One of the journalism blogs I read asked whether search engines were killing the puns and humor from headlines.

You see, back in the day, headline writers tried to hook people in by creating interesting headlines that captured the imagination.

I remember one headline I wrote when I was an intern for a newspaper in Huntington, West Virginia. It was told the story about Hawaiians who wanted to recreate the adventures of their ancestors by canoeing to different islands. My headline was “Polynesian paddlers plan Pacific pilgrimage.”

My chief copy editor was impressed and ran it!

I also remember a real dud about the opening of the ice skating season:

Have an ice day.

Groan.

So what’s the issue here?

Headlines are now indexed by Google and they are searched by people like you and your prospects. Are they looking for “a nice day” or are they looking for “when does the city ice rink open?”

Chances are, it is the latter. And you need to write your headlines to reflect the keywords that people use.

I’ve studied this extensively with my PressReleaseSender.com service that writes, optimizes and distributes press releases. One thing I’ve found is that if you rely on your instinct to use keywords, then you will miss the boat. You must do keyword analysis to find the keywords that your prospects are using. If you don’t, they will never find your website and you will never have them enter your pipeline.

I do this analysis for my clients. If you’d like me to create a report that shows you the keywords that you should be using, click here. http://ow.ly/50RMv

You’ll get a report that shows you which keywords to use in your press releases, articles, blogs and websites so you get more traffic and more visitors to your website.

Click here to order. http://ow.ly/50RMv

I hate long sales letters. If you have questions, call me at 952-380-1554.

The most effective way to get your message to the media is to target the most interested reporters and avoid the ones who aren’t interested.

Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how often small businesses blast press releases and pitch letters to any and every reporter

BullsEye Publicity.com has the best press lists I've found

they happen to find on a generic media list. Reporters hate this. If you can personalize a pitch or target a press release, you’ll stand a much better chance of being quoted.

To make the best use of your time – and not waste a reporter’s time, here are 10 tips to selecting an effective media list.

1. Is it correct? Make sure the information is correct. It won’t help you to find that there are misspellings, wrong phone numbers or other errors.
2. Is it up to date? Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised at how many sites on the Internet sell outdated information. Ensure that the information is updated at least every quarter. There’s a lot of turnover in the media. An old list is a worthless list.
3. Does it contain complete information? A list should have name, title, publication or media outlet, email, phone and street address at a bare minimum. Give bonus points if the list shows you what topics the reporter covers in detail. For example, buying a list of reporters interested in women’s issues is a start, but how will you know if the reporter is interested in women’s politics, women’s health issues or women’s family and relationship issues? There’s a big difference! Give bonus points to a list that has relevant data, such as links to articles the reporter has written. A good list provider would have personal information about the reporter’s focus and slant so you know what angle to take. You won’t get this from a bare-bones list. You want a full-featured database.
4. Sortable. Ask for the list on a spreadsheet so you can sort on any number of fields, such as city and state, or type of publication. This can be useful if you are going to be in a new city and want to target the media there.
5. Informs you of the type of media outlet. You’d pitch a TV station differently than a print reporter, so make sure the list has this kind of information available. Today, you’d want a list that identifies print, TV, Radio and online media.
6. Contains website address. Every media outlet has a website today. You can research the reporters and the media by going to the website so you know exactly what they cover and how they cover it. Doing this research will help you pitch your story more effectively.
7. Circulation figures for print publications. This number will help you identify the market leaders ands the smaller players.
8. International contacts. The world is shrinking today. If your product or service can be of use to people around the world, then you should contact reporters at other countries.
9. Language spoken. If you stick to the U.S. media, this won’t be as important, but if you pitch international reporters, some will speak English and some will not. In fact, some international media do have correspondents in the US who speak English. Those would be the ones you might want to target.
10. Preferred contact method. How does a reporter want to be contacted? By email? By phone? By fax? By regular mail? Knowing this answer will help you get on their good side!

If you ask these questions before you buy a media list, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and confusion. And you will have a better chance to get the coverage you seek.

I’ve created a new business unit that sells media lists. You can find great lists at BullsEyePublicity.com

Want to learn how to pitch reporters effectively? Download my special report “REVEALED: The Quick And Easy Way To Get Publicity From Reporters And Bloggers Through Social Media And Press Releases!” http://www.bullseyepublicity.com/reporters/ For the most up-to-date, full-featured media database available, please visit www.BullsEyePublicity.com

This article can be reprinted on your webiste or ezine.

Reporters are always looking for news. A new report shows they want to receive press releases by email.

The new report by Bulldog Reporter and TEKGROUP International shows an overwhelming majority of journalists—79.4%—prefer to receive information about corporate, not-for-profit and government news by e-mail.

Here are five ways to make your press release stand out.

