When a reporter is wowed, intrigued, surprised or captivated by your press release, you can be pretty sure you’ll get some media coverage. And for most businesses, positive media coverage is worth its weight in gold. The bad news: Although truckloads of news releases fill reporters’ inboxes every day, few of them are dazzling, or even interesting.

As a former editor, I speak from experience when I say that most press releases end up in the garbage can. But don’t let that stop you from sending them a well-written news release can generate more publicity and goodwill than you could ever accomplish with a paid advertisement. To help keep your release out of the garbage and get it in print, start by following these five guidelines.

1. Make it newsworthy. Releases should be used to announce news, and they should only be sent when something truly newsworthy is happening at your company. Don’t send releases that sound more like advertisements than news; they’ll get tossed immediately. (However, newsworthy events may happen more often than you realize see the Resource Box below for ideas.)

In keeping with the news format, eliminate any superfluous language or outrageous claims (don’t describe yourself or your products as “wonderful,” “amazing” or “unbelievable”). Is your release written in language that would appear in a story in the newspaper or magazine you’re pitching? If not, it might sound like fluff rather than news. Make it clear from the beginning what your news is and why it should matter to the reporter and his or her readers.

2. Tell a good story. Although you’re sharing hard news (I hope), your press release should still be interesting to read. Even though your readers are media-types who do this for a living, they still like to hear a good story. Draw in your readers with a creative introduction and interesting language. Find new ways to say ordinary things. Read magazines, newspapers and books and pay attention to the stories that interest you and keep your attention. Then try to mimic those techniques and styles when writing your own releases.

3. Target your audience. As with any writing project, keep your audience in mind when you’re writing. The editor of a small-town newspaper has different interests than the editor of a trade journal for CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Choose the media outlets that would be most interested in your release and send it to them. For best results, you might even send each person a unique version tailored to their interests. And always send your release to an actual person rather than sending a release to a general news desk, find out which reporter covers your industry or the type of news you’re sending and send it directly to him or her.

4. Develop a relationship. Once you’ve located the reporters who cover your industry, start developing relationships with them. Call or e-mail to introduce yourself and find out if they prefer releases to be faxed, e-mailed or mailed. Be respectful of their time and the harried pace of their work, but don’t be afraid to check in occasionally to follow up on a press release or let them know how much you enjoyed a recent article. Don’t just rely on them for fr*e publicity; find out what you can do for them and do it one-sided relationships never last. Be easy to work with and willing to accommodate their needs, and they’ll be much more interested in covering your news.

5. Be consistent. Your communication with the media must be ongoing in order to get their attention. One release sent in a vacuum will probably not yield a lot of results. If reporters are unfamiliar with you or your business, it won’t be a top priority for them to cover your release. However, if they’re accustomed to receiving (actual) news from you and you’ve made an effort to forge a positive relationship with them (see #4), they’re more likely to a) actually read your releases, and b) publish them, or at least keep you in mind as a resource for future stories. If you really want to take advantage of the possibilities press releases can offer, keep hanging in there.

Nancy Jackson, owner of The WriteShop, helps companies better market their products and services with powerful written communications including Web content, newsletters, brochures and publications. Subscribe to her free monthly newsletter at www.writeshoponline.com.

Tags: copywrit, entrepreneur, PR, press release, press releases, public relations, Small Business, writingcopywrit, entrepreneur, PR, press release, press releases, public relations, Small Business, writing

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When it comes to getting your message out to the media, there are two forces at work. The first is the diversity of media outlets that exist today. In addition to the mainstream print, television, and radio media, there are now millions of websites that publish news as text, audio, and video. The second force at work is the media’s insatiable appetite for content. In an era of 24/7 cable news channels and Internet access, there is a never-ending demand for news. Both of these factors work for you as you design a plan for press release distribution.

Unfortunately, balancing the media’s ongoing need for content is the exploding growth of competition among those wanting to get their message out. Everyone from the President of the United States to the most recently launched website is competing for airtime, column inches, click-throughs, and blog entries. There’s nothing more frustrating than to carefully craft news releases, only to find they don’t even create a blip on the media’s radar. Today’s competition demands that, in order to get your message out, you have to adopt a sophisticated strategy when it comes to press releases and press release distribution.

The path of least resistance - and often the path of greatest success - is to engage the services of a PR service or news release services. They have access to professional writers and reporters who are well versed in the art of creating an attention-grabbing press release. News release services also have extensive media contact databases, which means that your release can reach hundreds of thousands of members of the media. A PR service can also distribute news releases through multiple channels, such as radio, fax, and email. Conversely, it can personalize and target press releases to a specific segment of the media. Most importantly, news release services have triggers that can make press releases available online at a moment’s notice. This capability can be very important to editors, who rely on established press release distribution networks to gather information about new products, services, business relationships, and other announcements before their competitors.

