One great way to increase your chances of success when trying to place a news story is to study your target news outlet to see what type of news it covers on a regular basis. If you have news that fits into the news outlet’s existing format, you stand a good chance of success.

Let me give you one example. Many community newspapers and business journals have a “People on the Move” type of feature they run on a regular basis to feature the accomplishments of local residents. If you have an employee that has joined your firm, been promoted or received some type of award, ask him or her where they live. If the employee resides in a community that has a local paper or business journal, send your news release to that publication and be sure to note in both the headline and the lead that this person is a local resident (i.e. XYZ firm promotes Beaverton resident John Doe to vice president).

Here’s another example. Some publications will have a “Giving Back” type of section where they publish grants made by companies to local nonprofit agencies. Has your company made such a gift? Has your nonprofit agency received such a gift? If so, send a news story to that publication about the grant.

News publications have suffered the same type of staff cutbacks that we’ve seen in almost every other U.S. industry. News editors rely on submissions from the public relations industry to fill their pages. If you can meet their needs with a story that also meets your organization’s needs, it is a win-win situation that is bound to create positive results for you.

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