The fast changing dynamics of the world economy is forcing organizations to fundamentally rethink the manner in which they have been communicating with their constituent communities and decision-makers. It is constantly being proven that conventional communication approaches that are designed to raise public awareness may often have the opposite effects of those intended. This is because they fail to take into account the public's profound resistance to the traditional communication stimuli.

The words are pop culture heroes.

Movies such as The Insider, books like All The Presidents Men and television series including The West Wing have immortalized them.

On-the-record, on background, on deep background and off-the-record are celebrity phrases, used regularly as shorthand to represent the mysteries of the journalism underworld.

Media relations is a great profession.

On good days, I earn my living speaking to and learning from knowledgeable experts who ask for help in raising the profile of their cause through the media. In the past few years, Ive worked with billionaire philanthropists, a Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist and a world famous actor. Mostly, though, I work with unknown but equally impressive professionals regarded as experts in their fields.

When most people think of media relations, they think of press releases. To be sure, writing and distributing them is one of the most important parts of the job. But press releases may be the most overused tool in the media professionals arsenal to the detriment of other tools that might have greater results.

When I worked in broadcast news for ABC News and CNN, the fax machines virtually never stopped. We got press releases by the dozen, and by the end of each day, we had a ream of press releases. They each had something in common. They each went unread.

During my career as the head of media relations for the worlds second largest environmental group, I regularly heard a common refrain from the scientists who so desperately wanted press attention for their projects. But my project is so important," theyd say, expecting that was enough to crack the evening news.

One portion of your marketing plan that you probably don't think about enough is "free publicity".

Publicity is an extremely important tool and should be given prominence in any marketing plan.

What is publicity?

It's getting anyone else besides yourself to talk about you (preferably in a good way) and tell about the things you do.

If you can get any of the media in your area to give you publicity it will have a tremendous effect in boosting your business.

You see, publicity is far more valuable than paid advertising in the same media.

The toughest thing about writing a news release is getting started. But writing doesn't have to be hard. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you beat writer's block.

Before the story, think about:

audience. who do I want (or expect) to read this? What do they want to know? What do I want them to know?

gatekeepers. These are usually the editors who will decide if they will use your story. What kind of story do they normally use? How long? Style?

If you just cant get the first word down on paper, here are some things to try.

There is something newsworthy happening at your organization right now. Here are some tips on how to tell your story.

First, make sure your story contains all the relevant facts. Ask yourself: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How?

Next, make your story readable. Heres how:

Use short sentences. (Best single thing you can do...and easiest.) Research shows sentences of 15-20 words or less are easiest to comprehend. If you must write a long sentence, punctuation like colons and dashes can help the reader.

What do your customers say about your company?

Would you let your major competitor control your sales strategy?

Public relations is an inevitable consequence of being in business. Whether you like it or not, your corporate image evolves with every interaction with clients, investors, competitors, and even between your own employees. Thus, managing perceptions of your company is just as important to the bottom line as what you sell and who buys it. Unfortunately, many companies see PR as a reaction to external forces and lose control over market direction as a result.

You're trying to recruit a downline into your program, you've tried every trick in the book, and no one is signing up. Is there a sign on your back that says you've got the plague? Maybe you're lacking in internet etiquette.