When should you send out a press release? You want to know



my acid test? If it's newsworthy and if it's useful to the reader. It's

that simple. There are many factors to weigh when considering the need to

send out a press release. As a publicist I have sent thousands of

releases over the years and while there are no hard and fast rules, the

most important factor is that you've got to make sure it's newsworthy and

useful to the reader. Any thing else and it's just a waste of time for the

members of the media.A good press release can accomplish a lot of things

too. It can be used to announce information to the public, your investors,

the media, your customers and even your competitors about you and your

activities. To help my clients determine whether something is newsworthy I

compiled a list of fifty-five press release ideas I give to them to get

their ideas flowing about their own businesses. Some are for general

consumer media and some may not apply to all business types. 1. Announce a

new service.2. Announce a new product.3. Tie in with a national holiday, a

birthday or anniversary. 4. Report a new study of your own and your

analysis or forecast. 5. Tie in with a controversy by commenting on it.6.

Co-op an event with the media. 7. Utilize a national survey or study to

your benefit. 8. Announce your exhibit at a trade show or convention. 9.

Commission a survey and report the results.10. Write a white paper and

announce its availability at your web site. 11. Create and promote a

special event. 12. Use a current news event to frame your release.13. Host

a seminar and announce the information discussed.14. Announce an upcoming

speaking engagement.15. Schedule a speaking engagement at the local

library for free.16. Make reprints of speeches available at your

website.17. Create a contest and offer a prize that's newsworthy.18.

Pricing and policy changes. 19. Patents and trademarks. 20. Litigation

won.21. Announce the results of a new study. 22. The number of hours your

employees donate volunteering in your community. 23. Involvement in

various community events and activities.24. Innovative use for your

products. 25. First person stories about people using your product or

services. 26. New clients you've obtained.27. New testimonials. 28.

Celebrities that use your product or service.29. Financial projections and

forecasts. 30. Announce a public appearance. 31. Appointments by

government officials to offices.32. Retirement of well respected and

revered employees.33. Recognition of long-time employees with 25 years of

service or more.34. Internal promotion of key staff members.35. Send a

letter to the editor and CC the media and your audience, in case they miss

it. 36. New members of important committees. 37. Results of an election.

38. The passage of an important resolution. 39. Anniversary of the

founding date of the organization or company.40. Charitable donations by

your organization. 41. ISO 9001certification of your company.42. New

awards won.43. Association membership.44. Publicly release a letter from a

soldier or someone with poignant thoughts.45. Report on a public project

and offer insight to the problem. 46. Protest an activity or issue.47. The

sponsorship of a community event.48. How to apply for internships in your

company. 49. How to apply for scholarships offered by your company.50.

Open house where people can tour your plant, office etc.51. Create an

award to honor individuals in the community.52. The appearance in front of

a public entity, i.e. testimony before the US Senate.53. Host a public

debate. 54. Announce a fact finding trip and then report your findings.55.

Host a celebrity event and tie in your company.Once you get the release

written now what? How do you put it in the hands of the media? How can a

company or individual know if it can handle media relations themselves or

if it needs to hire a public relations firm, an independent publicist or a

full fledged marketing firm? If you aren't completely certain after

debating the pros and cons, ask these questions: * Are we getting all the

PR we deserve? * Is our competition getting more than their fair share of

media coverage? * Would media coverage bring more business to the firm? *

Do we have a PR strategy for continuous year round media coverage? * Is

our in-house "PR person or department" overburdened with "in-house" work

like the company newsletter? First of all, let's define a PR firm. Some

people interchange a PR firm with a marketing firm, or marketing agency,

or even an ad agency. Basically a public relations firm handles media

relations and is the interface between a company and the news media.A

public relations firm or publicist will "pitch" the media on a story idea

involving a company, invention or author. A good pitch about a story that

would interest the people who read, watch or listen to a particular media

outlet gets coverage.Many larger companies rely on in-house staff trained

in public relations or marketing while others hire PR consultants or

publicists to handle their PR campaigns. Joe Nicassio, author of Guerrilla

PR Brand Manager, says whether a company should conduct its public

relations, marketing or advertising campaigns internally or externally

should be determined by these factors" Do you NEED solid, consistent media

exposure week after week, or are you satisfied with "occasional" exposure?

Do you have the internal staff and expertise to commit the internal

resources to your public relations, marketing, advertising efforts? If you

have the internal staff, and they understand Guerrilla PR principles, then

there may be no reason to hire an outside agency. Paradoxically, the

busier you get, the easier it is to parlay, or "set aside" consistent,

important PR activities. Don't get caught in that trap! "Public Relations

is a craft that requires PASSION," says Nicassio. "You may need PR, and

you may even have the people to conduct your public relations, marketing,

advertising campaigns but that's not enough. To be truly effective, your

PR campaigns must be conducted with PASSIONATE CONSISTENCY."