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So, it’s been a couple of months since my last blog post.  I took some time off to have a baby.  Our baby girl is the first child for my husband and me.  Now I’m easing my way back into work — and working is a bit different.

I have always thought that working from home would be great whenever we decided to start a family.  And while it is great, it is also teaching me a few lessons along the way.  Those lessons will most assuredly pop up in this blog.

The first one I have to start with now is flexibility.  I have always thought that I am flexible with my work.  If someone needed to change an interview time at the last minute, I was fine with that.  If I had a big deadline and needed to work on an evening or weekend, I was also fine with that.  I am having to hone my flexibility skills of not being able to plan everyday quite as stringently as I used to.  Now I work around feedings that take longer than usual, dirty diapers and fussiness that just happens for no apparent reason.

I’ve gotten creative about when I get my work done.  The typical business hours aren’t really a factor any more.  I have become flexible.  I figure if I get through the day and have completed my work tasks and have a happy baby with a full belly and clean diaper, then I am OK.  So far, it’s worked, but I’ve only been at this for a week and a half.

I’ll continue to share tips and lessons along the way of what I learn about how to best maintain a home office while also “maintaining” a baby!

That the economy has been in a slump is a surprise to no one.  Not only has this been all over the news, but the average family is feeling the downturn in its budget.  But, some companies are finding ways to “cash in” on the downturn and some publications are doing the same things.  And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

First, when it comes to advertising, those in the business have long since known that playing to what people are dealing with helps sell products.  In this situation, consumers are actually benefitting.  In an effort to increase weeknight movie attendance (I assume), Carmike movie theaters are offering a “stimulus package” on Tuesday nights.  I recently visited a Carmike theater while on vacation in Tennessee and noticed ads for $1 popcorn and $1 sodas on Tuesday nights.  Considering we’d just paid $15 for a popcorn and two sodas at a Sunday matinee, the deal sounded pretty good to me.  Definitely good advertisement in a tough economy.

Another business using the economic downturn to its advantage is candy-maker Mars.  The business editor of my local newspaper reported on this in today’s paper.  I checked it out for myself and found that Mars is indeed giving away from candy bars.  Titled the “Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act,” it allows consumers to go online starting at 9 a.m. on Friday (May 22) and sign up for coupons for free chocolate.  As the Web site explains: “Times are tough and we at Mars want to help. How, you ask? Every Friday through September, Mars will give away FREE real chocolate to 250,000 people. That means you can enjoy your favorite Mars candy brands—M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, 3 MUSKETEERS®, MILKY WAY® and DOVE®— for free!”  Only 250,000 people each Friday will get a coupon, but that’s sure to bolster Mars image.  And, in fact, it makes me think how good their products sound right now.

Finally, publishers are also cashing in on the downturned economy.  Anyone who has had a journalism class ought to be able to tell you that one news value (those things that make editors decide a story is worthy of printing) is timeliness.  While this can mean reporting on an event that happened when it happens, it also means you can angle articles to fit in with the times.  For example, on my same recent vacation, I was purusing the local library and spent some time reading through a large women’s magazine while my husband sat with his iPhone using the WiFi to do some work.  Nearly every article I read mentioned something about the slow economy.  Truthfully, so many of the articles pulled on this angle that I felt it was overkill.  But, then again, I was on vacation and didn’t want to be reminded of the state of affairs, so I may not have been 100 percent objective.

In my own writing I have addressed the slow economy.  It’s too big to ignore.  In writing a slew of local business profiles lately, it came up more often than not.  Business owners would tell me why consumers needed their products, even in tough times.  They would share what they were doing that worked to get them through the hard times.  And they would share what they wanted customers to know, like how they were going strong or offering certain promotions to counteract the economy.

While sharks are out there waiting to “cash in” on the downturned economy and take advantage of folks, at the end of the day many advertisers and publications are doing what they can to use the issue a bit to their advantage and, in some cases, to the benefit of consumers.  Not so bad.

Once your press release is well written and ready to go, it’s time to disperse it to your chosen media outlets.  Here are a few tips to ensure your release gets published and not filed in the trash pile.

• Pick publications that make the most sense for your release and its target audience.  For example, if you’re launching a new women’s clothing store, don’t send the release to a dog lovers’ magazine.
• Find out the contact information for each publication.  Many newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television stations have this information on their Web sites.  Some even have forms online for you to fill in.  Others, though, keep this information under wraps.  When you can’t find it or are in doubt, call and ask.  Tell them what kind of press release you have (new business, community event, concert, etc.) and ask to whom you should send the release.  Be sure to get the preferred method whether that’s e-mail, postal mail or fax.  Most outlets are fine with e-mail these days.
• Most press releases will be sent e-mail.  Make sure that you write a grammatically correct message that includes your main point and contact information.
• Unless instructed to do so, don’t attach the press release to the message.  Instead copy and paste the text into the body of your e-mail.  Most editors are wary of viruses in attachments.
• If you’re sending it to numerous media outlets, don’t obviously send them in the same message.  You can either do a mail merge with a contact list in a spreadsheet or database program or you can do a blind carbon copy (BCC).  This allows you to send the same message to numerous people at once without revealing their e-mail addresses to anyone else.  If you’re sending it to 10 or fewer media outlets, I’d suggest individual and personalized messages (mail merge lets you go this route, too, but the time isn’t worth it for fewer outlets).
• Don’t forget about online community calendars.  This doesn’t work for all press releases, but for event-oriented ones, these are helpful.
• Send it to your contacts.  Don’t go crazy and send the release to everyone you’ve ever e-mailed, but don’t be afraid to send it to your friends and family or colleagues who would be interested.  Just like with other e-mail messages use you own discretion so as not to pester or offend anyone.
• And, finally, don’t forget that your can tailor your message to the media outlet.  For one client, I wrote two versions of the same press release.  One went to traditional media nationwide while the other went to alternative media nationwide.  If you are doing a national press release, don’t forget to do a more specific local one that highlights you or your service to your local newspaper.  They may just write a feature story about you with that local connection.