How to place software stories in the media

John Cass point to a terrific article on how to get the media to pay attention to your software company. It is full of good ideas, but I would like to draw your attention to this one:

A PR primer for software CEOs

Tactical Tip 1A: Return their phone calls and respond to their e-mails. OK, this is so obvious as to be painful. But, you'd be amazed how many people — and I'm talking about CEOs of tiny companies that could really benefit from the publicity — do not return calls and e-mail inquiries.

I realize that SoftwareCEO is not The Wall Street Journal; but did you ever consider that some people at the Wall Street Journal read SoftwareCEO?

With the media, you never know where influence starts and stops. Not only do journalists read (and steal from) each other, they also change jobs often, and many are freelancers who write for multiple publications. Offend one, and you're at risk with dozens more.

I would go further, return all phone calls promptly. Assume every call is important. If you have the hideous music-on-hold, get rid of it. Even worse is the custom of forcing callers to listen to advertisements for your company while they are on hold. Satan has a special place for the person who came up with that idea.

If your company is in the custom of dealing with inquiries in a prompt and courteous fashion, you will not have to make a special effort when you deal with the press.