Writing Your First Press Release

Today I’m really excited to explain about your first press release. You may think that writing a press release is beyond you but anyone can do this. There are just a few things to keep in mind.

A press release is usually the first thing you should produce, once you have a campaign worked out. It is written like an article. It seeks to demonstrate in an objective but newsworthy way a particular aspect of your organization.

The Catchiest Headline In The World

First of all you will need a headline that makes the reader want to read on. This is where you can use your knowledge and information from your campaign research, website, forum etc. combined with your imagination. You can sift through everything your promotion stands for, trying to distil this into something pithy and relevant. The headline has to be as good as the best newspaper heading; it is the first thing the reader will see so it must make even an old hack sit up in his or her chair!

Press Release – Useful Tips

It’s always useful to use a quote in the body of your release. You can use one from a customer, from a forum visitor, from an expert or, as we will see later, from your mother.

Two Key Points To Remember:

• Mention who you are and what you do. There’s no point in offering a stunning story unless the reader will associate you with that brilliant creation.
• Always put contact info in your release, even if it’s just your web address.

Mistakes You MUST Avoid:

• Providing insufficient information, irrelevant information or inaccurate details – Go over everything with a fine tooth comb.
• Never submit an unpolished press release. Always spell check your content. Also check for spelling and grammar mistakes that your spell check might miss.
• Releases that are incomplete or too vague will get you nowhere. Always be specific and provide all the information necessary about your promotional story.
• At the same time, do not make the press release too long. One detailed and carefully laid out page is usually sufficient.

With Internet press releases, try to make sure that you post original content each time. Search engine algorithms give little benefit to the same release posted in different places.  Another trick is to then link to your press release with relevant text links using your web site or blog, or other social media or web properties you have access to.

By way of contrast to the Internet press release, here is an example of a press release in action at the local paper level, I will tell you a story a colleague of mine told me. There was a young lady who was a singer. I don’t know her name so we’ll call her Miss X. She was talented (up to a point), ambitious and clever. But Miss X had realized that there is a lot of competition in the music business and she had decided to help herself along a bit.

Miss X had noticed that the small-town newspapers in England (and, I dare say, everywhere else in the world) are keen to find material to fill up the white space. She had also noticed that, if you send such papers a short and snappy press release, they will often print it pretty much word for word.

So, what Miss X did was this. She got herself booked for a very modest tour of very modest venues in various parts of the country and then she sent a press release to the local paper in the first of these towns. The press release included a statement something like this:

‘Miss X is quickly acquiring a reputation as the most sonorous voice of her generation.’ And – ahem – who, precisely, took the view that Miss X had so much potential? Well, it was her doting mother, but Miss X didn’t mention her mother.

The first newspaper printed Miss X’s press release without changing a word. So, for the second town, and local newspaper, Miss X could quite legitimately put out a press release which included the following: ‘Miss X recently gave a successful concert in Y town, and the Y town Gazette described her as ‘one of the most sonorous voices of her generation.’ And for this press release Miss X would add some more. ‘Miss X is acknowledged as possessing a dazzling presence.’ Who had acknowledged this? Well, once again, Miss X’s mother proved to be an excellent judge in such matters.

Ten or twelve towns, and ten or twelve concerts later, Miss X had assembled a dazzling array of quotes, something like this:

• The most sonorous voice of her generation’ Y Town Gazette
• A dazzling presence’ Z Town Mail
• A fabulous performer’ The Seaside Herald
• A thrilling, exceptional performance’ The Indiscriminate Post

And so on. All of these quotes were perfectly genuine and she could flourish a handful of press cuttings to prove it. This example goes to show how far a press release can get you. You can build up a huge portfolio of press cutting from something very modest.

In fact, I always advocate absolute honesty in everything you do. I could not have done what Miss X did. But I hope this little story has given you some ideas for how to get going on your press release and what a press release can do for you.

Tomorrow we can look forward to the final section of this course – contacting the media.

I would love to see you succeed, and a few PR skills can help you on the way. But never give up on your integrity in the process.