This week, we’re going to discuss what you should put inside your information package. For all intents and purposes, anything that promotes your company can go inside it. Some of the more common things include:

• Business card

• Small business brochure

• Letter of introduction

• Product or service review

• Price list

• Press releases

• White papers

• Recent articles written by you or about your company

• Biography of key officers

• Flyers, coupons or direct mail pieces

• Information pamphlets

So, let’s talk a bit about each. And let’s start with the big one—your small business brochure. Your small business brochure can stand alone. If you decide not to have a complete small business information package, at the very least, create a tri-fold brochure so you have detailed printed information to give clients.

If your prospective client reads only one thing in your whole information package, it will most likely be your brochure. Why? Because it captures the reader’s attention better than any other item in your information package. Most of your other items will be letters, articles or reviews. They’ll look good, and they’ll all match because they’re on your letterhead, but they won’t jump out at your readers like your full color tri-fold brochure will.

So, you want to make sure it’s the first thing people see when they open the front cover of your information package. If you can capture their interest with your brochure, they’re more likely to read the rest.

The first page of your small business brochure should have your business name and logo, and possibly a photo or some graphics. Make it colorful. Make it interesting. Add a slogan or motto on the front that will make people curious as to what’s inside. You don’t want them to just look at the front cover and put it aside!

Inside, try to introduce yourself and review your product or service briefly. If you can, keep the introduction and review to the length of the first inside page or so. Adding a few graphics or photos throughout the whole brochure, together with informative text helps keep your readers’ interest. And, make good use of your headings, remembering that most readers will scan from left to right, stopping at graphics and headings, and sometimes reading the last paragraph.

Now, this part is important, and is possibly the biggest mistake most small businesses make with their brochure—at least some of the other two inside pages could be better used to show prospective buyers how your product or service can benefit them, rather than to describe your product or service features.

I cannot stress this enough. Too many times small business brochures are used simply to talk about you, your company or your product/service. Most of your readers simply won’t care who you are, what you do or how you do it. What they really care about is how you can benefit them. How you can save them time or resources. How you can make their lives just a little bit easier.

Often, the last outside page of your brochure summarizes the inside pages, or lists products or services in point form. You could even add a price list, if you have one.

The next several items in your small business information package are all written on your letterhead, and the sky’s the limit as to what you can use.

You could put the letter of introduction just behind your brochure, or you could include it outside the information package cover if you’re mailing it. Usually this is just a short, one-page letter introducing yourself and your company, and thanking the recipient for taking the time to look at your information package.

Your product or service review could be long or short, depending on what you’re offering. This is not the place to stress benefits, but simply to list and describe your services or products. You can combine a product or service review with your price list very effectively.

Include any press releases about your company, and articles written by you or about your company. If you don’t have any, don’t worry. You can write some specifically for your information kit. Include announcements of your grand opening, for example, or a new line of products, or your new location. Or write an article about one of your products or services.

White papers are becoming increasingly popular. Are you an expert in a particular area? If you are, you might want to write a white paper to include with your information package. A white paper discusses specific business issues, products, technology or other such topics. It usually summarizes information about the topic, and then suggests a proposal for action, referencing research data to justify the reasons for the action. It explains your topic in terms most people can understand, with the goal of educating consumers and marketing your product or service. White papers help establish the writer as an authority.

The biography of your key officers is basically a resume. Include short one-page biographies of key officers to highlight areas of expertise and level of experience in your industry.

Fliers, coupons and direct mail pieces can also be included in your small business information package. Fliers and coupons emphasize current specials or discounts. Here’s a few tips. When you’re thinking about specials or discounts, try to create a sense of urgency with them by making them time- or quantity-limited. And, consider the 10/10 rule, which theorizes that people are most likely to buy when they see discounts of 10% or $10. Or, better yet, offer something extra free.

Recent direct mail sales letters can also be included. There’s simply too much to say about them to really give justice in this short article, but some things to remember are: to stress benefits, create a sense of urgency, the 10/10 rule and a bolded P.S. including a call to action.

Keep direct mail sales letter simple and relevant. Be enthusiastic, know your product, use your imagination and understand your target audience. Establish trust and credibility. Include testimonials. Give free nuggets of information. And, just like in your brochure, write your direct mail sales letter for how people will read it, scanning left to right, and stopping at graphics and headlines, and the P.S.

