We’re constantly contacting PR people as we collect stories for MarketingSherpa. Many do a fabulous job of getting back to our reporters quickly. Some make our lives much harder. Here are the top 3 most annoying things reporters wish (please) you wouldn’t do anymore:

1. Online forms to type our questions into are NOT an acceptable substitute for the email address of a press contact. In fact, we’ve learned if a site gives press an online form to fill out, promising “we’ll contact you” chances are they WON’T.

2. Don’t insist on phone calls and faxing us, especially when the reporter in question has pleaded, “use email!” Worst horror story, one big NYC PR firm won’t even add reporters to their email press lists unless they provide phone and fax numbers. (Yes, please make us jump through hoops to give your clients free publicity!)

3. Don’t email us press releases with non-informative subject lines. We get more than 75 press releases a day in our in-boxes and anything labeled something like “Press Release From...” may not always get the attention it deserves.