IN THIS ISSUE: March 16, 2000 To Archive Index The Traditional Press Release Is Dead! - The Internet is a medium of instant communication. Why hasn't the message changed with the medium? LET'S BURY THE OPEN EMAIL LIST! EVEN ON AOL Using an open list is the e-mail equivalent of picking your teeth in public. Unneccessary Press Release Of The Week The First Fold Makes Your Site! (or breaks it) - Guest Article

The Traditional Press Release Is Dead!

Our New Medium Needs A New Message

The Internet is the medium of instant communication, constant change, rocket speed. So why hasn't the message changed with the medium? Why is the format for electronic press releases the same as that of print?

What's next for online publicity?

A new format for a new medium.

This article pre-supposes that those writing press releases understand what constitutes news...that the content of releases are worthy of news coverage. In question here is how to transmit a message to fit the new medium.

Online, Time Is Everything
While the release on an 8½ by 11 inch page can be scanned with a glance, the electronic form of the same release requires scrolling. Says BusinessWeek marketing reporter Ellen Neuborne, "I hate having to scroll past contact information and the obligatory company description just to get to the subject of the release. Who has time to do that all day?"

Companies spend anywhere from $150 to $1,000 to have news distribution services send out each electronic press release. The results? Their headlines are listed by time of transmission along with hundreds of others sent that day on Business Wire, PR News Wire and other distribution services.

Clicking on a random sampling on Business Wire headlines shows releases with lead paragraphs containing 156, 94, 83 and 97 words. These are far too long for reading off a computer screen. Complete releases on Business Wire and PR Newswire average about 350 words on three 8½ inch wide, single-spaced screens. That is about 200 words too many!

Online, Time Is Everything
The Internet needs a new method of company information dissemination that fits the medium. But first a new form of Internet news release needs to be adopted.

One of the major problems with the formats allowed on BusinessWire and PR Newswire is that they were created for print releases. Both companies have simply moved their traditional print business to the Internet. However, one online press release distribution service -- XpressPress News Service -- currently will let you use a non-traditional, Internet-ready format.

Back in the pre-Web days, smart publicists knew that they had to format releases for radio stations differently than those for print. They were taught to format radio releases like 30-second scripts. Whether for print or broadcast, releases were double-spaced for easy reading on a maximum of 2 pages.

Any experienced publicist pitching a story by phone knows there is only a 30-second window of opportunity. That's how long you get to grab a journalist's attention. If your pitch interests the reporter, s/he will ask you to continue with your story. The same thing will happen after a reporter reads an Internet-ready press release.

Why shouldn't information-overloaded editors trying to wade through releases on their computer monitors be given the same consideration?

What new format will work?
What format would work better? Writing made-for-print press releases ignores the two chief constraints of reporters and editors - lack of time and the fact that they must read your information from a computer screen.

What's needed is a made-for-the-Internet press release format. Think of the electronic news release as a teaser to get a reporter or editor to your web site for additional information. Here's how the Internet-ready news release should work:

• The lead paragraph of a release should state its point in 40 words or less. Of those 40 words, no more than six words should be used to describe what the company does.
• Additional material about the company that is not directly related to the point of the story can be compiled in a separate paragraph below the lead or at the bottom of the page.
• Writing style? Think of how you'd describe the story to a friend on a 30-second elevator ride. Pay attention to the way the stories on the nightly news are described during a 10-second commercial break on an earlier show. Listen carefully to the way radio news broadcasts relate the top stories of the day.
• The lead should stand on its own as a description of the story. To learn how, study the home page of the online New York Times; page one of the interactive Journal or Yahoo! News Alerts. They all manage to tell what each story is about in a sentence or two. So can you.
• Make your entire release a maximum of 200 words or less, in 5 short paragraphs.
• Use the bulleted points "Who? What? Where? When? Why?" as paragraph headings
• Write only two to three short sentences in each of the five paragraphs.
• Above the headline or at the bottom of the release, be sure to provide a contact name, phone number, email address and URL for additional information.
• If you have compiled your own media list, consider not using a press release at all, but rather a three-paragraph, short-sentence, e-mail pitch letter or memo. The only news release distribution service that will allow you to use a pitch letter or memo format at this time is http://www.XpressPress.com/.

