directories, such as www.ideamarketers.com, www.articleteller.com, and www.ezinearticles.com. E-newsletter publishers access these article directories for quality content, offering you the promise of potentially worldwide reach of your expertise and contact information.

3. Leverage your “how to” articles in the press with speeches and radio interviews. Media momentum can be a powerful thing. Early this year, I wrote an article for a marketing trade newspaper. A radio show producer invited me to be interviewed on his show after reading it. The radio interview helped promote one of my local talks, which – in turn – created interest in my services and generated several new engagements.

4. Serve as an expert to reporters that write about your industry. Newspaper editors want to hear from experts who have timely, newsworthy, relevant, and trend-worthy ideas to share. Offer yourself as a quality, credible resource to the right reporters and ask for the opportunity to share your points of view. Prepare a biography that makes clear about the areas about which you can comment with impact, credibility and insight and your qualifications. Share it with the special section editors and beat reporters so they’ll know to call you next time they write about your business or industry.

5. Launch and sustain a quality e-newsletter to stay in touch with interested potential clients. The beauty of e-newsletters is that prospects ask to be added to your distribution list because they are interested in what you have to offer, though they may not be ready to buy right now. As long as you keep the ratio of information sharing at 80% and selling to 20%, chances are good that your company will be the first readers will call when they are ready to buy. Your Web site visits, emails and phone inquiries will escalate in direct response to the effort.

6. Stage webinars or teleseminars or small scale free or low-cost seminars to make your expertise readily available to prospects. It is efficient to share your information in a one-to-many fashion. Group settings are comfortable for evaluators. One-to-one sessions are more like sales pitches, and that can be uncomfortable for those who are not ready to buy now.

7. Share meeting notices with the local papers. The exposure to their readerships brings your message to a wide audience of potential event guests. If you’d like a list of our top 27 best Puget Sound media and online contacts to get this accomplished, visit our Website to read more about Media-Savvy-to-Go Special Report #3.

8. Share valuable information by request. When folks read your materials, they engage more deeply with your expertise. That makes them want to engage you for a fee. Try it. It works really well. That is why so many businesses do it. And remember, this isn’t sales information. It is useful information that leverages your expertise. That is an important distinction.

9. Write press releases about grand openings, news, and staff additions/promotions, and other happenings at your company, targeting the correct reporters that cover your industry. If you want to learn 89 reasons to write a press release, Joan Stewart offers a free online course to jump-start your learning. Register at www.publicityhound.com.

10. Enter award contests that are well-supported by the media. Earning best-company-to-work-for recognition, a place on the list of most powerful U.S. women in banking, or company-of-the-year honors is a great way to earn media attention, new inquiries about both your services and employment opportunities, while enhancing your reputation.

These activities require time, yet not much money, and they can deliver meaningful lead generation results. My advice is to choose the top three tactics that appeal most to your skills, talents, and passions, and get into action today. Your focused, disciplined, and consistent media relations efforts can set the stage for the New Year to be your best ever.

Nancy S. Juetten owns Nancy S. Juetten Marketing Inc., a public relations and marketing communications agency that provides public relations consulting and Media-Savvy-to-Go do-it-yourself publicity tools that help business owners earn their winning headlines without spending a fortune. Visit this site to learn more about agency services and products. Sign-up for the free monthly Media-Savvy-to-Go ezine at the home page. This is the third in a series of Media-Savvy-to-Go columns that will run in the December, 2006 edition of the Snohomish County Business Journal Source.

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Tags: media relations, specialist, media, activity, publicity

You improve your chances of getting coverage if you understand the lead times of the various media when pitching story ideas.

Newspapers, for instance, often work with no lead time. Online, radio and TV, too, are known for their immediacy. Newspaper special sections, such as a holiday gift guide, might want material one to two months in advance. Weekly newspapers, like the , have their special editions planned months in advance and begin reviewing story ideas for those as much as two to three months out. So, they might be thinking about their February 17 corporate philanthropy section in December.

Magazines – particularly those aimed at consumers – often have lead times of as much as six months. Some of those include women’s books like Ladies’ Home Journal and Redbook, as well as men’s magazines like Maxim. In December, those editors are already thinking about Easter, taxes, Mother’s Day and baseball season.

Even newswires like the Associated Press have some longer lead times for their special editions. AP’s new specials editor, Julia Rubin, begins thinking about her monthly specials more than a month in advance. She likes to receive information about products and services, as well as story ideas that tie in.

Here are some of her upcoming features and their deadlines: Fashion, 2/1/2006; Health/Fitness, 3/1/2006; Careers, 4/1/2006

One final tip, editorial calendars are a great way to find out what editors want and when. If you don’t subscribe to one of the editorial calendar services, try doing a Google search for “editorial calendars” plus your topic of interest to see what comes up.

Harry Hoover is a partner in My Creative Team. He has 30 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Bank of Commerce, The Bray Law Firm, Brent Dees Financial Planning, CruisingTheICW.com, Duke Energy, Focus Four, Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.

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Tags : media, relations, specialist, jobs, advertising