Create an Online Press Kit for Your Business

While Kenmore's new line of high-efficiency appliances wowed us yesterday, the company's press kit left us underwhelmed, even if it did come in a reusable hemp/cotton tote.

While we didn't have stacks of virgin printed materials to contend with, we received a CD packed with press releases and miscellaneous Word documents; a DVD with demo videos of the washer and dryer; plus another DVD, this time for the dishwasher, inexplicably shrinkwrapped together with a one-page flyer and a backing board. The first two discs came in their own plastic clamshells, while the second DVD had been thrust into a PVC pocket. It appeared that Kenmore's environmentally aligned tagline, "Doing more to use less," had been lost on its PR department.

There would have been less of a disconnect if Kenmore had simply opted to upload its press materials, including any multimedia, online. Nancy Schwartz and Company, a marketing firm, has some tips on how to do that. (Just ignore the part where it tells you to go with a virtual and a physical press kit, unless you have clients or members of the press with genuine technological limitations.) If you don't want your journalists leaving your event empty-handed, we highly recommend passing out cupcakes. ::Nancy Schwartz & Company

Difficulty level: Moderate