How to get your news released delivered

In today’s spam-filled email world, it’s sometimes VERY difficult to get your news releases and PR pitches to the media person you are trying to reach. These tips hold true for personal emails, too, so even if you don’t do P.R., this article holds some important email tips.

Here are a few ideas to help you be more successful in reaching your target.

==> Write the release with spam filters in mind.
There are many words that trigger spam filters these days. Learn to write alternative words, substitute zeros for Os or add * in the word to avoid the spam trap. You can find out which words are likely to be a problem in this excellent list provided by Dr. Wilson.

==> Check your content to see what your spam filter rating is.
There are free sources to check your email. One of them is Lyris Content Checker, which checks it against the SpamAssassin database.

==> Send each email individually, not as a CC or BCC.
The CC function allows everyone to see who you sent your email to so you definitely don’t want to do that. The reporters will get irritated when they see you have sent it to all of their competitors. As my grandmother used to say,”It’s better to keep some things to yourself.”

The BCC function allows you to hide the list of recipients from everyone who receives the email, but it doesn’t hide it from the email programs and filters. These programs know that you are sending a BCC message to a list, and if you send it to 10 or more, it will automatically trigger the spam filter.

You can send your emails efficiently from many database programs. I use ACT! and it allows me to not only send to a group, with each email going individually, but it also keeps track of what I sent to whom.

There are also systems available, like the one I use to deliver my ezines, designed to send hundreds and thousands of emails all at the same time. And the best thing is, you can tailor your release to add personal details about each recipient, such as their name and the industry they cover.

==> Include the recipient’s name in the subject line.
When someone sends me an email that begins, “Lois,…”, I pay attention. I know that this person either knows me or I have subscribed to their ezine or asked to have them communicate with me for some reason. And I NEVER report these people as spammers. If I don’t want to continue receiving information from them, I politely unsubscribe or email them to take me off their list.
Think about it. You respond better when someone uses your name, don’t you? It’s a terrific way to get someone’s attention.

==> Include [News] or [Pitch] in brackets at the beginning of the subject line.
Again, you need to give the reporter an easy way to spot your news as legitimate. So tell them up front you are sending them news or a pitch and watch your email delivery rate soar.

==> Include the reporter’s column or beat in the first paragraph.
A reporter is always going to pay more attention to your pitch if you are one of their faithful readers. If you start out your email with something like, “Jane, in last week’s Tech Tips for Consumers column, you said…”, you will surely get the reporter’s attention.

==> Include all your contact information
Nothing’s worse than getting an email that you want to respond to immediately and having no way to contact the person except by email. Give the reporter all your phone numbers. And don’t forget your physical address and website domain. Make it easy for them to contact you.

==> Never include any attachments.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave without Internet access, you know that attachments are the way that most worms and viruses are spread on the Net. Windows XP strips off most attachments, and most corporate entities don’t allow attachments to come through their systems. They can even get you blacklisted so your emails cannot get through. So don’t be stupid. Don’t send attachments unless someone asks for them.

==> Provide a link to your website to download photos, graphics, graphs, bios and other background information.
Just about anything that you need to deliver to a reporter can be uploaded to your website. You can include product photos, people photos (remember to make them 300 dpi for print/ 72 dpi for online and in various sizes, so that the media can choose which size they want to use), bios, background information, sample chapters, and even an entire digital book. If the reporter wants you to send the product or a physical book, then you’ll have to mail that, of course.

==> Always include a subject line, but never put “Hi” or”Hello” in the subject line, especially alone.
Emails without subject lines are usually spam, and those that say hi or hello are usually viruses, so no one is going to open them. Be thorough. Include a subject line.

==> Follow CAN-SPAM rules and allow an easy unsubscribe method to your email list.
Even if you don’t include a one-click unsubscribe, you should at least include a statement that tells the reporter how they can get off the list or let you know that their beat has changed. A simple statement that says, “To get off this subscriber list, simply hit ‘reply’ and put ‘remove’ in the subject line” will suffice. And don’t forget to include your name and address.

