I bring up my quasi-journalistic past not to impress you, but rather to impress upon you some of the things I learned while wearing my journalist hat.

Specifically, when reporters walks through the press kit room at a major trade show (think CES, SEMA, or back in the day, COMDEX), these aren’t leisurely strolls — they’re journalists on missions, looking for press kits from

A) companies they already know or follow, and

B) company names that attract their attention.

Upon seeing a press kit that catches their eye, they grab it, flip it open, scan it quickly to see if there’s anything newsworthy they’re interested in and if so, they throw it in their bag or make a note to visit the company’s booth later.

I saw this happen over and over again and found that I did the exact same thing.

So? you ask. Did you learn anything from your experience? As a matter of fact I did.

Specifically, I learned that the best press kit folder design is the good old boring press kit standard format, namely a press kit

1. that measures 9- X 12-inches when folded closed,
2. has two full-sized pockets,
3. one pocket on each side,
4. with both pockets glued shut on both sides (but the top of the pocket open),
5. with slots cut into the right pocket to hold one business card, and
6. no fancy flaps or closures to fiddle with before opening the press kit.

Seems like a lot of bother for a stupid press kit, but it’s not.

Remember that most journalists are busy people, so if they’ve gone to the trouble of picking up your press kit or asking you for one, they’ve done so because they want to see what’s inside. And the faster they can scan the contents of your press kit, the sooner they can decide if what’s inside is worthwhile to their readers, viewers and/or listeners.

Don’t believe me? Fine.

Next time you set out press kits at an event or are asked for one, watch what the reporters do with ‘em when they get ‘em. I’ll bet 8 out of 10 open ‘em up right away.

Hence, the easier it is for reporters to open your press kits, scan the materials without everything flopping all over the place (that’s why you use insist on glued pockets), and see that your business card is where it belongs (clipped into the slots on the right pocket). they’ll then throw the kit under their arm or into their bag before taking off.

And when it comes to press kits and journalists, that’s how it works. That’s why you need a standard press kit format.

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BONUS TIP:

If you’ve gone to the trouble of using a standard press kit format, don’t blow it by handing out press kits contained inside of an envelope. That just defeats all of the benefits of using a standard press kit format.

If you feel like you’ve got too much stuff to fit into a standard sized folder, then consider getting a custom folder made that can handle more junk. Either that or re-evaluate everything you’re throwing into your press kit. Chances are you really don’t need everything you originally thought you did.

You’d think that crafting a Yes-No question in a questionnaire would be easy, right? Well, not really.

Think about it: Have you ever been asked a Yes/No question and realized that your true answer should be

• I Don’t Know / Undecided, or
• Maybe, or
• Does Not Apply?

When writing simple Yes or No questions in a research study, we recommend giving people the option of responding with at least one other answer besides Yes-No.

Why? Because very few population samples can be divided into two categories, such as Yes or No.

P.S.  We recommend a similar approach when crafting True-False questions as well. 

If you want to generate positive media relations results, then you need to “become” an expert in your particular field of choice.

[NOTE: When I use the words "you" or "your" in this Tip, the advice also applies to positioning your boss, client or colleague as an expert too.]

If you are selling/marketing products or services with any degree of accomplishment, chances are you have at least some level of “expert-ness” or expertise. The challenge, however, often comes from getting journalists to

1. Know that you exist, and
2. Accept you as a reliable resource.

Identifying the right media outlets and the right journalists are key to leveraging your “expert-ness” into positive media coverage.

Such media outlets can range from

• your home town newspaper to your local TV station, or from
• an industry newsletter to the Wall Street Journal.

But if you can find the right outlet and the right journalist(s), you may be well on your way to Expert Heaven!

You can call it Web 2.0 or the Next Generation Internet; I don’t really care.

But you need to use social media and/or social networking tools, services and platforms in your public relations, marketing communications and investor relations efforts. (And that means both for your company/clients, as well as for you personally.)

We recommend you do the following:

1. Create one or more public profiles on the Internet (Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo are the best),
2. Begin using a microblogging service (Twitter is our tool of choice),
3. Start taking and putting digital photos in photo-sharing sites (Flickr and Photobucket work well for this), and
4. Start shooting and sharing videos in online video-sharing sites (YouTube’s the huge leader here, but there are hundreds of video-sharing sites on the Internet to choose from).

At a minimum, using social media/networking platforms, tools and services will boost your visibility on the Internet. More likely, you will also

• increase your credibility,
• sell more products and services, and/or
• land more clients and customers.

One key trick to being successful at media relations is to make sure you divide editorial contact databases into smaller segments. These can/should be based upon

• beats covered (new products, sports, health, etc.),
• title (reporter, reviewer, feature writer, etc.),
• geography (city, state, region, country),
• industry focus (personal computers, legal, athletics, women’s issues, etc.),
• media type (newspaper, online only, television, radio, etc.) or
• another focus altogether.

Such segmentation will improve your chances for publicity success when pitching targeted story ideas, distributing releases, and crafting media relations strategies.

Venture capitalists call it the “elevator pitch.”

Simply put, creating an elevator pitch means that you can explain what your product or service does in 30 seconds or less. When done, you should be able to do this in a way so your grandma will understand what the heck you’re talking about.

If not, you should go back to the drawing board.

Simplify. Demystify. Go back to the drawing board — especially if you’re trying to describe a technical product, service or process.

Start out with a simple, easy-to-understand description of 30 seconds or less. You can always get more technical later.