1. Target the media carefully. Reporters love press releases that are in their subject area. They go bonkers when they receive press releases that are not targeted for them. So before you send a press release, make sure it is suitable for that reporter.
2. Use a headline that indicates the press release is targeted. If the headline isn’t arresting, the reporter might not read the rest.
3. Put all the good information up front. Remember, this isn’t a mystery novel. Reporters don’t want to find out who-done-it on the last page. Put the important information in the first two paragraphs.
4. Put relevant links back to your website. A press release should be only 400-700 words. That means it is hard to tell the whole story. You have to omit secondary information. Put that info on your website so reporters can get as much info as the need.
5. Put links to photos, line art and surveys. Reporters might need this info. But artwork can take up a lot of space in email and some email systems might reject large files. That means you can’t put those art elements in the press release. Put them on your website instead and include links so reporters can find the information easily.

If you follow this advice, you’ll stand a better chance of having reporters read your press releases.

Do you need a list of reporters in your subject area? BullsEyePublicity.com maintains the most comprehensive and up-to-date media data bases for the US and International Reporters. For information, go to www.BullsEyePublicity.com For a special report on “The Quick And Easy Way To Get Publicity From Reporters And Bloggers Through Social Media And Press Releases!” go to http://www.bullseyepublicity.com/reporters/ Dan Janal is a thought leader, speaker coach and consultant on the topics of publicity and Internet Marketing.

This article can be reprinted on your blog, ezine or website.

Is Old Media still relevant in today’s social media world in terms of getting publicity that helps you make sales?

You bet.

While it is great to get mentioned on blogs and social media sites, Old Media or Mainstream Media is still the place to be to get results.
Here are 5 reasons to include Old Media in your publicity and marketing campaigns:

1.     Credibility. If the New York Times likes your product or service, you get instant credibility. I could name 100 other mainstream publications that you’d love to get into so your product, book or service gets the ringing endorsement of a trusted source.
2.     Visibility. Newspapers, TV and radio still reach millions of people every day. While we all like to get some of our news online, you can’t ignore the impact of traditional media sites and their incredible reach into mainstream America.
3.     Reprintability. Let’s face it. Nothing stands out in marketing kit or sales kit like a reprint from a newspaper or magazine. It demands to be great and it smacks of credibility. I’m seeing more and more websites feature logos of old media companies that have written about those authors and small businesses. That should tell you something: people are influenced and impressed by Old Media.
4.     Links to your site. Nearly all content from nearly all Old Media is printed on the web. Oftentimes, those articles have links to your websites, or are otherwise indexed by Google and other search engines. So if someone is searching for your type of business, they very well may learn about your from a reference in the Old Media on their web site. That’s a great introduction. In fact, I had one client who was named one of the top 20 entrepreneurs of the year by Entrepreneur magazine. When you search her name, the first listing is the link to Entrepreneur, not her own website. Can you imagine how much confidence and credibility she just received? Anyone searching for her can see that she has the implied endorsement of a top magazine! That’s a great way to start a conversation.
5.     Ego. Would you rather say that someone Tweeted about you or that the Boston Globe printed a review of your book and included a picture of the cover? I rest my case.

None of this discussion even hints that new media is not worthwhile. It truly is. However, the torch has not been passed from one generation of news hounds to the next – at least not yet. Good publicity practices should include Old Media as well as New Media so you and your clients get the most publicity possible.

One tactic that I’ve found to be indispensible in getting my clients links from media sites is to distribute press releases. Many top media sites will print press releases word-for-word so you control the message. The benefits of doing this include getting links to your site, creating screen shots of your press release on famous sites to build your credibility and the visibility of reaching the audiences of those publications.

For a free report on how to get your message printed in top tier media websites, go to
http://www.prleadsplus.com/toptiermedia/
The Los Angeles Times called Dan Janal “an Internet marketing expert” who helps professionals build their businesses with publicity and Internet marketing tactics. To learn more about Dan’s coaching and consulting services, go to www.PRLEADSPLUS.com.

This month, we had a large number of alumni clients re-start their PR LEADS subscriptions. While we’ve always gotten new clients during this recession, and we  always had a few alumni resume, this month clearly showed a great trend.

