Spend an evening gathering the names, addresses and emails of all of the music journalists and radio programmers in your region that matter to your genre of music. The big papers and stations should always be included, but so should the specialty zines, blogs and online broadcasters that cover music in your area or your genre of music regionally and even nationally. Not sure where to start? Ask you fans what they read and listen to.
Once you have the list, use it sparingly. Short blasts announcing gigs written without extra hype often garner mentions. Always include links to your web site and an invite: “Email if you'd like press passes". If they do give you a mention or come to show, practice the lost art of saying thank-you; don't just send an email. You'd be surprised the additional impact that handwritten notes have. And if you really want to make an impression, consider adding a token thank-you gift like a t-shirt or CD without any request for a review or payback.
How did you develop and use your own PR list?
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