Now that you’ve gotten all your information package items written and printed, it’s time to put them all together. You can buy covers in your company colors and have your logo and business name printed on them. Put your business card in the front slot and your information in the inside pockets, making sure your brochure is the first item they’ll see. Then send it out, and sit back and wait for responses you’re sure to get!

I’ve been answering the question “What is a press kit and what goes into it?” over and over again for both PR professionals and business-owners during the past few months. I’d like to answer this question once and for all now, especially for the PR people who ought to already know the answer.

What Are Press Kits And What Are They Used For?
Press kits, which are created to provide information about your company, its products/services and executives, can be given to journalists, sales teams for presentations, or anyone needing company information. Press kits now come in various formats including paper kits, online and CD/DVD-ROM. Paper kits are usually presented in folders with pockets; online kits are typically on the company’s website and can be locked so as not to give away information to anyone who doesn’t have a code/password; CD/DVD-ROMs are a combination of paper and online kits that you hand out.

So, What Goes Into A Press Kit?
Let’s start with the basics (these apply to all formats of kits):

Press Releases.
 

Company Backgrounder – This is a story of how the company began until the present.
 

Company Fact Sheet – This includes a brief paragraph about the company (could be the same as the boiler plate), HQ Address/Phone/Fax/Email and other offices, List of Executive Team and their titles, Official Launch Date, Website, and any other pertinent factual information (example: product designs/cuts, sizes, flavors, etc.
 

Corporate Bios and Headshots.
 

PR Contact

The advanced items in a press kit include:

Press Clips – I advise that you include these when sending to anyone other than a journalist, as most journalists don’t want to read other journalists press.
 

Q&A Sheet – These are talking points, and if you’re comfortable, you can release them to the press; otherwise, they’re for internal/executives’ use.
 

Awards Sheet.
 

Sales/Product/Rate Sheet.
 

Games/Quizzes/Puzzles/Top 10 Quotes and Industry Facts.
 

Product Photos (High-res).
 

Editorials, Speeches and Media Statements.
 

Newsletters.
 

Testimonials.
 

Product samples.
 

Videos – These apply to online and CD/DVD-ROM kits.
 

MySpace/Facebook pages – These apply to online and CD/DVD-ROM kits.
 

Downloadable Screen Grabs – These apply to online and CD/DVD-ROM kits.
 

Downloadable Executive Headshots – These apply to online and CD/DVD-ROM kits.
 

Downloadable Logos – These apply to online and CD/DVD-ROM kits.
 

Anything else you feel is pertinent information that you would like someone to know about your company.

I hope this answers the question.  If anyone has additional items that they’ve placed in kits, other than those listed above, please share your creativity with all of us!

There is a simple way to eliminate the need for keeping a large inventory of hard copy press kits and reduce your dependency on the shipping company guy: publish your clients’ press kits online.

Making the move from hard copies to press kits published online that are always-accessible is essential in today’s age of e-mail. The corporate world lives by e-mail; reporters and other media professionals are no different. These people are busy and time is always of the essence when they’ve got deadlines breathing down their necks. The decision to use your client in a story instead of someone else is contingent on whose information is easiest to get. If it takes all night for your client’s press kit to reach their desk, you might get bumped.

I know what you’re saying right now. “But, Drew, I e-mail my clients’ press materials to the media.” Well, that’s great, but just because reporters use e-mail doesn’t mean they open every stranger’s message that arrives in their inbox and it especially doesn’t mean that they even bother opening your attachments. Why? Because it’s too risky.

First of all, everyone knows not to open an e-mail from someone you don’t know; especially if there’s an attachment. This is e-mail safety 101. Strange e-mails with attachments usually mean one thing: virus. At least, that’s the take of most business’s firewalls and anti-virus protection systems. You may think you’re making waves by mass e-mailing your media lists with attached press releases, but how many calls are you getting back? Not many, since your important e-mail has been tossed out with the “wasser” worm and those annoying “enlargement” e-mails.

So what’s the solution? Reject technology and start snail-mailing and faxing again? No. Embrace technology and publish your press kits online.

Now, an online press kit is not a Web site. Don’t be confused by the term “online.” Though an online press kit can be displayed online and present information like a Web site, it is really a virtual folder or briefcase that allows you to upload and store your press materials on the Internet. Once in your online press kit folder, these documents and images can be distributed as links – not attachments.

When you prepare your sharp, concise e-mail pitch to the media, you simply insert links to your clients’ press kits. When the reporter clicks the link, the document can be opened and saved on their computer. It opens like an attachment, but the documents themselves live online. Instead of piling them onto your e-mail, you’re simply providing directions (a link) to get to them. They become part of the e-mail message, so a media outlet’s virus protection system won’t automatically kick it out of the system.

