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

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 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 .