PlanetRussell.net | Michael J. Russell

Good News: You’re in the News. Now What?

It’s always a rush to see a press release for a client picked up by major media outlets like Business Week, Forbes, and the WSJ’s Marketwatch. (End of self-serving chest-thumping.)

So, cui bono? Who benefits…and how?

Coverage of your client’s organization using social media-friendly, search engine-optimized media releases represents far more than just nice, clipbook bona fides (the standard metric from days of yore), to show your client that you’ve done your job as a professional—whether your job(s) happens to be writing, editing, using web-centric PR 2.0 tools for distribution — or all of the above. It’s surely not about some illusory sense of personal self-aggrandizement. (“Look Ma, I’m in the Journal!”)

Rather, various clients say they really do benefit substantially from this kind of coverage, however brief, in specific, tangible ways, especially when such media releases are part of a broader, ongoing branding and marketing communications campaign.

Setting aside the whole topic of Search Engine Optimization and it benefits for the moment, here’s what else you can probably expect: First, you can probably expect to receive incoming inquiries from top-flight candidates who might otherwise not be familiar with your organization and its work. Second, you will most likely attract the attention of prospective partners with capital, resources and –most importantly– relationships that will benefit your organization and customers (Read: clients, constituents, contributors, fans, patients, supporters or volunteers) in ways you wouldn’t otherwise forsee.

This is what makes doing PR 2.0 fun. Tell a friend.