Focus on your best prospects. Who do you want to reach, and what do you want them to remember about you? Ideally, your media-relations program should help your company achieve better penetration of its core message. Use your media-relations program to repeatedly drive your message home.

Make a plan. A written plan is essential to keeping your program on track. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Briefly outline your goals, media-relations themes, and the tactics you plan to use, a schedule of activities, and a rough budget.

Build relationships. Sometimes creating a press release to thousands of media outlets is called for. But for most entrepreneurs, media-relations success depends on one-on-one interaction-selecting key media, becoming familiar with their needs, providing materials and then following up by phone or e-mail.