It’s hard to believe this still happens — All The Time — but I have it on good authority from my journalist friends that it does. Restaurants send out press releases about upcoming events before putting info about the events on their web sites.

People, people, people, think about it! What do you think a reporter’s first move is when she gets your release and it piques her interest? If you guessed anything but “goes to my web site to learn more,” you’re grounded.

Of course that’s where she’s going to go, and of course it’s where you want her to go — and of course it’s where you want her to send her readers so they can learn more about and register for the event.

So try this next time you want to promote an event: First, post the event to your web site. Then, post it to your Facebook page to reward your friends with an Early Bird Alert. Then, send out that release and while you’re at it, tweet it up!

And, yes, whatever you send out, link, link, link back to your web site.