Online Press Rooms
May 24, 2011 at 12:02pm
ONLINE PRESS ROOMS
printed in THE RECORDER
By: Elizabeth Lampert & Elonide Semmes

Expensively designed folders, holding hordes of paper press releases, glossy photos and bios, were once an industry standard. These fancy packages are expensive to design, costly to produce and time consuming to assemble.

While the traditional press kit isn't yet dead, gone are the days of sending out large press kit mailings. While some journalists still prefer a physical kit and sometimes press kits are good to have at trade shows, printed kits should be for targeted use only and online press rooms should be the go-to place for information.
Enter the online press room. An online pressroom is a convenient virtual resource that should provide easy access to information a reporter might need when writing about your company or related issues.

Many companies now feature virtual press kits, and as law firms continue to update their online presence to add this feature, more and more often, PR professionals are asked to work with web designers to create the online presence with the goal of helping the media quickly find experts within the firm.

For an online press room to be effective it has to be more than just a media kit. It should be a set of essential, easy to use and downloadable information focused on your organization, a program, leader, service or event.

Here are 15 tips to assist you in designing an effective site.

Don't play hide and seek. You've invested in your online newsroom, so promote it. Make your online pressroom easy to find on your home page by branding it with an icon. The icon can then be included on materials the media prints out from your site. This simple tool can help drive memorability. Remember, if you have to work too hard to find your newsroom, it might as well not be there.

Update your online press room often. You should post the most current information and delete content that is over 5 years old. Update the content at least weekly (daily if possible) and immediately upon breaking news.

Quotes of the day. What's the big news today? Your lawyers likely have something insightful to say about current developments. Become the site where readers can find quotes related to news and connect the content with the expert's name, title and contact information. Distribute this information to relevant reporters and maintain it on your site. Supreme Court cases and unfolding news stories can be updated as the matters develop, and quotes can be updated to reflect the case analysis.

No spin. Journalists need facts and contact information. Put the content in the newsroom, but do not try to sell them. This is not a place to spin, so just the facts please.

No passwords. Reporters won't bother with passwords, and you shouldn't have anything to hide, so just don't go there. Concentrate on building a valuable online newsroom everyone can use. Journalists visiting want information fast, not roadblocks. Passwords will send them to another website and another source.

Start with the basics. Provide a list of the executives, publicize firm strategies — such as mission, diversity policy and commitment to social responsibility — and of course, include the names and 24-hour phone numbers for public relations contacts.

Point of reference. Tell a short story that sets you apart. Make it brief and compelling. For example, "Our Firm has provided the legal counsel for seven of the last 10 Silicon Valley software-related IPOs."

Electronic press kit. Place all materials and press kits as virtual press kits online. Include usable logos, photographs, and audio and video clips if you have them. Include a corporate fact sheet, executive bios and historical timeline in a single downloadable file.

What's happening. Maintain an updated calendar of events that is searchable by specific topics. Alert media to new materials by email or text message. Let the media select their preference. Be clear on whether the media are invited, how they can get more information on the event and when speakers will be available for one-on-one interviews.Directory of experts. Make it easy for journalists to contact your firm's expert on a particular subject. The directory should be searchable by name and topic. If one of your experts maintains a blog or a twitter feed, make sure and link to it.

News-related FAQs.Journalists often visit online newsrooms when they have a question about your company. Address some questions in an FAQ section that gives quick answers to the most common inquiries. For example, "In what states do you have offices?"

Awards and recognition. List your awards and recognitions. Let your successes speak for your organization, rather than saying it yourself.

News feed for automatic updates. Make it easy, for those who are interested, to get press releases and other news. Have your online pressroom syndicated with an RSS feed. Then, you can submit your releases to Google News and other news aggregators. Additionally, journalists can also subscribe to your feed.

Press releases. List current press releases, but limit the list to the last six months. Resist flooding your press room with outdated content. Don't make it a clutter site, make it strong and timely. Place the older, but important press releases in an archived section of your site.

Avoid using flash. Make sure your newsroom is readily accessible on mobile devices and tablets. Consider a true mobile version, focused on providing experts on the fly and news of the day, but include a link to the more robust newsroom on your main site.

Embrace social media. Structure your site and articles so they can easily be shared through social media tools such as Twitter, Digg, etc. And don't forget the basics of being able to share an article with a colleague.

Building an online press room is an easy way to generate more publicity for your firm. If your online press room delivers the information reporters are seeking, they will be more likely to consider you a reliable source, visit your press room again and call you for interviews.

Elizabeth Lampert is president of Elizabeth Lampert PR, a national PR firm that specializes in traditional and new media strategy, training and crisis communications. Elonide Semmes is president and co-founder of Right Hat LLC, a strategic branding and consulting firm that provides a full range of strategy and design services to help clients build and enhance their brands. She can be reached at 617-464-2500 or esemmes@righthat.com