Got a good question from a subscriber. You should all be interested in both the question and the answer. Here it is: \”Paul, What is the best day and time to send out a press release? I\’m assuming that Monday and Friday would NOT be good days, and I am assuming that morning would be best. Can you comment? Thanks, Lisa Hepner\” I\’ve got two answers to that question. If you have a critical news item that has immediate time value, you\’ve got to get that release into the hands of the media as soon as possible. For example, if you knew the president of the United States was going to resign at noon tomorrow; you have to get that information out immediately. It doesn\’t matter what time or day it is. If you wait for the perfect time and day, the news will be dead. On the other hand, if your information will be good tomorrow, next week, next month or next year, there are days and times that are better than others.

Monday and Friday are generally not great days to send out releases. Also, the afternoon is generally better than the morning. The thinking is that Mondays and Fridays are either gear up or gear down days and are busier than the rest of the week. Also, morning is busier than the afternoon since people come into the news rooms in the morning to find a stack of releases sent to them over night. By afternoon these releases have been taken care of and there is less activity.

I\’m not sure I completely agree with that thinking, but it really doesn\’t matter. I\’ve sent out releases every day of the week and every hour of the day. Let me clarify one thing about the urgency of your story.

Lots of people tell me that they have an urgent story that has to get out to the media immediately. When I ask for details, they tell me they have a skin care product and that every minute that goes by means more skin damage for people not using their product.

This is nonsense. This is what annoys media people – making an emergency out of a non-issue story.

Also, if you\’re sending out a press release related to Christmas and you wait until two days before Christmas to send it out, that\’s not an urgent story. That\’s procrastination. If you want to know whether or not you have an urgent story asks yourself one question. \”Will this still be news next week?\” If the answer is \”no\” you probably have a story with time value. If it\’s not covered now it\’ll never be covered. It\’ll be a dead story. But if you say that your story will still be news next week, your story does not have urgent time value.

As you know, I spend a lot of time in the dog world. Unfortunately, far too many people in that field have abused urgency. I constantly see postings staring with the word \”Urgent\” or \”Emergency\”. The ad goes on to talk about a dog that needs a home.

These people think that by adding the words \”Urgent\” or “Emergency\” to their ad it\’ll create more interest. Actually, the opposite is true. It\’s like crying \”wolf\” too often. Media people feel the same way. If you repeatedly contact them telling them you have an urgent story and you don\’t, you\’ve lost credibility. Save your \”Urgent\” card for a real situation.

The moral here is that there are days and times that may have a bit of advantage over other times and days, but that advantage is not so great that I\’d delay a good story.

One final note: One of the best times to send out our your press releases is around holidays, especially the week between Christmas and New Years. Have you noticed that newspapers around holidays are often very slim? Have you noticed that radio shows have lots of \”open phone\” time?

Do you think news takes a break during holidays? No way. It\’s the people sending out press releases who take the break. Take advantage of that golden opportunity and get your press releases out during holidays. You could see a significant increase in the response. Thanks for the question, Lisa.

Get the most reliable advice on how you can get massive publicity for your business at http://www.Hartunian.com

Get the most reliable advice on how you can get massive publicity for your business at http://www.Hartunian.com

Author Bio: Get the most reliable advice on how you can get massive publicity for your business at http://www.Hartunian.com

Category: Marketing
Keywords: what is a press release, how to write a press release, how to release a press release, online pr,