Once upon a time, busy newsrooms up and down the land were packed with journalists all working away to get their off-diary stories (off-diary stories being ones they find for themselves, rather than ones that land on their desks).

But the economic downturn and a huge drop in advertising revenue have taken their toll on the industry and, sadly, many journalists have fallen by the wayside. These busy newsrooms where I once worked are far emptier of people now.

The upshot of this is that, with pages still to be filled, the remaining hacks have to rely more heavily on submitted news – in other words press releases.

This situation has turned out to be the good fortune of the PR company. Every cloud has a silver lining.

So if you aren’t sending out press releases about your genuinely newsworthy stories then it really is something that you should think about.

Editorial is free and carries credibility. Advertising and advertorial doesn’t – and it costs.

And even if you do send out a press release and it falls on deaf ears (in other words, it’s not published) all is not lost. One press release has many applications. Just because it doesn’t make it to the pages of your local rag or trade press doesn’t mean the doors are closed.

Here we’re talking about online PR. Because out there on the World Wide Web are dozens, probably hundreds, of sites where you can publish your release for free. OK, they may not be widely read – let’s be honest, they may never be read at all – but they still have a function because:

• By adding in a link back to your website you’ve helped with search engine optimisation. Remember, Google reads everything.
• When people search for your company, not just your website comes up – so does your other online activity. If a quick search brings up your website, press releases, your LinkedIn and Facebook pages and your blogs think what a busy and active company you’ll appear to run
• You can still put the releases on your own website and, by including key words and phrases, you will again help with SEO

We hope this has convinced you to try your hand at a few press releases. Make sure they are newsworthy and you’re sure to succeed. Don’t forget to include a photograph.

For any more advice please get in touch.