Once you have their attention, there are many more things you can do to position yourself as an expert. On March 23, Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound, and I are doing a teleseminar to give you loads more publicity tips. It’s called, “How to Use the Media to Market Your Expertise.”

Getting seminar business

 Last week, Sarah Cohen of Life’s Inner Quest Center asked, “I’m seeking places where I can give seminars on the following subject ‘The Secret to Happiness’ and ‘Stress Less for Success.’ Can you offer suggestions?”

Brainy reader A.H. of Up4Contract.com offered these suggestions:

“I would try to reach out to human resource departments of larger corporations: Bank One, Suffolk Construction, county governments, etc. Many larger organizations offer their employees monthly programs on various topics that focus on their overall well being. I worked at Bank One (which may have changed names now), and we had a monthly Lunch & Learn. We brought in speakers on how to be a better communicator, how to balance life with work, and other related topics. I could see your topics fitting in with organizations that have a belief in the well being of their employees. I would start talking to the heads of the human resource departments and see if they offer such programs, and tell them how you can bring value to their employees.

“Another suggestion is to consider college campuses. While this may not be your ideal target, you may find sororities, student councils or governments looking for great programs to bring their students. I would highly suggest talking to the Greek organizations, i.e. Panhel (which is the leading body over the sororities), and tell them about your knowledge and how you would relate to the students. I know Greek organizations are always looking for worthwhile programs to bring to their members. If I can be of any assistance, I have connections at Marquette University.”

From Sandra Sims of Step By Step Fundraising:
“About six months ago, I joined an organization called Business & Professional Women. I found that it’s a great place to network with other business people and meet potential clients. Not only that, but once a month we have a guest speaker give a 20-minute talk. Civic clubs such as Kiwanis, Lions, Optimist, and many others have a similar format. Sarah could give a short talk as a ’sample’ of her seminar material and style, and then book paid seminars from the organization or other people she meets at the meetings.”

Liz Ryan at WorldWit writes, “As we gear up for ‘Camp WorldWIT 2005: Women in the Lead,’ we have some slots available for dynamic, inspiring speakers. If you fit this description and would be interested in speaking to a group of professional, talented and educated women please visit our Camp speaker page and apply to be a speaker.”

And Lois says: While business, civic and nonprofit organizations are not likely to pay you much for your speeches, it’s a great way to get yourself in front of lots of people who ARE in a position to hire you. Make sure they know how to contact you later. If you also have products to sell when you do these free seminars, such as a video, audio training CD or ebook, you can often make good money by selling these after your presentation. I suggest you join Toastmasters and the National Speakers Association, too, because you will not only get practice presenting speeches, but you will meet others who can help you get speaking gigs.

To get hired by business, civic and nonprofit organizations, you’ll need to get in touch with the program director. Research the organization and network your way in to the program director. Consider attending the group a few times before you approach the person in charge of programming. They will be much more likely to hire you if they know you.

Consider putting together half-day and full-day workshops on your topic, and expand your networking by partnering with other speakers who can help you fill out your program. That way, you will have access to their customer list, too. Create a postcard campaign with at least three postcards in the series to promote your programs, and mail them to a targeted list of businesses and organizations. Remember, it’s generally the human resources or training departments that hire speakers.

Write articles about your subject and place them in print and online publications. You didn’t mention if you have a website, but you should have one! A website is a terrific showcase for a speaker because you can easily post articles you have written on your topic, post audio clips of your speeches, and you can even post video clips easily today. So it can eliminate the need to create an elaborate sales package and it can often help you book a seminar without having to sell. Your website sells for you.

