| |
| |
|
Acne Information |
|
|
|
Writing A Press Release
News releases (also called press releases) are an important part of a public relations campaign. They are also an important part of marketing your business. They are the primary means of "selling" your story to the media. All press releases are structured the same way. Make sure you Is it easy to read? Editors look at hundreds of press releases every day, and if your news release is difficult to read, they will throw it out. It should be on plain white paper and printed in black ink. The main body of the release should be double-spaced and have at least a one inch margin all around the edges. Your letterhead should appear at the top of the first page to establish your identity. Have you double-checked your spelling and grammar? A good press release has no typographical or grammatical errors. If yours contains such errors you'll lose credibility; it will have the same effect as a badly written business letter or resume. The release should be typed. Print out (or type out) a fresh copy for each person to whom you will send it. Do not send out poor-quality photocopies with dark staple marks or blotches. Did you include the six news elements? Because all news articles include six basic elements-who, what, when, where, why, and how - your press release should also follow the same guidelines. Put the most important facts in the lead paragraph, with the facts decreasing in importance as you go down the page. Why? Suppose you send a press release to an editor who has five inches of space open in the newspaper and your release runs eight inches long. Ideally, the editor would trim your press release from the bottom. Therefore, to make sure the most important information gets run, put the less important information at the bottom. Did you include a contact source? In the top, right-hand corner of the first page, directly beneath your company name, there should be a line that states, "For further information, contact." A name and telephone number should follow. The editor must have somebody in your business to call to answer questions or to be interviewed about your news item. If you can only be reached during certain hours, specify them. Have you included a dateline? The best press releases have a dateline with the city in which the business is based and the date the release is written. Every press release needs a dateline so that the editor can tell when it was mailed. Nobody wants to cover an old story that has lost its timeliness. The other morning during my favorite radio talk show they mentioned this guy who wrote a book about selling water beds which was coming out next week. How you do think this guy got the radio stations to talk about this....you got it - a press release or a publicist who sent a press release. Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2002 Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it's like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com
MORE RESOURCES:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
PR: Focus on What Matters! Sure, as a manager, you have a talented member of the PR team assigned to your department, division or subsidiary, or housed at your agency, and s/he is darn good at placing product and service plugs on radio and in the newspaper. Which may be all you want. Know What Matters Most About PR? When, as a business, non-profit or association manager, you are able to persuade your key external stakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to your department, division or subsidiary's success.And again when those outside stakeholder behaviors deliver results like more people returning to buy again, new prospects sniffing around, individual capital gift levels rising, or more inquiries arriving about strategic alliances and joint ventures. Speaking to the Press If you get the hang of speaking to the press and you can establish a few good relationships, their contacts and outreach can be extremely beneficial to the marketing of your organization.If you've never spoken to the press before - it can be an intimidating task. Life After Press Release Distribution? A few weeks ago I was participating on an on-line message board. One of the members was a new business owner who was very excited about sending out her company's first press release. 7 Tips to Get More Mileage Out of Your Online or Offline Publicity You worked hard to get a story on your business in a popularwebsite or your local paper. Don't let your efforts ends there --here are seven tips to help you maximize your online and offlinepublicity: 1) Reprint, Reprint, Reprint! A favorable article on your company or products is marketing gold- it implies that the publication or website has given itsendorsement. Media Exposure Validates And Legitimizes Your Business Although repetition is extremely important, there are times when advertising can help bring you a fast response.If you're having a fire sale, you want to advertise. How To Get Radio-Active PR For Your Non-Profit Cause: Part Three of Three HOW TO BE RELAXED AND EFFECTIVE ON-AIRHow does one stay calm, relaxed, and focused while being interviewed on the radio?I've been both a guest and a host, and I've heard the nervousness in the voices of many callers, and seen it in the eyes of some first-time guests.But I also know that it goes away with experience-even though that might be small comfort to newcomers who have the jitters. E-Mail Media Releases E-mail is becoming the preferred way to receive media releases. Although it can sometimes be harder to get valid e-mail addresses for media contacts, e-mail releases are more likely to be read than faxes and faster than snail mail. Building Community Support for Project Permitting, Construction, and Marketing Redevelopment is replacing new construction throughout the Greater Boston area, as construction costs climb and the commercial/retail vacancy rate reaches new (and alarming) levels.Redevelopment of highly visible, publicly owned or historic properties~ such as shipyards, air bases, and historic mills ~ involves all the usual steps of Federal and State permitting and approvals, and the additional layer of permitting involving historic, archeological and cultural review and approvals. Publicity: The Best Things In Life Are... FREEE! One portion of your marketing plan that you probably don't think about enough is "free publicity".Publicity is an extremely important tool and should be given prominence in any marketing plan. Advertising Is Dead. Long Live PR Although I still believe there is a place for advertising as a brand maintenance or brand affirmation tool, I am convinced that to build a brand today, you need PR. At one time advertising did build brands. Easy to be Foolish About PR In fact, here are three really foolish goofs made by too many business, non-profit and association managers.If that's you, you foolishly do nothing positive about the behaviors of those important outside audiences of yours that most affect your operation. Are You Sure You Know What Youre Doing? Because when it comes to public relations, non-believers can produce a double-bummer -- missed opportunity AND a ton of wasted money. It really is a shame because we do public relations to change the behaviors of certain groups of people important to the success of those very Doubting Thomases. Financial Planners Publicity - Dont Wait, Media Folks Want Your Free Publicity Looking to get your name into a magazine? You need to be thinking ahead--way ahead. Magazines start planning their issues as much as six months before their publication date. The Press Release Method to Get Great Publicity If you have had any experience in public relations or marketing, you probably know how well press releases can work. There are many, many companies who have increased sales by 100%-300% in a matter of months simply through using press releases. Say What? As the comedian Steve Martin once said, "some people have a way with words and some people have not way." Increasingly, I am seeing information from companies, particularly in news releases, that "has not way. Media Relations: Making Your Story More Newsworthy During my career as the head of media relations for the world's second largest environmental group, I regularly heard a common refrain from the scientists who so desperately wanted press attention for their projects. "But my project is so important," they'd say, expecting that was enough to crack the evening news. Media Training: How to Avoid Being Misquoted I often begin my media training sessions by asking members of the audience to raise their hands if they've been interviewed by the media. Almost all of the hands in the room go up. Dont Do This to Your News Release! Hundreds of thousands of News Releases are sent out all the time and many people will show you different ways to write a news release in a way that will result in publicity for you or for your company. However, many people over look the 17 Deadly Sins that you should never do or have in a news release. Media Training 101: When 60 Minutes Knocks On Your Door You never know when 60 Minutes will knock on your door and if not them, then maybe a local investigative reporter. A little media savvy is a valuable skill for executives and their image-conscious organizations.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |