I have one suggestion that works well for me.

I send the press release to a particular reporter. I will look over the newspaper or look at the news reports, find which reporter covers stories most closely related to my press release news, and then send it personally to that reporter with a short note.

It has worked for me every time.

Hope this helps.

Yes - you need to Google Bill & Steve Harrison on this topic. They are the BEST at this kind of thing. Using their info, I've had some awesome success with PR.

Here's what you need to know -

1. Most Important -- YOU NEED A HOOK
Pitch the news stories that are timely and match "current happenings".

Some examples:
a. If you're a florist - you can pitch them during holidays like mother's day, valentines day...etc...
b. If you are an attorney - provide them with your opinion on a well publicized case.

One good trick is to enter your keywords into Google alerts and find out as soon as a new story breaks. That way, you can instantly contact the editor as an expert. I know of a dog trainer who set his alerts to notify him of every dog bite incident. He would then contact the media to discuss "How to avoid dog bites"

2. Detail what you will explain in the piece.
For example: "I plan to lay out the three problems that unemployed women are experiencing in this economy..."

There's more...but that's all you get for now..

One thing of note: Where are you releasing them? One of the dozens of "free" pr sites?

If you want to get picked up by outside sources you have to be found where they are looking for stories, pay the price for a PRWEB distribution.

News, radio and print has always been a crap shoot. For decades we paid hundreds of dollars for distribution with NO guarantee of getting published. No different today, except you can create your own list of local and national media outlets. Many publish their staff contacts and submission process online. Developing a relationship with an editor can help, but is still no guarantee. Timing, targeting the right media outlet and quality of your press release are critical. After that, it's a numbers game.

Online publishing, on the other hand, IS GUARANTEED via tons of free and paid distribution sites. Many media outlets and bloggers look to these sources as well to pick up stories and content.

Also, what is that one website called, like "find a reporter" or something? I've seen it mentioned here on the WF several times. It basically is a site dedicated to helping reporters find good stories to write about I think?...so you can user-submit relevant pieces of interest and what not.

I REALLY wish I could think of the name of that site, because I'm sure we could all benefit from hearing about fellow Warrior's experiences with it.

- Jim