Does your business have anything exciting going on? We’ll bet it does. Have you celebrated an anniversary? Hired a new employee? Moved to a new location? Launched a new product? You have news! How to write a great press release is something you need to know how to do — or to hire someone to do for you.
We know it’s not always easy to toot one’s own horn, but to standout you need to step out of your comfort zone and let people know where you are, what you do and how you do it!
A press release gets your name and your business name in front of a larger audience. It can make locals take notice. It could even help you become a go-to source for journalists.
How To Write A Great Press Release
There are many reasons to write a press release and there are nuances to writing one that will get read and perhaps published.
- The headline has to grab the journalist. Don’t be wordy. Don’t be clever. Give it a headline that gets the meaning across.
- Get to the point in the beginning of the press release — in the first paragraph. A journalist will skim and if your press release doesn’t grab him or her it will get tossed.
- Make sure your contact information is on the press release.
- If you’re making a claim, make sure you can back it up.
- Proofread and edit it.
- Don’t send the press release as an attachment because an attachment from a stranger will not get opened. The fear of computer viruses is the reason.
- Contact the right person. If you’re sending in a recipe, don’t send it to the automotive editor.
- Keep the reader in mind. The publication you’re sending to needs to know what’s in it for them/their reader.
- Make a point of showing the connection you and your business have to the publication/area in which you’re submitting. For example if you live in NY and are submitting to a paper in CA, make sure you mention you were a “former California resident.”
Take some time and make a list of potential press releases you could write to tout your business and what it’s doing.