Essential Tips:
It is the reporter's job to look for newsworthy items. By providing a good press release you are helping the press to do their job while making money for your own company. The media needs your press releases just as much as you need publicity.
Top Eleven Tips for a Successful Submission
- Keep the length a maximum of one page or 400 words.
- Always write your press release in third person. Any first person commentary, such as testimonials or product reviews should only be in a quote with the source listed.
- Begin your press release with a short description of the news and then provide the details about the company who announced the news. Do not do this the other way around.
- Be careful to base your press release on facts. Report the facts about your product or service without fluff or hype. Let the reporter decide from the facts that your business is special and newsworthy.
- Use timely and new information related to current events. Do not write about something old or well known.
- When writing, remember who your audience is. Your audience is not your customers. Your audience is the journalists and editors.
- Make your release new, different, and interesting.
- Do not tell everything. Your purpose should be to provide enough information to generate interest and a follow-up from a reporter.
- Provide as much contact information as possible: contact name, address, phone, fax, email, website address, etc.
- Proofread your press release over and over. Do not trust your spell check software to do this for you. Have several individuals check your release before submitting it.
- You should have a link to your press releases at your website. Media may often come to your website and pick up an old story rather than the new story that drew them there in the first place. Also, the text helps with search engine placement because it provides good food for the search engine spiders.
|
|
|
