Then came Watergate, which gave Woodward opportunity to apply all his well-honed, field-tested skills to dismantling Nixon administration.

This is how a suburban beat reporter becomes Bob Woodward.

So:

If a reporter tours your job site before a groundbreaking ceremony, and sees a laundry list of OSHA violations, expect violations to appear in story.

If a reporter visits your headquarters to profile your CEO, and happens to view a layoff order on an assistant’s desk, expect to see layoff reported in news media.

If a reporter attends a preview of your newest product, and comes across a consumer advocate who believes your product is a threat to public health, expect to see advocate’s comments prominently played in article.

The point of Cawley’s Theorem is not to make you fearful of news media. The point is to make you keenly aware that there is risk as well as reward in dealing with reporters.

You cannot control what reporter reports. You must deal with this basic truth. Your CEO must deal with it. Your entire company culture must deal with it.

Like rest of us, journalists are looking to advance in their careers. There’s no faster way to advance in journalism than by winning Pulitzer.

And you win Pulitzer with brass-knuckle reporting.

The PR Rainmaker always keeps in mind: The reporter is never your friend and is never looking out for your best interests.

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.

“FREE Report How To Set Up and Run Your Own Home-Based Publishing Business... and Never Create A Product, Write An Ad or Talk to Anyone”

In body copy, I follow up with a quick explanation of info marketing and then list great benefits that it offers. And then I list my web site address where they can get more info.

Remember, that a postcard is similar to a classified ad in that you can’t use it to directly sell your product. There simply isn’t enough room on a postcard to do a complete sales pitch.

You use it as first step in a two-step selling process. The postcard is only for generating sales inquiries.

You then follow up by directing prospect to your website where they can find full details and benefits of your product.

Or you can ask prospect to send you an email and then reply with your sales letter.

Once you’ve captured their email address, you can follow up multiple times.

You can format your postcard in a word processing program. I use Microsoft Word and its Envelopes and Labels command to set file up to print correctly.

Here’s a tip that Ron LeGrand, author of Information Marketing Boot Camp, passed on to me.

Go to your local post office and buy their pre-stamped postcards. You just run sheets through your printer, separate, attach address labels and mail!

And, best of all, you’ll only spend a handful of change per postcard.

Dave Coyne is a copywriter, marketing consultant and president of DC Infobiz - http://www.dc-infobiz.com Visit his website and get the FREE E-BOOK "Marketing Secrets Of The Ages" ($19 value) You can sell this book to customers and keep 100% of profits. http://www.dc-infobiz.com