If you listen to a few so-called media experts around town they’ll tell you the good old fashioned press release has one foot in the grave. But let me tell you the other foot still has plenty of life in it.

The press release is still a very effective means of communicating with the media. But the challenging part is cutting through the thousands of press releases that are distributed each and every day. If you persist with the old style press release, you do have a foot in the grave. But evolve and be creative, and the humble press release will still deliver you outstanding results, via fax or email.

Picture the current day newsrooms. Where once the telex rattled out release after release, it is now email that is the main carrier or our press releases. So how do you find the mark and get your media release noticed?

Like any good news story, it starts at the top. If you don’t capture the media’s attention within the first few lines, it is headed for the trash folder. And when it comes to email, the top is your subject line. Keep it punchy and on-message. This four or five words may well determine if your release is successful or not, so don’t neglect. And don’t do what a few major corporations do (they will remain nameless) and leave the subject line blank. If you do this there is a fair chance the media release won’t even make it to the inbox of your recipient. Instead it will be banished never to be seen in the junk mail folder.

In brief, the subject line of your media release should be the absolute most important part of your news release. And the best way to determine this is to do a simple exercise. And it’s the same exercise you should have done when writing your media release. It is also the basis of every news report ever written – WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW. Every news story should carry these elements in their first paragraph. Look at any newspaper story, and the chances are you will find these elements in the opening to the story. Once you have them down on paper, it is easier to structure your release and to identify the main theme, the selling point, you are trying to get across. When you have it, stick it in the subject line.

Journalists traditionally have a very short attention span. This is largely due to the fact that they have a deadline flying at them every few minutes. Don’t waste their time with fluff. Tell them what they want to know right up front. I think the best way to do this is in bulletin form underneath a very catchy and to the point headline in the body of the email, not as an attachment.

For example:

Australian researchers find cure for Common Cold

WHAT – We have found the cure for the common cold
WHO – Researchers from Sydney University
TARGET AUDIENCE – everyone
TALENT – Professor Blogs from Sydney University who has been working on the cure for the common cold for the past 15 years
CONTACT: Warren Sim. The Media Game. 1300 1 MEDIA

Then you can place the first five or six paragraphs of your release in the body of the email with the attachment carrying the full press release and any other additional information that the journo may require.

As you can see, this style press release simply and effectively gives the journalists or producers an easy opportunity to sum up whether the story is of interest or not. The journo will appreciate that you are not wasting their time, they will welcome your releases in the future, and they’ll know they can consistently rely on you for quality information. The release gives them a chance to make a decision on the story within a few seconds, and then have access to more detailed information.

But for it to be a success on your part, obviously the story needs to be strong, and so too the teaser information you deliver.

Once you have the release written and ready to go, how do you send your press release?

If you don’t have your own up-to-date media contacts list, the best way to distribute your press release is to go with a distribution service like The Media Game’s News Distribution. There is no sign-up fee or minimum spend, just pay as you go. The on-line service is available 24/7 and you choose exactly what media category, or even what specific media outlets you want to target. The site them gives you an instant on-line quote. It’s then just a matter of uploading your release, including any attachments, then entering what day and time you would like it distributed. The system then does the rest for you, and provides a detailed success report within 12 hours of the media release being distributed.

Simple, effective media management. And with a creative, to-the-point media release, the media interest in your story will start flooding in.