Why? Many reasons, internal and external, with lessons that will help you grow your businesses:

1. This newsletter. I started this a few weeks ago after no having any consistent communication with my clients. Why did I stop writing the newsletter several years ago? Maybe I got lazy. Maybe I got complacent. Both are not good attributes. Perhaps just putting my name in front of people reminded people that they should get back on board. Maybe you should do some kind of communication with your clients.
2. The economy is improving. Stock market is up. Consumer confidence is up. GM is repaying loans faster than anyone thought possible. Home buying is up. Sure there are rough spots out there and the new economy has changed some business models, but things are definitely looking up.
3. Market consistently. There’s always a new gimmick and people grab at it. But 100 years of research has shown that doing the right things consistently always works if you keep on doing them, day after day, month after month. So do your PR, write articles, do webinars, teleseminars and speeches; and stay in touch with your  clients, prospects and alums, and get referrals. It all works.
4. Competition. Sure, we’ve all had competitors enter our space in the past two years. Looks like people have tried the rest and are coming back to the best. Remember that quality always wins in the end. Continue to offer great service to your clients and they’ll stick with you.
5. Marketing. I’ve started writing more articles, appearing on more teleseminars, webinars and Internet radio shows as well as offering helpful advice on Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. The result is that many people who sign up for PR LEADS put “web” or “Google” or “Internet” as the referral source. Online marketing actually works. Try it.
6. Listening to great advice from Alan Weiss, Mark LeBlanc and Christian Mickelsen. When you pay for great coaching, you are investing in yourself.
7. Law of Attraction. ‘Nuff said.

I’m sure the answer lies in all these factors and probably a few more that I’m too blind to see. So hang in there. Good times are coming!

Many consultants and entrepreneurs spend hours asking “How can I improve my search engine optimization” with Google and other search engines. Then they spend countless hours optimizing their pages with keywords and content in the hopes that Google will notice their site and rank it higher than competitors.

Did you know that press releases can help you improve your SEO rankings?

It’s true, but most small businesses fail to realize that press releases can help improve a  web site’s ranking on major search engines.

Three Ways to Improve Your Web Site’s SEO with Press Releases

Use keyword analysis find out what people are looking for when they search and write a press release about that term. For example, they might look for “how do I hire a consultant?” You could write a press release that announces you have a white paper or special report on the five steps to make sure you hire the right consultant.
Put keywords in the subject line. Search engines look for relevant info that their searchers are looking for. Think of the terms and words your prospects would use to find your site and put those words in the headline. Since headlines have a very limited amount of space, you might focus on the keyword that describes your market, like “chiropractors” or “financial planners.” Or you could focus on the benefit that your service offers like “make more money,” “reduce stress,” or “have a healthier body.” If you can combine the target audience with the main benefit, you’d be in great shape! For example “New study shows how financial planners can reduce stress.”
When using keywords in headlines or in the press release, be careful to make sure that proper grammar and logic are applied. If you use a keyword too many times, or use variations of the keywords in illogical syntax, it will read poorly to prospects and the search engines will figure out you are trying to game the system.

If you follow these tips, you’ll get better rankings on search engines and more people will learn about you.

Do you want your press release picked up in major media? Read my special report “How to Get Your Business-Oriented Press Release Printed on Top Tier Media Sites – Guaranteed,” by visiting http://www.prleadsplus.com/toptiermedia/

Publicity thought leader Dan Janal is Founder and President of PR LEADS PLUS which offers a variety of do-it-yourself tools to help small businesses get publicity, including media lists, press release writing and targeted article marketing services and press release distribution. Dan Janal also offers coaching and consulting services to small businesses and professional service providers.

George Washington

In honor of George Washington’s birthday, here are marketing tips from the father of our country.

1.    Always tell the truth. Nothing hurts your credibility with reporters or prospects or customers more than shading the truth. Look at Tiger Woods and Toyota. ‘Nuff said.
2.    Eat the cherries, but don’t chop down the cherry tree. In other words, enjoy the fruits of your labors and always keep your main business well tuned for these tough times. If that means you need to get coaching and consulting help in marketing, PR and business growth, call me and I’ll explain how we can work together.
3.    Watch out for splinters. Those wooden teeth have got to hurt.

How not to pitch a reporter

PR LEADS alum Jonathan Fields wrote a great article for the Huffington Post on how not to pitch reporters. He cited his own experience with a PR person who mass mailed a canned pitch.

Read the article at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/book-pitch-gone-bad-how-t_n_303197.html

I posted a response:

As a former reporter (and an award winning one at that) and PR person with 30+ years standing, I agree completely with Jonathan. If you are going to pitch a reporter, make it personal. Show her that you know her readers interests and her interests. That will make you stand out from all the sorry mess of pitches that crossed my desk as a reporter!

Media databases can actually help you accomplish that. At BullsEyePu­blicity,co­m, for example, the media databases include information on reporters’ interests and lets you find their recent articles so you know what they are interested in. I’d strongly suggest that you Google any reporter to find their latest articles and get to know them so you can pitch to them on their terms.

Of course, the hardest part of this is finding the right reporter, and that’s where a good media database comes in. But, as Jonathan suggests, use them to build a relationship, and not spam the marketplace.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/book-pitch-gone-bad-how-t_n_303197.html