Remember, It's the WORLD Wide Web!

by Marcia Yudkin 

Almost always, online publicity means global exposure, 
whether your business is based in Peoria, Illinois, Perth, 
Australia, or Paris, France. When your marketing or 
publicity copy will appear on the Internet, you need to take 
conscious steps to ensure that your news makes sense to 
readers from far corners of the world. In news releases or 
your online media center, here's how to clue in distant 
media people and avoid international gaffes.

First, ground your material geographically. People outside 
your region won't necessarily know what state -- and country 
-- "Hampshire County" is in unless you say so. Likewise, you 
may think that the expression "Bay Area" unambiguously 
refers to the San Francisco Bay Area in California, but 
Tampa Bay, Florida also uses that expression. Perhaps the 
most geographically useless word you could use in a headline 
would be "local." Name the city and state instead.

Second, avoid gratuitous and unexplained references to 
political figures and national culture. During the tenure of 
President Bill Clinton, many Americans referred to his wife 
as simply "Hillary," with no last name. This was bound to 
confuse people in other parts of the world. Similarly, those 
outside the U.S. wouldn't know the expression, "Would it 
play in Peoria?" Professional journalists always provide 
unobtrusive background, full names for everyone mentioned 
and brief explanations of laws referred to, and you should 
follow suit.

Third, take great care with relative terms, such as 
"overseas" or "foreign." To Europeans, the U.S. is overseas. 
To Asians, the dollar is foreign currency. Similarly, 
remember that acronyms everyone in your country knows, such 
as "VAT" or "EPA," may need to be spelled out for the 
benefit of those living elsewhere.

Fourth, watch out for tricky measurement terms. I once 
mistakenly corrected the word "tonnes" in the publicity 
materials of a client from Canada, thinking that the writer 
meant an English ton of 2,000 pounds. In fact, a "tonne" is 
a metric ton, equivalent to 2,205 pounds in the English 
system. Cumbersome as this may look, it would be helpful to 
indicate this as "75 tonnes (metric tons)." Consider adding 
English or metric conversions for some of the lesser known 
measurement terms, such as hectares to acres or vice versa. 
Beware also of "billion," which in the U.S. means a thousand 
million, while in Great Britain it can mean a million 
million.

Fifth, add your country code to the beginning of telephone 
or fax numbers on a news release or at your Web site. A 
reporter on deadline from around the world shouldn't have to 
figure out whether or not (1) or some other country code has 
to be added to your Saskatchewan telephone number.

All of this can be accomplished without making your copy 
clunky. Use common sense in deciding how many definitions or 
glosses to add. Just as you'd inject explanations for dinner 
guests from afar when the conversation turned to local 
sports or politics, add inconspicuous verbal asides to 
clarify your references in material that will be accessible 
to readers around the world.

Marcia Yudkin <marcia@yudkin.com> is the author of the 
classic guide to comprehensive PR, "6 Steps to Free 
Publicity," now for sale in an updated edition at Amazon.com 
and in bookstores everywhere. She also spills the secrets 
on advanced tactics for today's publicity seekers in 
"Powerful, Painless Online Publicity," available from 
www.yudkin.com/powerpr.htm  .