A properly written, a targeted press release can be one of the most potent marketing tools available to you. By following the steps in this article, your press release has a much better chance of being accepted than the rest. In fact, this method should put you ahead of about 99% of all the other press releases submitted - provided it is timely and proper for the venue you submitted it to.
Main Objectives of Your Press Release
Get your press release read by the editor. You have about 10 seconds to catch the editors eye with your Press Release Submission before it is tossed - even less if it is an email press release. If your headline doesn't grab the editor, it is all over. To ensure the headline will grab the editor's attention, you must know the publication you are submitting to and what their hot buttons are.
Get your press release printed. For your press release to be printed, it must pass the editorial review. This means that it must give useful information to the readers of the publication. Editors know the purpose of a press release is to benefit the company it is about and they know a Free Press Release Distribution gives free advertising to the company. What they insist on though is that the press release gives something of value to their readers. Is the press release contributing to a discussion of current events? Does it offer a timely solution to a problem? Does it tell in a feature-rich way about a new product that your company produced that would interest and benefit their readers, etc.? In other words, your press release must be perceived as giving benefit to the readers of the publication even if they do not do business with you.
Get the readers of the publication to take action after reading your press release in the manner you planned. Part of crafting a Press Release Distribution is to create a well-scripted call to action. Even though you are not writing a sales letter, the reader must be led to the conclusion that their life would be better if they visit your website, pick up the phone to call you, order your product, hire you for your service, attend your event or whatever the action is. If someone reads your press release and it doesn't hit their hot buttons, they will not take action. If your press release is a bit vague about what you want the reader to do, no action will be taken. Something as simple as "For further information, go to mywebsite.com" can generate lots of new business from an interesting and targeted press release.
Step by Step Guide to Writing Your Press Release
Identify the publications you wish to contact. When you complete this step, you should have a list of all publications that would have an interest in what your business does. This can include newspapers, magazines, trade magazines, newsletters, ezines, etc. You should think targeted when making this list. While it may be impressive getting a press release in USA Today, you have a much better chance at succeeding in Widgets weekly (where widgets is your industry target.)
Get a sample of each of the above publications for your files. (Note: It is a good idea to keep these sample publications as you will probably refer back to them many times.)
Circle each press release in the above sample publications. It may take a bit of guesswork to sort the press releases from the articles in some magazines as some (generally trade publications) will seem like nothing but a series of press releases on products, services, etc.
Go back to each publication and write a press release for that specific publication. From the previous step, you will be able to uncover a style that a particular publication favors. The closer you can craft your Press Release Distribution to that style, the more likely it will be accepted. Style includes word length, length of headlines, if photos are included, etc. Your goal is to minimize the editors work. If he is evaluating two press releases and if the first one can be run as is and the second one needs heavy editing to be run, the first one will win every time. This is a bit more work than the "write it once and blanket the world approach", it it will give you much higher returns.
After it is written, proofread it carefully to be sure it reads exactly how you wish, fits in the publication's style and has no spelling or grammatical errors.
Print Free Press Release Distribution on a high-quality paper on a good printer - preferably a laser printer or an inkjet printer on high-quality print mode, attach any photos you may have and a short cover letter and send it to the editor of the publication. (Of course, if you fax the press release, you probably wouldn't include photos but rather let the editor know they are available.)
Do this once for each publication and you should soon be getting publicity for your business.
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