It shouldn’t need to be said, and yet…

When I post releases from various groups to the KTVZ.COM Community Billboard, I sometimes am surprised that groups might include a name, a phone number – but not a Website address for their group or organization!

I mean, that’s such low-hanging fruit! (Granted, others go way too far, every other word being a link. There’s a balance there, as in all things.)

I actually sometimes go Google and add the group’s Web address, go find a logo, etc. For the reader as much as the organization.

(By the way, our Community Billboard page is a great place to look for examples if you are unsure just how to write up a news release. Some are short, others long, some well-written, others… well, I do what I can.)

And please, send them as straight text or Word .docs – not Adobe .pdfs, which DON’T do well usually in cut-and-paste, which is the only way yours truly can post so much stuff. Yes, I’m asking for spoon feeding, in exchange for giving your information some valuable visibility;-)

Speaking of spoon-feeding, be sure to make the link in your release take you to the page with the info on the event or announcement, not to your home page. Don’t make people hunt!

FlashAlert Newswire is a great, growing news release dissemination option for many govt. agencies, groups etc. – it gets you past the chore of creating and maintaining media mailing lists, and get me past our corporate spam filter, which “protects” me from links in emailed releases (the ones in the email body, not a separate attachment). Those are turned into a mess I have to click through and fix.

Saving me and other editors’ time is a sure-fire way to boost the odds of your stuff being used. And while social media is a great way to get your message to folks directly, the media has its place in helping broadcast your info widely. Help us help you!