It seems like common sense, when times are rough people crave good news and take it when and where they can.

It’s an important fact for PR agencies. With the dismal economy dominating the news recently, media outlets are asking for pitches on feel-good stories/items.  Even opening it up to the public – like NBC Nightly News, whose anchor Brian Williams requested on the show’s blog that viewers “tell us your good news.”

There is a market for the upbeat, the positive.  Stories of everyday people enduring difficulties and succeeding are especially attractive.  If you can tie value and social responsibility to your clients’ brand you’ve got a golden opportunity.  It will be a natural fit at a time when people are turning to these types of values regardless.

Examples are all around: the media frenzy surrounding Capt. “Sully” Sullenberger after his safe emergency landing in the Hudson, Goldman Sachs un-traditional, philanthropic homepage, people are desperate for a bit of hope and stories with happy endings.

Public relations professionals also need to pay attention to outlets that offer people an ‘escape’.   Entertainment news is proving to be recession-proof industry, with the public still reading People and watching Oprah – so going for that soft news angle can pay off big time.

Press Release are a tried and true component of any PR campaign, but many PR people are continuing to write (and publish) press releases the “old” way.  The advent of social media, online newspapers and ‘google’ as a verb means that optimizing your presence online is more important than ever.  By writing and publishing press releases the same way as before, more traditional agencies are not taking advantage of the search engine optimization (SEO) potential that could greatly improve the position of their websites and releases in the search engines’ results.

Another advantage of an SEO Press Release is that even small businesses or Do-It-Yourself types can afford to write and submit these.  In fact, if you write the release yourself there are several places to submit it that are 100% free.

The main idea is to write your press release so that it will rank well in the search engines for certain keywords.  By ranking well you’ll get backlinks from other sites and higher rankings for both your press releases and actual website, resulting in more traffic.  Check out this hub from Christine OKelly for detailed info on How to Write an SEO Press Release.

Once you’ve got your press release written it’s time to publish it.  Instead of pitching it directly to reporters or editors, submit it to a few of the many online distribution services available.  These services will automatically distribute your release to thousands of outlets and put it up on their website.  The cost associated with the service varies based on levels of exposure, but there are several options that allow you to publish for free.  Check out our list of distribution services on the PR Dashboard for ideas on where to start.

We’ve received a few more great suggestions recently:

First up is BurrellesLuce, a top-notch media monitoring & analysis service.  Someone also suggested MyMediaInfo – a site that has information on media contacts, editorial calendars and outlet profiles.

And now our favorite new addition -MatchPoint.  This just launched tool is a  search app that helps PR people find the reporters/bloggers that are most appropriate for their specific pitch.  Now there are absolutely no excuses left for badly targeted pitches.

Keep the suggestions coming, we’ll try to post them to the PR Dashboard as soon as we get them in!