I was featured on NBC's The Today Show in four weekday segments on coaching (which is my field) because I made myself available and I was willing to spend 15 minutes thinking about my business and typing up an email.

It's amazing how much time we can spend doing work that nets us nothing, then spend a few minutes on just the right thing that changes our lives. What ties all this together, for me, is having a clear vision and clear goals. Sometimes we struggle, sometimes we hit the lottery...and, the more focused we are, the more we increase our odds of hitting the lottery.

Although I've used online PR I had forgotten to consider the local press - who are just as, if not more, likely to register in the consciousness both of my clients prospects - and of business owners who may become my prospects and ultimately clients.

Thanks Keith for the insight.
Bruce Bird

I also have a database of every fax number for every media outlet in the United States. When I really want my press release to count I will fax it to the editor of the publication.

1) Being aware of the Pew 2009 State of the Media is a valuable read for anyone planning strategic media outreach. The average age/readership of newpaper consumption is way down.

( I quote in part below from PEW - http://bit.ly/jCdlM ).

Among readers of all ages, readership declined between 2007 and 2008. Young people in the age groups of 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 continue to have the lowest readership levels of daily newspapers.

Among readers 18 to 24 years of age, 31% say they read a newspaper yesterday, according to data from Scarborough Research. This represents a drop of two percentage points from the prior year. Those in the 25-to-34 age group do not demonstrate much better numbers. Readership of daily newspapers was down to 32%, also down two percentage points from 2007.14

Those aged 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 also showed declines in readership in 2008. Readership of daily newspapers was down to 41% and 51%, respectively, among the age groups.15

And even the most faithful readers of newspapers, older people, or those ages 55 – to 64 and 65 and above have shown sharp drops in readership since 2000. In 2008, readership was down to 57% among 55-to-64-year-olds, a drop of nine percentage points since 2000. Those 65 and older showed an even greater drop.

Although 64% say they picked up a newspaper yesterday, this number has declined from 72% in 2000, an eight percentage point difference.

The study, released in August, found that those who said they had read a newspaper yesterday was 34%, compared to 40% two years earlier.

At best, only 34% are reading a newspaper?

So, that tells me you need to know where the people are, where they are reading, how they are reading/viewing and target very specific niches by doing your research in advance to create your media strategy.

2) Knowing how and where to reach traditional journalists, J-bloggers, hard print news distribution sources, e-news and commenting on virtualized news aggregate sites are all important tactics to the whole strategic element of nuturing a news story.

Over all, the total number of daily newspapers continued to significantly decline. In 2007, the most recent year for which data are available, daily newspapers were down to 1,422 in that year from 1,437 in 2006. Of the total number of daily newspapers, evening papers continued to decline, while those in the morning continued a trend of growth. In 2007, the number of evening papers declined by 49. This compares with a drop of 31 evening papers from 2005 to 2006.

Although those hardprint newspaper numbers are changing with declining there is still value in getting earned or paid "Ink."

Some of the players of the paid media distribution arena are PRNewswire, Businesswire, Cision, AP News, UPI, XpressPress, Reuters, VocusPR and each has their strengths in the distribution arena. There are others. And, there are sources you can use that are free.

There is more to the press release and pitch today than meets the eye. There are public relations software tools and resources including media research, media lists, press clipping services, media monitoring services and evaluation of media coverage.

3) But, more importantly, most companies/organizations/agencies and people are not building evolved news pages, evolved press releases or evolved media sites to accomodate/integrate the new media landscape.

Ask yourself, are you still writing and posting press releases the way they were developed in the early 1900's, which were formatted for the telegraph wire for transmission? And, is your answer something like "because that's the way it's always been done?"

4) Learn how social media has challenged and changed traditional communication structures and prepare for that part of your entire integrated communication and news strategy.

Media intelligence and media insight helps improve your communication performance, build your reputation, and maximize the results of your media relations efforts.

I welcome and questions any additional comments.

Most Sincerely,
Alice M. Fisher
Twitter.com/unlimitedpr
Unlimitedmarcom.ning.com (links here for building free media lists)