How to Write them and Where to Submit Them
- 1. How to Write them and Where to Submit Them Press releases have a definite flavor, style, and premise that differs from other types of published media. In this section, we'll talk about: Press release topics Voice Quotes Parts of a press release Choosing Press Release Topics Many clients that I talk with wrongly assume that they don't have anything newsworthy to talk about. Yet after digging for just a few minutes, I usually uncover a wealth of great topics to write about! Your news doesn't need to be earth-shattering to be newsworthy. There are plenty of things happening in your business or on your blog that can be considered newsworthy: New product/service/program New published report/e-book/interview New strategic partnership or hire If you think about it, you can probably take some of the things you are already doing and turn them into newsworthy press release material. Let's say that you observed by looking at your blog stats that readers that come to your blog from social media sources tend to stick around longer than from direct search engine traffic. At this point, it's just an observation. But if you were to create a 1-2 page report on your findings and offer it as a download on your blog - it becomes news of a new published report! If you challenge yourself to produce one press release per month, you will likely start thinking differently about how you conduct your business. Knowing that you will need to produce a monthly press release will force you to come up with lots of new material and developments for your business that can only improve your value to your target audience. However, it is important that your press release have newsworthy value. Since they are so easy to submit, a lot of junk is being distributed and is diluting the value of press releases. If we want press releases to continue being viewed as high quality material, we all have to do our part in making sure that we are publishing on topics that are valuable. Voice
- 2. In the past, a press release was sent to the media to provide journalists and editors with topics to write about. Today, press releases are published on the web and often viewed by the end user, as well as traditional journalists and new media journalists (bloggers). Because your target audience will likely be the reader of your press release, it's important to provide a message that will resonate with your audience. However, the release must be written in a way that does not make it appear completely obvious that you are talking directly to your target audience. Always write the press release from a third-person perspective, never in a first-person perspective. The press release should seem very objective. Getting Rid of "You" One mistake that I see a lot of companies make when they send me press releases to review is to include the word "you" in the press release. Using the word "you" in a press release can cause your press release to be rejected for "too much advertising language." But that doesn't mean that you cannot advertise - that's the whole point of the press release! You just have to word your "advertisement" more subjectively. Here's an example: "You can find dozens of recipes for meatballs and upcoming restaurant events by visiting our website at..." Press release publishers will often reject such a directive statement. Instead, you'll want to phrase this sentence like this: "Meatball enthusiasts can visit... for a variety of meatball recipes and information on upcoming Meatball House events." Quoting People in SEO Press Releases The place for blatant self-promotion is in the quotes! The text residing inside the quote can be as subjective and self-promotional as you want. Quotes can be the powerful sales tool in a press release. When I write press releases for clients, these quotes are part of the sales strategy. I write the quotes myself in order to flow with the entire message, and then let the client approve them - not the other way around. Another purpose of quotes when using PR Web is to serve as an attention grabber and a summary to entice visitors to read the entire press release. The reason this works with PR Web is because of a feature called "Quotables" that randomly pulls quotes out of the press release and enlarges them as an inset in the body of the press release.