The Business Blog at Intuitive.com

Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980 and is widely recognized as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. Dave maintains four weblogs: The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, Ask Dave Taylor, Dave On Film, and Attachment Parenting Blog. Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs.

Dear PR Companies: Please use meaningful subject lines

I'm a writer, journalist and reporter for both print and online publications, I attend lots of trade shows and register (as press) for even more. As a result, I get a lot of press releases. Most are so-so (I've complained about 'em before) but sometimes there are releases that are remarkable in their unfriendliness.

Like this one:

From: 118.50410.61@em.taitra.org.tw (MIC)
Subject: MIC news releases

I follow consumer electronics, so I get releases from Taiwan, China, Korea, and other Pacific Rim nations. Not a big deal.

But the subject line? it's almost a guarantee that no journalists or writers will even open up the email to see what's inside. Who is MIC? Why are they sending me more than one release? And, most importantly, why are they making it necessary for me to open the email to find out what's going on?

Of course, when I open it I find that the first release has the scintillating title of

Wireless DSL Router and IAD Shipments Continue to Play Key Role in Taiwan's DSL Industry in '09

Since I don't actually know what "IAD" stands for, I might not actually be exactly the right audience for this release anyway, but why not have a subject line like

MIC: DSL Router and IAD Shipment News

which would at least let us categorize things and have a sense of whether we'd want to learn more as we skim over our latest wave of releases.

So here's a homework assignment for PR people: look at the subject lines of your latest email press releases you're issuing on behalfo of your clients. Are they succinct, informative, and helpful to someone who gets 30-75 releases emailed to them every day?

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