Archive for the ‘Press Release Guidelines’ Category

Press Release Writers: Making Your Talent Work for You

After such a number of various articles about the peculiarities of press release writing, we think it is quite natural to talk about press release writers themselves. Who are these people? What skills do they possess? How can one become a successful press release writer? All these questions and answers to them can be found in this article.
 
Who are they?
 
Usually, press release writers major in arts and humanities. But it is a common misconception that one needs special education in order to become a successful press release writer. Writing advertisement materials is such a narrow field that hardly will you find an education institution that can offer you programs designed specially for press release writers. If you are a specialist in PR technologies or a literary person, it is likely you will prove to be a successful press release writer. But generally speaking, anyone with a certain talent for words will prosper.
 
What skills do they need?
 
There is no definite answer to this question. Certainly, you should be well versed. But this alone cannot secure you from faults. You should be a natural psychologist to understand the way your readers think. But this cannot guarantee you a successful career of a press release writer as well. It is just a collection of these and several other traits that make a press release writer an expert.
 
How to become a press release writer?
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Writing Press Releases for Web: Basics and Essentials

If you scroll this blog for a while, you will see that it offers quite a lot of tips on how to write a press release. One can wonder: what else can be said about press release writing? And yet, there are still so many topics to explore. One of them is writing press releases for web. Do you know that this type of copywriting has plenty of peculiarities? No? Then, this article is designed for you!
 
Writing a press release for web: direct speeches
 
One of the winning strategies for press release writing is to use direct speech. Direct speech introduces some action, elaboration, and even controversy. But if you run an online business, whom can you interview? The answer is simple: there is no major distinction between online and real businesses. Ask your CEO manager, colleagues and present their impressions and remarks in your release.
 
Writing a press release for web: exploring controversies
 
It is a good idea to write a press release in the form of a journal article or TV news. Interview your colleagues; make sure there is some controversy in the new initiative of your company management or in a recent company event. Watch the events unfold and devote your press release to the latest news of your company.
 
Writing a press release for web: general strategies
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Messages to Address in your Press Release

Before you start writing your press release, there are a great number of things to think about. To be more precise, we have worked out questions for you, which should be necessarily answered in your press release:

  • What is the purpose of this press release?
  • Would you like to attract media or you want to inform the public about your event? This is very important to start with answering this particular question, since it sets certain frameworks for your press release, like the style and structure of your message.

  • Who is your target audience?
  • This question is tightly related to the previous one. However, it has its narrow focus on the people who should get this press release.

  • What is your event about? What is its uniqueness?
  • In other words, you need to explain in the press release why people should come to your event, what is so special about it, and how it will help these people solve their own problems.

  • Is your event big enough to advertize through a press release? Is there a significant reason for that?
  • The problem is that this is much more important to prepare for your event rather than for its press release conference. So, focus on the organization of the event itself, rather than on its huge advertising campaign.

Press releases should be printed on a fine paper without any minor mistakes, properly structured and eye-friendly organized. Your target audience should believe that your event is serious enough to invest their precious time into coming to this happening.

So, if you take into consideration this advice, you will be satisfied with the results. Good luck!

Press Release Writing- the Most Common Mistakes

Public relations is a very important part of marketing, without which many businesses would not have such a great reputation and image. A press release is a very important tool of public relations that aims to inform its target audience about certain business events and activities.
 
Writing press releases is not a hard task; still too many PR managers continue making the same mistakes while completing their press releases. Let us discuss some of these widespread mistakes:

  1. Inappropriate length of a press release. You should really find a balance between the length and content of your press release. As a rule, it should not be longer than 2 pages, since people are not going to spend more than 10-15 minutes reading it.
  2. Minor errors or grammar mistakes. Nobody will take your event seriously if you make mistakes in your press release: this piece of paper is basically the evidence how good or bad your event is going to be.
  3. Lack of important information. Some PR managers hurry so much, or focus on unnecessary details, that they forget to include really important information, not even answering the 5 “W” questions (who, what, where, when and why). So, check whether you have provided your clients with all necessary data, including your contact information.
  4. Bad design of a press release. This is not the most essential element of a press release, but something you might impress your clients with, persuading them to come to your event.
  5. *Now you know what mistakes to avoid while writing press releases.

Public relations should help improve the image of your business, and good press releases should make your customers want to know more about your company.

Benefits of a Good Press Release

If your company is relatively young, you probably need to build your credibility. In other words, people should know you and trust you. So, how do you build this long-term credibility, how do you find loyal customers?
 
To achieve these two targets, your company should take advantage of PR, a great marketing tool that helps build a good reputation. To be even more precise, you need good press releases that will tell the target audience about your company, inviting them to some special PR events. So, you have to write a great press release in order to start building a positive image of your company.
 