It's not easy to write tight. Mark Twain summed it up best when he said "If I had more time I would have written less." Writing is about re-writing. And re-writing. Writing well takes time.

Respect today's reality: take the time to write less and make it mean more.

Want to win coverage? Start by throwing out the tattered old print press release. Write like you have 10 seconds to make a point. Because online, you do.

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How good or bad has your experience been with press releases? Please write!BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com

LET'S BURY THE OPEN EMAIL LIST! EVEN ON AOL

How many messages a week do you receive with 10 to 20K open mailing lists? I get an average of 200 e-mails a day and at least 30% of them include my name on an open list that sometimes contains over 100 names.

It is unconscionably rude to assume that mail recipients want to scroll past a long list of names to get to your message. "Using an open list is the e-mail equivalent of picking your teeth in public," says William Johnson of Net Profit Now

The email that prompted this commentary came from a graphic design firm in Chile. After scrolling through a 15K open email list, I came to a list of URLs. I selected one, went to the site, and was told to enter my password. Gimme a break!

Horror stories abound, like the one about an intern who unwittingly sent an open list e-mail to the company's buyers and sellers, resulting in an overall business loss of 30 percent and the abrupt end of his internship.

How to Use Bcc:
Every e-mail program contains a Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) function. You begin by making yourself the "TO:" and then sending Bcc to everyone else on the list. For example, TO: BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com   Bcc:joeblow@xyz.com, johnblow@abc.com, janeblow@xyz.net

Programmers (those jokers!) at AOL - home of the worst open list offenders -- made finding the instructions for BCCs ridiculously difficult.

Here's how AOLers have to send a Bcc: Enclose the email addresses of the recipients of the blind carbon copies in parentheses () For example to include Joe Blow on an open list Cc:, type joeblow@xyz.com into the "Copy To:" box.

To send Joe Blow a Bcc, enclose his name and email address in parentheses: (joeblow@xyz.com) in the "Copy To:" box. You can combine open and Bcc on same list by typing the former followed by a comma, and the Bcc in parentheses, i.e. joeblow@xyz.com, (maryblow@xyz.com)

To send to a blind list of copies, make the "TO" your own email address and enclose the rest in parentheses, with a comma after each name within the list in parentheses (joeblow@xyz.com, maryblow@xyz.com, johnblow@xyz.com)

This gem of information was listed in AOL "Help" not under Bcc, or Blind Carbon Copies, but under "sending blind carbon copies."

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UNNECESSARY PRESS RELEASE OF THE WEEK

Rating: 3 yawns
The Business Wire home page news recently contained one scintillating release that screams to be read. It announced that "DuraSwitch (R) (AMEX:DRA) technology and products have been featured in articles in industry trade publications over the past several months." I'm sure a lot of editors could barely contain their excitement over that lead.

MORE CUSTOMER SERVICE FUN

I registered on Guru, www.guru.com, a free service that matches those who work on a project basis with those who hire them. The site has some wonderful features representing some smart thinking behind the company that was started only eight months ago and has already signed up some 100,000 gurus and 10,000 potential employers.

When I went to update my profile, I forgot my password and wrote to customer service. I had checked "remember my data," but the function obviously didn't work.

They sent me a hint. I knew the answer to the hint, but that wasn't my password. Two emails later they sent me a temporary password that allowed me to enter my account and create a new password that I was admonished to remember.

Seems like cruel and unusual punishment for forgetfulness to have to endure 5 emails for a response.

THE FIRST FOLD MAKES YOUR SITE! (OR BREAKS IT)

By Bob McElwain

Visitors to your site are not looking to make a new friend. They don't want to chat. And they don't give a darn what you think about anything, least of all your product. They only want to know:

1) What's in it for me?
2) Why should I believe you?
3) Why should I buy from you?

