Press Release Writing Tips
Must avoid Press release mistakes...Your press release must have just one goal to achieve... make it to the news! With that said, here are important tips and common mistakes done by authors while publishing a press release.
1. ) Spend lot of time writing the headline of your press release. Most of the publishers are going to recieve your release in their email box along with a thousand more emails to scan through. The subject of your release is the only thing which will decide whether it is going to the website or trash box. Some interesting subject lines specifically for news publishing are as follows:
- First time in...( your nitch)
- The only in...( your nitch)
- Mistakes in...( your nitch)
- Report on ... ( your nitch/ product)
- Truck driver made million in...( your nitch) {similar}
- Latest in...( your nitch)
A common mistake done by authors is to issue a subject line like:
Shocking news about...
Most publishers would think of it as a "sales letter" than a press release and know that you seek free advertising than actually providing something readable. If there's really something "shocking", then mention it like "Truck driver made million in..." ( see headline example above)
This subject would have got attention if it was something like:
"Shocking news about Google PR", and similar known names attached. Otherwise it's not a very good idea to use subjects like those.
2. ) The first paragraph of the release should summarize the release itself and should by all means support your headline. If you fail to support your headline, the publisher will know it's a scam or just an attempt to get free advertising. Example if you say, "First time in advertising...", then make sure to mention what is so new in this first paragraph instead of bragging about your company. The new thing could be any sort of guarantee or even a research on current market trends or something similar. Make sure to justify the headline keeping the company info for the later parts of the press release.
Summarizing your release in this paragraph provides the basic information about what details could be found later in the complete release. Don't provide specific information in this very first paragraph else you would have left the reader with nothing interesting to read later. Example:
"The google PR will now be updated every month", is a poor line to ad. Instead say,
"Google's new launch of bigdaddy brings frequent PR surprises..."
The reader sticks to know about the "new launch" and also what effects it will have on his website's PR and how frequent will they be.
3. ) This is where the news must go along with links to any additional information related to the news. Example :
" The microsoft CEO, Steve earlier today mentioned that the MSN search located at (link here) will become the most used search engine by..."
Don't just try to stuff links in the release. In the above example we have stuffed a link which was not required.( readers know the location). Later the press release might have discussed the current stock price where a link would have been more appropriate. Also if linking, make sure to link to the exact page where the respective information is available instead of directing the reader to your home page and then letting him search the information. The link can also be to a prior information released by you available on your website. Example:
"Google CEO today in a press conference officially announced the launch of the bigdaddy software which was being tested by google. The information about test results can be found at ( link here... followed by the rest of the 'current announcement') ".
Divide this "news content" paragraph into further paragraphs depending on how long the press release is. Remember the more links you try to "stuff" in, the higher chances of your release getting neglected.
4. ) The time you have been waiting for... Brag about yourself! Try and mention specific information about your prior achievements like how a 20 year old has not only established a company but has also been able to maintain profit figures for the last 5 years. This could also include any specific thing you did for or in the nitch which is worth mentioning. Provide the reader a link to follow for more information on how you did it and so on. It is not necessarry to direct them to the specific page but here you can say:
" Visit our website at ( URL here), dealing in ( keyword link if possible) to discover ..."
Also provide a phone number in case the publisher wants to contact you for further information on the press release's topic. Make sure the phone rings at the desk of the person mentioned in the release. An assistant would also do...
This is the basic for a press release which requires maximum attention. Remember your intention is to cover more news websites and get 1 or 2 links from each instead of covering only 10% and get 4 links from each.
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