Another question arises: “How do you write an effective press release?” Here are some tips for you to answer this question:

  • You should find some free press releases to get an idea of how to structure this kind of writing and its content.
  • You should carefully examine a couple of free press releases and learn how to make your own piece.
  • If you still have no idea how to write a press release, you should consider the option of ordering a press release. It means you do not have to write your press release; instead, you need to pay for it. If you have enough resources for that - do not waste your time and let experienced professionals do this work for you.
  • If you do not have enough resources to pay for a professionally written press release, you will have to become an expert in press release writing to produce a good piece. However, as soon as you learn how to write press releases, this will become a very valuable skill that will help you in future.

So, a good press release is a must for your company if you plan to organize some PR event.

Writing an Effective Press Release

Here are three tips on how to write an effective press release. Right from the start:

  1. It has to have a catchy headline.
  2. It has to be no longer than one page.
  3. It has to be broken into paragraphs.

The common mistake for all the novice press release writers is that they put the content ahead of the shape, while experienced authors know – writing a good press release means uniting content and shape, and uniting them harmonically.
 
Let us start from the very beginning.

  1. Title.
  2. Writing a good press release presupposes catching the reader’s attention from the very start. If a person is not interested, it is doubtful your press release will be read. If you want to become a professional in writing effective press releases, learn the lesson right from the start – a title has to be short but contain the essence. In some cases, intriguing approach is allowed.

  3. Length.
  4. If your press release is longer than three pages, it is already a book for the modern generation. Forget about it. Writing a good press release means being able to state all the necessary primary and additional information on one page. Start with the 5 W’s, give the top of the pyramid, and then complete your writing with additional data that should be interesting and helpful.

What Is a Press Release?

The modern world of information is impossible to imagine without press releases. They are part of company promotion. So, if you want your business to be successful, the art of writing press releases is something you need.
 
A Press Release is information sent to mass media and organizations. The main goal of writing press releases is to inform on a particular event important to the company-sender.
 
A well-written press release has three basic features. It:

  1. Announces an event
  2. Draws attention to it
  3. Contains “where and when” information

To write a good press release sometimes takes time and several editing approaches. But a good written text can make magic.

  • increase your revenue;
  • make your company popular;
  • work on the image of your product.

When writing a press release, target it to mass media, because once journalists know about you and get interested in what you are doing, you can start calling yourself successful. Read more

Press Release, its Purpose.

Press release is your business card. It represents your business and you. Depending on what your business is about, you have to decide on the content of your press release.

  1. Advertising!
    The primary purpose of your press release is advertising. No matter how hard you have already tried to make your business successful, you will not reach your goal if you cannot advertise you own creation. Commercials are one of the trade engines nowadays. You will have to learn how to advertise your own business well in order to prosper and be the leader in your market.
  2. Informing!
    The second role your press release plays is informing. It informs people on the news you bring up. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to tell people about your business they have never heard of. Tell them why it is the best to buy from you and what is there so peculiar you can offer them.
  3. Attracting!
    Of course, one of the major things your press release does is attracting people. For that you will have to wrack your brains for some time to come up with the smart decision on which technique to choose to make your press release stand out. You might want to use different colors, shapes, stripes, flash effects, whatever can attract attention. To know for sure whether you are making the right choice, look at it as if you were a customer.
  4. Wining Clients!
    There is no doubt the primary goal of yours is to gain as many customers as possible. So, explain to people why they might need your goods. Why is it so beneficial to buy from you? Are there any discounts?
    In other words, work for your prosperity, benefit and income. It will work for you later!

Do Not Make Your Press Release a Show Off

Press release is a simple expression of news and events taking place in your company. Press release was created for the owners of different sites to have an opportunity to show people what they are up to. They could not just go from door to door telling about various discounts, sales, and new products. Therefore, such a wonderful thing as a press release was created.

Now, as we are live during a tech revolution, press releases are more popular in digital format. You can look up thousands of those in the Internet. World Wide Web is literally overfilled with such commercials and advertisements.

The purpose of your press release is to advertise your company and bring up the newest information of your business’ events. Needless to say, your press release has to stand out in order to be noticed by the would-be customers.

No matter what your business is oriented on, your press release is a presentation of your trends, tendencies and style. Most likely, you will make it noticeable by means of colors, flashing texts and highlights. It is to be mentioned here that what is more important is the content of your press release!

So, when everything is written, let your press release lay there for some hours – do not post it at once. What the most wonderful thing is to look at it after some time passes! - At least a few hours. When you look at it with a fresh glance, make sure your press release corresponds to the overall style of your business trademark.

Do not let any shows off stand on your way to business success. Do not overload your press release with special effects, different colors and glamorous sparkles. Just imagine how frustrated and disappointed your customer will be when he/she clicks on your post and goes to simple website with an ordinary content, offering to buy something.

So do not over-try! Make it simple but attractive at the same time!