If you choose to write and distribute your own press releases, keep these tips in mind:

Make it Newsworthy: Regardless of how well-written your news release might be, it won’t get picked up if it’s not newsworthy. Not every topic is earth shattering, but help it along by hooking it to current events. Editors are always looking for a new angle on a current story.

Make it Well-Written: A poorly written news release will end up in any editor’s trash bin. Make sure the headline commands attention and that the text follows the “Five Ws” - Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Editors should only have to read the first paragraph to understand your point. Above all, don’t forget to run a spell check and grammar check. If you’re not a good writer, hire a PR service and have them write your press releases for you.

Distribute it Properly: If you’re announcing an event two weeks ahead of time, don’t bother sending your press releases to magazines that go to press more than a month before they hit the newsstands. If your news releases are specific to a certain industry, don’t waste your time sending them to consumer publications. Above all, don’t simply post it on your website and hope that the media finds it. A press release distribution service is well worth the money it can disseminate your news as broadly or as narrowly as you wish.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
Visit this Communications Website and Majon’s Communications directory

Tags: news, news release services, news releases, PR service, press release distribution, press releasesnews, news release services, news releases, PR service, press release distribution, press releases

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One study found that as many as 90% of the stories you read every day in the newspaper came about because someone sent a press release. Why aren’t some of those stories about you?

When people see you in the media, you become familiar, even famous! And it gives you credibility. When you are written about in the newspaper, or interviewed on TV or radio, you are news; and that’s better than any advertising you can buy.

Anyone can learn to write press releases. It just takes a little knowledge and a lot of practice. To write a good press release, put your editor/producer hat on. What will the people who read this publication, watch this television program, or listen to this radio station want to know? What are their interests and concerns? The editor or producer’s job is to figure out the answers to those questions and present interesting news. Your job is to make the editor or producer’s job easier.

The headline is the most important part of your press release. Make it count! You have only a few seconds to grab the attention of an editor or producer, who may receive hundreds (or thousands) of releases every week. If the headline doesn’t interest them, they won’t read the rest.

Promise something of interest. Instead of ”New Book Tells How to Make a Budget and Stick to It”, describe the benefits of having a budgetgetting out of debt, retiring comfortably, putting your kids through college, etc. Sorry, but no one cares that you wrote a book. Don’t even mention it in the headline. Describe the benefits of using your information. A hot topic is one parent quitting a job to take care of the children. Can you show the audience how to do that? There’s your headline: “You Can Stay Home With Your Kids!”

Use the inverted pyramid style of news writing: The most important information goes at the beginning, with the least important at the end. The first paragraph should deliver on the headline. Start with a question, a statistic, a provocative statement or a powerful benefit. Subsequent paragraphs back up the first by providing background information, quotes, and other relevant details. Keep it to about one page.

When I edit press releases written by clients, I usually end up rewriting the headline and taking out the first two paragraphs. That’s because the headline and first two paragraphs are usually about the person who wrote the release. If your press release is “me” centered and doesn’t promise benefits to the audience, scrap it and start over.

While there are no guarantees that your story will run, there are several things you can do to help it along:

* Make it newsworthy. This isn’t about youit’s about the audience. What’s more important: that you know the tax code, or that you can help them save money on taxes?

* Make it timely. Media love something new and they also love tie-ins to events, holidays, other news stories, etc.

* Make it accurate. If there are typos and misspellings in your release, it will get tossed. Make sure phone numbers, dates and addresses are correct. If they can’t trust it, they won’t run it.

* Make it easy to read. The release should follow one of the standard formats for press releases. If you’re not certain of your language skills, have someone else proofread it.

* Make it objective. Don’t use hyperbole and advertising language, such as “Greatest Software Ever!” They won’t believe your inflated claims and they won’t do a story that sounds like an ad.

* Make it easy to follow up. Include a name and phone number(s) the media can call for additional information.

Don’t be discouraged if you get coverage in only a couple of places, or not at all. Keep working on your press releases, keep sending them, and you will get results.

The most important thing to remember about writing press releases is this: The press release is not about YOU; it’s about your media contact’s AUDIENCE. Write with that in mind, and you will soon be getting lots of free publicity for yourself and your business.

Copyright Cathy Stucker. Learn more about how you can attract customers and make yourself famous with free publicity at http://www.IdeaLady.com/pr.htm.

Tags: free publicity, media releases, PR, press releases, promotion, publicity, radio, televisionfree publicity, media releases, PR, press releases, promotion, publicity, radio, television

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