How can you tailor information to your audience if you don't know who they are? In almost every article, book, or manual on publicity and marketing you'll hear this one--and yet few people heed it. When I spoke at Los Angeles Gift Show it became evident that many retailers and buyers didn't know their audience. Fellow speaker and communications expert Kare Anderson (http://www.sayitbetter.com) polled over 60 exhibitors and discovered that only 2 felt they knew type of person they were targeting. Huh? How can they sell products to people they can't even profile?

To serve your market you'll want to know what problems you can solve for them, and more specifically what your audience longs for. Most of us have what we need, but desire more or less of what we have--or we yearn for something different or better. A poem by Japanese Haiku master Basho describes this essential state of human condition--this longing for something other than we are or have.

Even in Kyoto- Hearing cuckoo's cry- I long for Kyoto.

Give people what they are longing for and you will find a permanent place in their hearts.

2. Test, test, then test again.

Many webmasters don't test your shopping cart on different computer platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux), with different browsers, or with various computer configurations. This is essential!

The $10,000/hour speaker discussed above insisted that shopping cart on his website worked from his computer, though he admitted that he'd heard from a number of people it was often *down.* I tested it on my Mac and Windows PC with both Netscape and Internet Explorer and couldn't get it to function at all.

Understand that I'm no techie (biggest understatement of year) so these were most basic of tests, all done from a marketing vs. technical standpoint. If you are your own webmaster, have your friends and associates test your ecommerce sections, and your website in general, before you unleash your brilliance on world. It's amazing all things that can go wrong on a web site, including things that you or your tech help hasn't thought of. While it's impossible to go through every conceivable configuration, it is possible to take care of all major ones.

3. Take annoyance out of shopping.

In other words, make buying from you a pleasure. I was on a *professional marketer's* site to scope out a product he sells for $97. I muddled my way through a century of copy before I could get to actual *click to buy button.* I know he and other Internet marketers like him think this direct marketing technique (long copy, addressing every objection, illusion of giving away meaningful information) really sells product--but it doesn't work if they don't make it easy to get product in basket.

After about 5 minutes of clicking forward and backward, I gave up. (By way, women have less patience on Internet than men). Chalk up another lost sale for him.

Use fewest number of clicks to get a buyer to where they're going (to checkout). This means in navigating forward, toward final sale, or backward to add more items to their cart. Don't have your potential customer waste time and effort trying to figure out where or what to click, because they won't--they'll simply leave. Model yourself after amazon.com who makes process simple and easy.

Also, explain every step of your ordering process so that people feel confident of where they are going and what they can expect from you. This means everything from screens that verify information is correctly filled out on forms, to email messages confirming and precisely explaining shipping method and timeframe.

4. Don't sacrifice image for speed.

Think about it. If someone is paying you a substantial sum for your services and your website comes across like a poor pauper, do you think they'll retain their confidence in you?

It's important to concern yourself deeply about kind of image you're projecting before you slap something up on your website that you'll be sorry for later. Donald Rumsfeld, our current Secretary of Defense, former chairman of *transition team* for President Ford, and former White House chief of staff, gives this advice, *Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning. Plan backward as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive.*

Some questions to ask to help you get clear:

Writing a press release may be, at first a very daunting task. A well written press release can give you exposure like you have never seen before. Depending on how and where you distribute your press release, you may receive exposure on radio, television or even front page of The New York Times! At 24-7pressrelease.com, our goal is to provide as much information to public on writing an effective press release. Content is Key We cannot stress enough importance of a well written press release.

When you write your press release, keep your target audience in mind. At same time, keep in mind that part of your audience will be an editor, reporter or journalist. This is important as these are individuals that will publish your story if it is interesting. This will give you extra arm of exposure that everyone hopes for.

Ensure that first paragraph of your press release answers important questions such as Who, What, When Where and Why. You have one sentence not to loose editor/journalist.

It is important that content within your press release is accurate, easily readable and to point. A well written press release does not need to be a novel. Remember point of a press release is to entice reader or journalist to contact you for further information. You do not need to tell your Companies entire life history. In fact, shorter press releases (usually between 175 – 300 words) tend to receive more exposure, if written well. Why? Because many trade publication journalists may be looking for a short informative piece to fill a spot within a column of a magazine, newspaper or web site. Have you ever seen short snip-its within side of a magazine, or down side of page on a web site. Guess where information comes from.

A carefully written and informative press release will be sure to capture eyes of journalists. Make sure you take your time, and edit your release carefully.

Do Not Embellish or Exaggerate Your Press Release Grammar As we already know a well written press release, with perfect timing will give you exposure everyone is looking for.

Now that you have written your press release, had it submitted for distribution and are receiving phone calls and emails about it, you will no doubt have some questions to be answered. If your press release is written with embellishments, you will lose credibility very quickly. You should be aware, that this loss of credibility will also carry over to future press releases. Journalists will remember a source. They will remember a name. They will remember a web site. If you leave a bad taste in their mouth, they will remember this experience. What does this mean? It means next time you submit a press release it will likely not be looked at if seen by same journalist/editor. They will remember you you’re your Company as someone that will embellish a story. Do not embellish or exaggerate your press release.

Make sure if you are using facts and figures to enhance your press release that you provide sources of these numbers where you can. The reason for this is simple. It adds credibility. If you publish figures or information that appears “to good to be true”, even though information is accurate, your story may not get picked up. Again, although completely innocent, this may appear stretching truth which also leaves possibility of future releases being overlooked.

If information is true, and you cannot back it up, if possible go conservative and inform them when they contact you. This may not always be possible, but remember, you do not want to turn a journalist/editor off.

Grammar Make sure that your press release has been read, edited and re-read before submission. A poorly written press release will be a fast turn off for any journalist or editor. A poorly written press release will also be a negative reflection for any Company.

By double checking your release, you will hopefully catch any grammatical errors. Although some of best writers will occasionally miss grammatical errors or typos, by making sure you read, edit and re-read your press release, you drastically reduce chance for error.

Print your press release. By printing your press release and reading a paper copy, you are more likely to catch any errors. This works great for press releases that may be a little on longer side.

Have a co-worker or friend review your press release. Sometimes another set of eyes may catch an error. Although you may have read and re-read your work, sometimes when you are extremely focused, you may tune an error out.