Copywriting TipsSteps to
a Writing an Effective Press Releases
by: Diana Ennen
Want to get the most media attention and spotlight for
your business? Then the 1st place to start is with a GREAT press
release. Now I can just about see half of you effort now, dreading the
thought of having to write one of these. But wait!! I’m going to show you
easy methods to do your press release activity for you and get the attention
it deserves. Ready? Let’s go.
We’ll in short go over the basics because of their
importance. Editors want to see things done the RIGHT way. I would-be bet
that a lot of nice releases just get tossed out just because they aren’t
set up properly. To a busy editor, that all too familiar “10 second
glance” says a lot for you and your business; it let’s them cognize if you’ve
done your research enough to warrant that release to be placed in their
newspaper or magazine.
Here are your essentials:
"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" on the top left of the page.
Your contact name, phone number, e-mail address, and
website follows.
Headline is next, ordinarily in bold and centered on the
page. Summarize what the release is just about and capture their attention.
Spend just about as more time on your headline as you do writing the release.
It’s that important.
The press release body starts with the location of the
release and the date (Margate, Florida, May 5, 2005.)
Most press releases are between 200-500 words, and no more
than a page. The 1st paragraph has the most important information. Don’t
save the better for last, it won’t get read. In this paragraph answer the
questions, who, what, when, wherever
and why?
It is suggested that you write press releases in the 3rd
person and use short sentences and paragraphs. Do not go over board,
trying to dazzle the editor, it won’t work.
Target your release. You wish be causing your release to a
specific audience so do sure that in your release you support to what would-be
appeal to that audience. What don’t they cognize that you can add? Nothing
works better than effort an “AAH HAA” once
an editor is reviewing your
release.
Provide statistics. Do several research and find several
relevant information that applies. You can easily do this through Google.
Once you find your quote, do a Google search or Yahoo quote on that
particular topic. However, don’t finish on the 1st Google link and take
that for gospel. Research it a bit further. Have it move from a
respectable institution or magazine.
Include relevant quotes from experts in your field that
wish reinforce what you are saying. Approach authors, leaders in your
Industry, and else experts that back up the facts you are stating in your
release. They wish ordinarily appreciate the adscititious message and you get the
quote you’re looking for. For example, as an author I’ll often get asked
to provide a quote for an article on home-based businesses or the virtual
assistant industry. I welcome the possibleness
as it provides me more
publicity.
Also, if you have a satisfied client that you feel wish
add quality
to your Release, add a quote from them as well. The 1st
time you mention the expert, write out their full name. Then list them by
last name or Mr. and Mrs. Smith only. I ordinarily prefer the last name.
The last paragraph should be your call to action. You’ve
talked the whole release just about your business or product, now tell them
what to do with the psychological feature
they just acquired.
At the bottom of the release include ### to indicate you
are done, followed by a short bio. Do sure if you include your website
that you include http:// in front of it for search engine recognition.
Your bio should include your information, any books
authored, etc. Double check this for accuracy. At this point, you’re tired
and done with the Release. But if it goes out to the earth with the wrong
web address, the valuable time spent even as writing the Release has been
wasted.
That’s it; the basics for writing a press release! Now one
else thing I’d like to add in, they work! They truly work. I’ve had a
recent release get accepted by PRWeb (and yes they do reject bad ones!),
and then go on to hit several else major newspapers and media outlines
and the Google alert, which resulted in our paper in the area contacting
me. You want to set up a Google news alert for your name so that you can
follow the path and see once
you do the news so you can follow up. Also,
PRWeb at http://www.prweb.com
has complete guidelines for setting up a nice press release. Go with the
extra money and spend $20.00. It’s worth it to get the additional
exposure.
About The Author
Diana Ennen is the author of many
books including
Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Extremely
Successful, Sought-after After
VA, Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word
Process
Business & the House Office Recovery Plan. She specializes in
message and book marketing and is president of Virtual Word Business enterprise
http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and
http://www.Publicity-VA.com. Articles are free to be reprinted as long
as the author’s bio remains intact
| 