Virtually anything can be uploaded to an online press kit: press releases, high-resolution images, video and audio clips, graphics and more. Plus, since you have control over your online press kits, you can always be sure they’re up to date.

Now you’re thinking “Wow, these things sound great, but I bet they are expensive.” Not necessarily. Though there are online press kit programs available that cost into the thousands, they usually include extra features you don’t really need and will probably never use. Think of the online press kit market as the binder or folder aisle at your favorite office supply store. Sure there are binders with all kinds of extras, but you pass those by for what you need and the price you can live with.

Face it – technology is only going to get better and faster. Don’t be left in its dust trying to wave down that brown truck with your emergency overnight press kit. By going online with your clients’ press kits, you’re not only making them easy to access, but easy to cover by the media. The media loves that – and so will your clients.

Many businesses and publicists are embracing this new technology in media relations and are in a mad dash to develop online press kits of their own or for their clients. Like a Web site, an online press kit should contain certain elements, should make some features more prominent than others, and be simple to navigate. Here are some “do’s and don’ts” to consider before you dive in and begin creating an online press kit.

Online press kits Should:

Be easy to locate if linked to a main Web site. For instance, if ABC Bottled Water has a public or consumer Web site already established, a separate media room can be linked to the Web site’s home page. This link must appear prominently – either in the site’s menu or on the home page. Reporters don’t have time to search for it. Also, if the media room is linked to a “main” site, the media room should share the main site’s “look and feel,” so that reporters don’t feel link they’ve been forwarded to some unrelated site.

Provide materials commonly used by the media. A general press kit usually contains a backgrounder, FAQ, and profiles of key individuals/spokespeople. This is what a reporter will want to see when he or she visits your online media room. The purpose of providing these common documents is to minimize any extra work a reporter will need to do to get what he/she needs. Other important items to include are high-resolution, digital photos, high-resolution digital logo graphics, and of course, press releases. A good online media room will come equipped with a media library where all types of files can be uploaded, stored, and distributed, including general press kit materials.

Include the media coverage already received. When a company, organization, or individual has been covered by the media (preferably favorably), it helps to “legitimize” them. Be careful about copyright issues when reposting articles, though. If you or your organization has appeared in the media, use anything from audio clips, video clips, and links to media outlets’ Web sites in your online media room’s “In the News” page. Check with the media venue for reprint permission.

Include media contact information prominently. If the person handling media relations is not an employee of the company/organization, be sure that the contact info in the online media room directs reporters to the person who is. If a reporter reaches out and his/her request is lost in cyberspace, chances are, they won’t come back.

Online Press Kits Should Not:

Combine info for both the public AND the media. Ideally, the information provided for the media should be separate from content intended for the public or consumers. One reason is that it makes it more difficult for the media to find what it wants, and another is because it reduces your control over the info provided to the media. Messaging is very important, and while it can sometimes vary for the public, it should always be consistent for the media – after all, your messaging is what they’re using to cover you with.

Require a reporter to make numerous requests for additional info. There are always going to be some things that you do not want to provide online on a constant basis. This could include certain photos or ebooks. Keeps these instances to a minimum! In cases like these, it is fine to say “please contact us for photos of this event,” or “please contact us for a sample ebook.” Some media rooms have very limited file space, which may require you to upload low-resolution photos to save space. Asking reporters to contact you for high-resolution photos is all right, too. The point of an online media room is to provide the media with most of what it needs.

Be out of date. Update press kit materials as needed, and try to keep a current press release available – even if it wasn’t distributed on the wire or to reporters directly. By keeping a timely supply of “news,” in your media room, it will be obvious to the media that it receives your attention.

Other Helpful Tips:

Use links – not e-mail attachments! Media rooms with media libraries should allow you to upload your documents and create a URL to their location online, which you can provide to the media instead of an e-mail attachment. When was the last time you opened an e-mail from a stranger that had an attachment?

Have a blog? Link it to your online media room. Blogs are a great way to discuss your company, cause, or industry and are often used by members of the media when researching someone/something for a story. If you have one, add the link to your media room. If you don’t have one, consider getting one.

By following these tips and by putting yourself in the shoes of a journalist, you will be able to develop an online presence that is both informative and convenient. Do this and you’ll meet the demands of the media and increase the likelihood of gaining editorial exposure.