Hi Reb,

Press releases are still effective, though not as effective as they were years ago. One major benefit is SEO, but you can still get traffic as a result if you target the right keywords.

As far as accomplishments, that really isn't essential at all. It certainly doesn't hurt, but all you need to do is find a way to connect, create value, and stand out from the crowed. Just figure out what your strengths are and lead with those. Whether it's past accomplishments, the fact that you work hard, or maybe it's that you are simply clever and can write an engaging pitch... We all have ways of cutting through the noise.

There are other things you can do that are more aggressive to get someone's attention. For example, I have had many artists and JV partners successfully cut through the noise by leaving comments on my blog, writing the occasional nice email that is just complimenting my work (and not asking for anything), and even posting info about me on their sites. As long as the person isn't crazy, it's hard not to reward that kind of thing eventually. You could literally target 20 journalists or bloggers and do this kind of thing for a while and once you have a healthy back and forth communication line, asking for a review or write up is pretty simple.

There is always a way 🙂