Hoover ink PR      •     Thinking    •    Volume 5      •      Issue 4
 


Hello,

Is the printed press kit dead? I think not! And what should go in a press kit? Let's answer these questions this month in Think. And, we have our usual bevy of interesting and useful links.

Now, let's get going.

Cordially,

Harry Hoover
harry@hoover-ink.com

 
Ink Briefs
Isn't it del.icio.us? This is a cool site, part of what is referred to as Web 2.0: the more collaborative web. The del.icio.us site is a social bookmarking web service for storing and sharing your web bookmarks. Here are my bookmarks, if you'd like to check them out. Feel free to register and then bookmark my blog and my website.


Most online search conversions take place in the real - not the digital - world. A study of 100,000 consumers done for Google shows that 63 percent of consumers who made a purchase after an online search closed the sale at a brick-and-mortar location. Find out more.


Creatives like us shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel every time we need some sort of form or template. Right? Well the folks at Creative Latitudes have a resource section that offers all kinds of free downloads, ranging from contract forms to hourly rate calculators. Very cool.


I used to wonder sometimes about whether certain famous people were alive or dead. No more wondering. There's a site called Who's Alive And Who's Dead that tells you. King Fahd of Saudia Arabia and Wilt Chamberlain: dead. Bob Newhart and Lee Majors: alive.


Random Hoover ink links: NameBoy, and MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog.


Brand It like Beckham: Building a Brand with Balls


Our Book of the Month is Brand It Like Beckham: Building A Brand With Balls. Click on the image above to find out more.
About Hoover ink PR

Hoover ink PR helps position businesses that are serious about their success. Then, we craft and deliver bottom line messages that ensure it.

Who are we? We're a marketing communications firm with more than 26 years experience in providing services to financial, high tech, real estate, tourism and consumer products
companies.

From employee relations and media relations to collateral material and e-newsletters, we develop the programs and communication tools that will differentiate you from your competitors. And that's the bottom line.
 

Printed Press Kits:
  A Contrarian View

Much has been said about the demise of the printed press kit. Online and electronic versions - pundits say - are the way to go. No editors or reporters want to receive printed press kits when they could have electronic versions. Right?

Au contraire, mon frère! Let me posit an alternate view. I've often found that when conventional wisdom says to do one thing, you should do the other. Zig instead of zag.

Reporters and editors get too much email, just like the rest of us.

Besides you should never send a large attachment to anyone, especially an editor, unless it has been requested. And, if they don't know the sender, they may worry about unwanted viruses and other digital things that go bump in the hard drive.

Many editors and reporters are still "old school." They would rather review analog material instead of digital. Quite frankly, it's quicker. I've been to trade shows as a reporter and a PR person and have seen how things work in the press room. An electronic press kit is not as useful as a printed one in such a venue.

You can sort through a printed press kit in mere moments, pulling the info, graphs and photos you need and discarding the rest.

I always develop and display both printed and electronic press kits for trade shows and let the journalists decide which format they want.

It's also a good idea to load everything into your online press room. You don't have an online press room!

Well, that is a subject for another time.

 
 

Cooking Up A Press Kit
 
Press kits, like any dish, may include different ingredients depending upon who will be consuming them. A good press kit can be used with potential investors or clients, just as it can for editors. The contents should be developed based upon your audience.

Let's review some common elements you will find in press kits aimed at journalists. A letter of introduction - or a pitch letter - often is attached to the outside of the press kit folder. This could include an overview of kit contents and your contact information. Now, let's go inside the folder:

The Backgrounder. This is an overview of your company that may include its history and a profile, company locations, as well as brief bios of key company officers.

Product/Service Information. Include product and service spec sheets or brochures, as well as any reviews you have received from neutral third parties.

Art. Photos, charts, graphs and illustrations often help sell the story. Editors and are always looking for ways to visually illustrate news and feature items. Including art gives you a leg up.

Recent Coverage. If you have received editorial mention elsewhere, include it. This gives an editor a little more confidence that your story or company has merit.

News Releases. Now, I'm not saying you should include every release you have written since the dawn of time, but include some that are pertinent to the subject at hand.

Article Layout. Laying out a story using text and visuals in what is known as mat format often can result in additional coverage. Editors can pick up the entire layout and drop it into the publication. This is more likely to happen with small newspapers and trade magazines than with major media. But it can even give major media editors ideas on how to illustrate a feature.

FAQs and Facts. Frequently asked questions and bulleted fact sheets also can spur coverage.

 
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