Press Release 2.0 – Using Old Tools in New Ways

When was the last time you read a press release? Unless you wrote it, your answer is most likely “never”. Five years ago press releases were necessary for industry analysts, stakeholders and journalists to get wind of what organizations were up to. Today, few writers are grabbing press releases from fax machines or Web sites to craft headline stories for print media.

In case you missed it, good old print media is just that – old and unprofitable. Newspapers are fast going online or trying to build a bridge between the print and online worlds. In the new world of publishing, a faxed press release is a waste of time and a useless way to distribute relevant information. Here are three tips to get your press release to impact your business as it would five years ago:

Syndicate it
Gone are the days when newspapers rely on faxed press releases for leads. Electronic documents make life easier for journalist, and Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is the best way to get it to them. If your Website or online press release archive is not outfitted with RSS, then chances are your releases have no legs.

Blog it
If your company or organization does not have a blog – get on it! Blogging is not just what independent journalists do, it’s also what businesses do to assert their sphere of influence. Post your press release if you must, but blogging it makes it easier for journalist to quote and link to it.

Tweet it
Twitter is another great way to syndicate press worthy materials. If you have an account, post links to your press releases and use hashtags to help journalist find them.

Suzette gardner is a guest blogger on SiliconCaribe.com and a pragmatic Jamaican new media marketing and e-business consultant at marooninteractive.com in DC.