The newest media wave to hit online shore is video. Individual emails abound with links to "the funniest video ever," or blurry clips of new babies or birthday parties.

Businesses, on other hand, have largely been left standing on shore, scratching their heads and wondering if there's any real value to be earned from diving into making their own live video broadcasts, video emails or video on demand infommercials. Here are just five of many ways video adds to bottom line of any company.

1. People remember more of your message While people generally remember 10% of what they read and 20% of what they hear. But, they'll remember as much as 50% of what they see and hear together. Before anyone can act on your message, they need to process and remember it.

2. Increase responses by up to 30% A call to action is much easier to follow if it is actively delivered. Sound and motion are powerful action drivers, especially when they are delivered by your sincere enthusiasm and passion for your topic. Companies who have made switch to video email and on- demand broadcasts have reported response rates jump as much as 30% following a broadcast.

Using press releases for marketing purposes has become increasingly popular lately.

There has been an increase of firms springing up online offering optimized press release services for individuals or firms wanting to get word out about their web sites, newsletters, products or services.

Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if constructed properly. Learning to write a powerful optimized press release can often drive tons of targeted traffic to your web site.

The real secret behind writing any effective press release is to plan your release out carefully before publishing it.

A poorly constructed or planned press release is just a waste of your time and resources. You want to target message of your press release for purpose it was meant for.

So, first thing you must do before writing your press release is to figure out just what do you want to accomplish with it?

-- Do you want to create some brand awareness for your site or products?

-- Do you want to add additional subscribers to your newsletter or ezine?

-- Or are you trying to promote a new product or service you have developed or are marketing?

Once you've decided what most compelling reason is for your press release, you can then get down to business of writing it.

The first thing you may want to do is sketch out a rough draft of your press release to see how it flows. Does it provide needed information to get word out and has it been properly formatted?

Most press releases have a certain format that they follow. If you're unsure of how to format your press release correctly you can view a sample press release template here at http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasetips.php#template .

The number one most important aspect of your press release is your headline.

Get it wrong and you will limit effectiveness of your release.

Your headline is what search engines are going to pick up on first. So make sure you use it advantageously. List any key points here, using your keywords or a catchy headline so that it will grab your reader's attention.

Again planning is essential. If promoting a new site include URL in headline. If promoting a product or service then include some keywords in headline.

Some press release services use a summary box. I normally write a catchy one-paragraph recap of my press release using some of my targeted keywords.

Without being spammy, I will normally optimize my press release by using some of my targeted keywords in first and last paragraph. I will also include some of them throughout release for a keyword exposure of approximately 2-3% saturation.