Press kits are critical to every public relations campaign.  Every client wants a press kit.  Much of the media will only consider an interview request if the company or person does not have a press kit.  Traditionally most press kits have been mailed out to the media often in bulk with press releases, FAQs, sales sheets, company information, biographies of key personnel all of which uses a lot of paper.  Indeed press kits have not been green friendly.

At trade shows media rooms are set up where exhibitors will drop off hundred of press kits for the attending media to use in hopes that they will to a positive story at the show.  More often than not most of the media attending a trade show doesn’t even pay attention to the media kits.  They have already determined who they want to meet or will walk the exhibit hall and determine who they will interview from what they see on the show floor.  Most of the press kits are never used and thrown away by the tradeshow staff when the show has ended.  The amount of paper that is wasted, particularly at larger shows like Comic-Con, Fashion Week and Book Expo, could create a small forest.

Now, press kits and the media rooms at trade shows are entering the ‘green age’.  These virtual or online press kits contain all of the information that the hard copy press kits contain.  Many trade shows are using virtual press offices.  Press kits can be displayed online and the media can download the press kits either at the show or from a remote location.  Indeed the media doesn’t even need to attend to show as long as they are accredited to download the press kit.  The best thing about these ‘green’ or virtual press kits is that nothing goes to waste.

Most media now prefer online press kits that can be displayed online and emailed upon request.  Online media kits are more efficient, easy to update and maintain, and best of all eco-friendly.  Watch more and more media begin to insist that they will only accept an online press kit in the future.  Indeed in the next several years the old press kits and media rooms that we are all familiar with, will have gone the way of the record player and 8 track tape deck.

David E. Johnson is the CEO of Strategic Vision, LLC, a public relations and public affairs agency.  He may be reached at djohnson@strategicvision.biz.

First determine your target market. Too often when asking an author who their target market is, they will answer everyone. Just like a business you need to segment who you think your primary and secondary audiences. Just because you wrote the greatest self-help book on relationships means that everyone in a relationship or looking to be in a relationship will purchase the book. Fact is that most of the buyers of any self-help book will be predominately female, even if they are buying the book for the man in their life.

Determining your target audience is essential for the next part of any media campaign – targeting the media. Once you know the primary audience, you want to begin targeting the media that audience reads, watches, or listens too. For example if your book is on business, you want to target business media, but even more specifically you want to only target the media that covers what is in your book. A book on finance wants coverage by the reports that cover finance not retail. Just like your target audience, segment your media. Don’t overlook online media. In this day and age, more people rely on the online media then traditional media.

Don’t send books outs randomly. The largest cost that authors often incur is by sending books out to every book reviewer or producer tin which they can find a mailing address. Be economical about sending out books. Most unsolicited books sent to reporters go unread and are either returned back to the author, sent to a charity, or tossed in the garbage. With postage on the rise, as well as books, that is too much money to waste unless there is a commitment to review the book or do a story on the book.

Utilize all online tools at your disposal. An author website is critical. It should include a compelling call to action description about the book, an author biography, a contact page, and media page. Utilize social networking websites. Twitter and Facebook are essential. On Facebook make sure that you have a fan page for your book as well as an author page. Use Twitter to get out small messages from your book to a following. The key is creating followers through retweets. A smart way to do this is by creating an online contest. Conduct a blog tour to get your message out. A blog tour is a simple cost efficient way to reach thousands of readers in a cost-efficient manner. It’s quickly becoming the new form of a media tour.

Do as many interviews as is possible. Interviews are what people respond too in purchasing a book. Book reviews are still important but more people view, listen, or read an interview then ever read a book review. Make your interview compelling. The media and public react to authors who speak in black and white terms with a strong inspiring story. Again utilize the social media in repackaging your interviews to reach an even greater audience. Remember no media is too small. Every interview allows you to reach a portion of your target audience. Plus you never know who is listening. For example we had an author on a local station whose interview was heard by key executive at Federal Express who ordered his book as a training manual.

Finally, leave the readers with a reason to purchase your book. Remember in this economy, people want a reason to purchase the book. Demonstrate in your interviews and your blog tours how their lives will be better because they purchased your book. And never give up in getting your message out.

David E. Johnson is the CEO of Strategic Vision, LLC (www.strategicvision.biz)