My next teleseminar guest, Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound, is a highly sought-after public speaker. And she started out much like you–with a wealth of knowledge on her topic (publicity) and a desire to get paid for public speaking. She used her 22 years of experience as a newspaper editor at four newspapers to launch her career as a publicity expert. That was ten years ago. Since then, her career (and fortunes) have blossomed by applying all of the publicity ideas she has learned over the years. She commands big bucks whenever she speaks now. And you can hear her for peanuts on our recorded teleseminar, “How to Use the Media to Market Your Expertise.” It’s available as a CD or you can download it immediately as an MP3 or written transcript.

How much do YOU charge?

If you work with clients, at some point in your career, you’ve probably been asked, “What’s your hourly rate?” or “How much do you charge?”

Now, you and I both know this question isn’t totally relevant, even if you provide services like I do. Because it doesn’t really matter how much I charge per hour. What the client really wants to know is, “How much is this going to cost me?” But they don’t want to pay some astronomical hourly fee, either. They want to feel like you put some effort into their work. So what you really need to know is, “How much is it worth to this client to have this problem solved?”

Sure, I could quote an hourly rate. But usually I don’t. They’d be shocked. Because I’ve been doing what I do for about 30 years, so I can often write a brochure in “record time,” which wouldn’t pay me enough to stay in business if I charged hourly. So I don’t charge that way. I charge for my “smarts”– my knowledge and experience. And if the project rate is within the client’s budget, they’re willing to pay it. But how’d you like to get out of the piecework business altogether? I know I would!

That’s why lots of people take the risk of commissioned sales. That is, they sell something and then get paid a commission — no salary. And some programs, like Mary Kay, are two-tier commissioned sales — meaning you get commissions on what YOU sell AND you get commissions on what your “downline” sales force sells. So you and your underlings go out and beat the pavement, looking for new and returning customers to sell makeup to. You also keep your eye out for more sales reps who want to join your team, too. You’d never think of advertising your product in the newspaper, would you? No, because Mary Kay is direct sales.

Well, the online world of marketing has taken this a little farther. It’s called affiliate sales. Some programs pay one-tier and some pay two-tier commissions. It’s basically the same as Mary Kay. But what’s different is that usually you’re being paid for “electrons” instead of makeup. Someone writes an ebook that you decide to sell for them through your website.

You put it up in your store, and then you forget it. Every once in awhile, someone buys it and you get a commission. Maybe you’ve recruited others through your affiliate link to sell the same product. They put it up on their website and make sales. You get a commission every time you sell the product AND every time your downline affiliate sells the product. AND you have the option to advertise the product using pay-per-click campaigns on Google and Overture (and other places). You write such a good ad that tons of people click on it and visit your website. Because you have such a terrific sales page for the product, let’s say that half the people buy it when they visit. Now you’re cookin’!

You also improve your search engine rankings — meaning you do all the right things and every time someone searches on your keywords, you come up on the FIRST PAGE of search results. So more people visit your website. And while they’re there, they might buy something or not. Or, they might see a Google ad that interests them and click off to someone else’s site. You got it! You make money on that, too! And after awhile, your website becomes your product.

Now you want to add more revenue streams to your business (firing every difficult client you have and replacing that revenue with something else…wouldn’t that be great?!!?). So you write your own ebooks or nifty little software product that you can sell the same way you sell other people’s electronic products. But this time YOU KEEP ALL THE MONEY. Because it’s your product. Unless, of course, you recruit affiliates to sell your product for you.

And who wouldn’t? It gets your product out to LOTS more people. So you have to pay them 40% of the sales price. What does it cost you? Zip. Zero. Nada. It’s just electrons. You did all the work up front, so you can collect the money over and over and over as sales are made. THAT’S PASSIVE INCOME!

If you’d like to learn the nitty-gritty details about how to do something once and make money over and over and over, you can. Recently I did a teleseminar with Lynn Terry, a passive income expert and the author of The Passive Income Guide to Online Business.

You can read more about the teleseminar and buy the CD, MP3 and transcript of the recording here and be on your way to generating passive income in just minutes:

Create Passive Income so You Can Work Less & Earn More