They will answer the first two questions to their satisfaction within seconds. Only if they like these answers will they even consider the third. And at least a partial answer to it must come easily, or they'll never see your sales pitch.

Provided your page downloads quickly, visitors will stick around until it does. But as it starts to load to the screen, the first fold (screen) must fill rapidly. It must immediately provide information that compels the answers you want your visitor to decide upon. (If there are any graphics on the page, be sure dimensions are included in the HTML so text will quickly load up top.)

In the first fold, answers to the above questions must flow from ...

1) Benefits, benefits, and more benefits
2) Demonstrated professionalism and expertise
3) Clear statement of the USP (Universal Selling Proposition)

More About Benefits
They must be presented with words. While not easy to define, they are the only tool available to trigger the answer you want to the question, "What's in it for me?" This part of the message must be crafted as carefully as an ad central to a major advertising campaign.

On a single product site, the home page headline shouts the major benefit of the product. As with a good sales letter, each word draws the visitor more deeply into the site. All is benefits. And all points to the order form and a sale. Most sites offer a variety of products and/or services, which means the simplicity in a single product site can only be approximated. The home page is the entrance to corridors leading to the sale of different products. (Or to great information, free stuff, etc.)

This requires even more judicious use of the top fold. The benefits presented must be specific to products, rather than to features of a single product. In the first fold, introduce those products most likely to be of interest to an unknown visitor. A possible alternative is to work with the products you most want to sell.

Professionalism And Expertise
Demonstrate these as the first step in answering the question, "Why should I believe you?" The way in which benefits are presented goes a long way toward achieving this goal. Given a sharp, professional presentation, your skeptical visitor is likely to say, "So far, so good." And to withhold final judgement, particularly as to trustworthiness.

In this regard, the appearance of the site is fundamental. Again looking at the first fold, all must support well stated benefits. Even enhance them. A garish or cluttered page destroys any credibility that might flow from the content. Likewise for any graphic that does not enhance the appearance the site *and* the message.

About Your USP
When a visitor answers the question, "Why should I buy from you?" with, "Okay, you'll do," he or she is ready to buy. And the option to do so must be handy. Throughout, however, the content must continue to provide solid reasons for buying, for you don't know when the decision may be made. It is not likely to happen in the first fold. The initial response, though, needs to be at least, "Okay, I'll tag along a ways." A good USP is sufficient to bring this response.

The USP may be incorporated in a logo, offered in a colored cell within a table, or maybe as the last line on the screen at the bottom of the first fold. Where it is positioned is not important. But the visitor must see it and easily grasp its meaning in the first or second scan of the first fold.

But What About The Rest Of The Site?
Pieces of cake. Really. Some may argue the most difficult task in online marketing is generating targeted traffic. I don't agree. While it takes a good deal of time, effort and often dollars, it is largely a 1-2-3 sort of process. Do this, that, and then that. Others have clearly defined the steps that need to be taken, and the order in which to take them.

For me, the greatest challenge in marketing online is building the first fold on the home page. If your visitor scrolls down or clicks off into the site, you have a potential customer. In fact you have one who is likely to grant you a little slack. Thus perfection is not demanded throughout the site. Top quality is sufficient. But the first fold must be absolutely perfect.

Think of a newspaper. What part of it is assembled with the greatest care? The top fold of the first page. It's what shows in vending machines and on newsstands. How many millions have bought a newspaper because a single headline grabbed hard? Many, that's certain. Is the first fold on your Web Site less important?

I have a strong hunch I can not demonstrate. Of those who click off a site never to return, ninety-some percent do so without leaving the first fold. Get it right and those who arrive with, "What's in it for me?" will say, "This might do." It's a giant step toward a sale. Bob McElwain is president of the newbie-friendly site, www.sitetipsandtricks.com/sitekit.html and publisher of "STAT News." join-stat@lists.dundee.net

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