BEST OF 2011: 5 reasons a reporter will delete your press release

Getting a reporter to read—and act on—your press release isn’t always easy.

There are plenty of tips that can help make your press release eye-catching and appealing to journalists. But here are a few ways to guarantee that a reporter will absolutely not read your press release, or discard it quickly:

Send it to their personal email. You don’t want to be bothered at home, and neither do reporters. Sending them messages through their personal account is akin to calling their home phone or knocking on their front door. It’s intrusive and annoying—don’t do it. (Unless, of course, the reporter has instructed you to contact him in this manner; then by all means do it.)

Include the phrase ‘For Immediate Release.’ I delete any messages that have the phrase “For Immediate Release,” because I’ve simply never read a good press release that includes it. If you disagree with this, by all means, let me know—just don’t use my personal email.