I started submitting press releases in the 80s when I was a college student to help promote one of the many activities I coordinated as the vice president of service for a national service fraternity to which I belonged. Since that time, and especially since the advent of Internet marketing, the philosophy behind the strategy of submitting press releases and measuring the success of a release has completely shifted. The number of clippings from newspapers running your release used to be considered the hallmark in determining the success of a release. That's no longer the case.

In today's marketing environment, submitting press releases online is a very viable strategy for attracting attention to your website and to your business. However, the strategy is very underutilized by online service businesses. Why? Because most of us are still operating under the rules of traditional press releases. Many of the traditional rules of writing press releases no longer apply in today's Internet marketing age.

Here are 10 new rules for online press releases that will help you get better results from your Internet marketing:

1. Write for consumers, not journalists. Today's online press release is really written more for the consumer of your products and services rather than members of the media. The media may, indeed, pick up your release and create a story or interview you based on that release. However, what is more likely to happen is that a consumer who is searching online for a solution to his problem will stumble across your release and be compelled to take the action that you specify in the release.

2. Set a goal for the release. Do you hope to sell more ebooks, drive traffic to your site, sell tickets to an event, or promote a teleclass? This is how you measure the success of today's press release.

3. Determine your target audience. Just like with any other marketing effort, being able to address the needs and concerns of your target market is key to creating a successful press release. If you have more than one audience, you may want to create more than one release.

4. Include your call to action. Do you want to invite the reader to pick up free information on your site, register for an event, or buy your newest book? The call to action that you desire needs to be included in the final paragraph of your press release.

5. Create a compelling headline. The headline for your release needs to be compelling and interesting enough to get the searcher to open and read your release. If you struggle to come up with compelling headlines, take a trip to your local supermarket and read the headlines on the magazines that are placed near the checkout lanes. Women's magazines, Cosmo in particular, have excelled at the headline game for years, as it is the headlines on the cover that help them sell magazines. Study their headline formulas and see how you might apply them to your own business.

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