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Many small businesses are still not aware of how has the Internet changed the rules of sending a press release. Most people don't realize that big front page stories do not come as a result of a press release - the big stories come about because of specialized pitches to a particular media organization. So what are press releases for, if 9 out of 10 are deleted or tossed by the journalists? The Internet has changed these four rules for sending out a news release:

1. Post online for content to be picked up by search engines instead of journalists.

It used to be that a press release was written to catch the attention of a busy journalist. Now when you write a press release you need to optimize the content for what your audience, the end user, is searching for on the search engines. When you write a press release it should be rich with key words and key word phrases.

2. Write to attract the web surfing consumer and not the journalist.

You press release should be key word rich, and it should "speak" to the end user instead of a journalist without beinging a blatant sales pitch. Your message should be informational and not a "buy now" message. A good press release answers all of the "W" questions (who, what, where, when and why), providing the reader with useful information about your organization, product, service or event. If your press release reads like an advertisement, rewrite it.

3. Write longer press releases with more content - previously limited by the media because they were overwhelmed by too many.

When you write, stick to the facts. Tell the truth. Avoid fluff, embellishments and exaggerations. But, because you are not writing just for a busy journalist who is reading through hundreds of news releases you can write to appeal to the end user who has found you while searching for specific words or phrases found by the search engines in your press release. You can tell more of your story because your audience is the end user.

4. 'Legitimate' news that a journalist would cover is NOT required content - promote whatever you want to within your release, not just what the media thinks is newsworthy.

If your news release provides relevant information or an announcement that addresses the key words and key word phrases that the end user is searching for - then your news release is "newsworthy" since it is what the end user is looking for.

Keep in mind that a press release should not be confused with an article. Your press release should not educate but inform about your product, service or individual in your company.

One final tip from PRWeb. According to PRWeb about 30% of all press releases are submitted with a personal email rather than a "role email". Use a role account instead of a personal account. A role account is pr@companyname.com. A personal account would be pat@companyname.com. Using a role account allows you to redirect e-mail to someone who can respond while you are on vacation. After all, you do not want to miss valuable contacts. You never want readers and responders to your press release to receive a message telling them that you are unavailable during the week because of your high school reunion or business convention.