You know you need the media, especially if you run an online business. If you, or what you offer, is a news story, you'll be perceived as an expert and gain credibility and drive potential customers to your website.

Before getting into public relations and marketing, I was a television reporter. People would call me all the time, trying to pitch a story for me to cover. So how did I choose? Unless the news was a hot story, I went with the people I relied upon as a resource. And it turns out, I went back to them again and again, because I could trust them.

The key is to know how to play the game: you need to be in a position to help the media do their jobs - providing news. Here are some tips for you to do it:

1) The bottom line is this: YOU - and your product or service - don't deserve anything from the media. Being deserving isn't news. You've got to give news in order to get it.

2) Make sure you're targeting the right journalist at the right station or publication. You need to analyze your target media and write your release just the way they write the news.

3) Reporters are always working on some sort of deadline. That means they usually need information immediately.You need to be accessible.

4) Reporters have a keen BS detector. So stop insulting them with how great something is when it isn't. Always be honest - most reporters value this above all else.

5) Provide the information a reporter needs to do a good job. Find additional sources (people to be interviewed) and resources (books, articles, etc.) to help them get the complete picture of a story. Be helpful by providing useful information to help make a journalist's job easier.

Copyright 2005 Cherry Communications/Be Heard Solutions