Request Newsletter | Business Online Website | Government Information | Submit Articles and News | Return To Main Page
| |
| |
|
Copywriting Information |
|
|
|
Steps to a Writing an Effective Press Releases
Want to get the most media attention and spotlight for your business? Then the first place to start is with a GREAT press release. Now I can almost see half of you leaving now, dreading the thought of having to write one of these. But wait!! I'm going to show you easy methods to make your press release work for you and get the attention it deserves. Ready? Let's go. We'll briefly go over the basics because of their importance. Editors want to see things done the RIGHT way. I would bet that a lot of good releases simply get tossed out just because they aren't set up properly. To a busy editor, that all too familiar "10 second glance" says a lot for you and your business; it let's them know if you've done your research enough to warrant that release to be placed in their newspaper or magazine. Here are your essentials: "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" on the top left of the page. Your contact name, phone number, e-mail address, and website follows. Headline is next, normally in bold and centered on the page. Summarize what the release is about and capture their attention. Spend almost as much time on your headline as you do writing the release. It's that important. The press release body starts with the location of the release and the date (Margate, Florida, May 5, 2005.) Most press releases are between 200-500 words, and no more than a page. The first paragraph has the most important information. Don't save the best for last, it won't get read. In this paragraph answer the questions, who, what, when, where and why? It is recommended that you write press releases in the 3rd person and use short sentences and paragraphs. Do not go over board, trying to dazzle the editor, it won't work. Target your release. You will be sending your release to a specific audience so make sure that in your release you keep to what would appeal to that audience. What don't they know that you can add? Nothing works better than getting an "AAH HAA" when an editor is reviewing your release. Provide statistics. Do some research and find some relevant information that applies. You can easily do this through Google. Once you find your quote, do a Google search or Yahoo quote on that particular topic. However, don't stop on the first Google link and take that for gospel. Research it a bit further. Have it come from a respectable company or magazine. Include relevant quotes from experts in your field that will reinforce what you are saying. Approach authors, leaders in your Industry, and other experts that back up the facts you are stating in your release. They will normally appreciate the added publicity and you get the quote you're looking for. For example, as an author I'll often get asked to provide a quote for an article on home-based businesses or the virtual assistant industry. I welcome the opportunity as it provides me more publicity. Also, if you have a satisfied client that you feel will add credibility to your Release, add a quote from them as well. The first time you mention the expert, write out their full name. Then list them by last name or Mr. and Mrs. Smith only. I normally prefer the last name. The last paragraph should be your call to action. You've talked the whole release about your business or product, now tell them what to do with the knowledge they just acquired. At the bottom of the release include ### to indicate you are done, followed by a short bio. Make sure if you include your website that you include http:// in front of it for search engine recognition. Your bio should include your information, any books authored, etc. Double check this for accuracy. At this point, you're tired and done with the Release. But if it goes out to the world with the wrong web address, the valuable time spent even writing the Release has been wasted. That's it! The basics for writing a press release. Now one other thing I'd like to add in, they work! They truly work. I've had a recent release get accepted by PRWeb (and yes they do reject bad ones!), and then go on to hit several other major newspapers and media outlines and the Google alert, which resulted in our paper in the area contacting me. You want to set up a Google news alert for your name so that you can follow the path and see when you make the news so you can follow up. Also, PRWeb at http://www.prweb.com has complete guidelines for setting up a good press release. Go with the extra money and spend $20.00. It's worth it to get the additional exposure. Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business & the Home Office Recovery Plan. She specializes in publicity and book marketing and is president of Virtual Word Publishing http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.Publicity-VA.com. Articles are free to be reprinted as long as the author's bio remains intact.
MORE RESOURCES:
Market to the Moment Announces Product Development Consultation ... - Newswire Today (press release)
SEO Peace, Inc. Launches 100percent Result Oriented SEO Services ... - PRarticle.com (press release)
Copywriting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Copywriting Businesses - How You Can Get Started Do you have the training and skills needed for copywriting?Are you looking for a way to get your foot in the door?Will you have what it takes to succeed with your copywriting businesses?For many, these three questions drive them day in and day out to become the person that people demand time with. Still for others, the business aspects of copywriting have just been easy to get. A Little-Known Secret To Writing Sales Copy, For Serious Copywriters Only! Have you ever wondered how your copy sounds to your prospects when they're reading it?If you have, here's a little-known trick to making your copy sound as clear as a bell, and feel as comforting as a warm fireplace in the winter.The very best way to figure out how your copy sounds to your prospects, is NOT to read it, but to read it out loud. 5 Deadly Copywriting Mistakes That Kill Sales Chances are that you are making many, if not all, of these 5 copywriting mistakes. I call them "deadly" because theyre killing your sales and your profits. Steps to a Writing an Effective Press Releases Want to get the most media attention and spotlight for your business? Then the first place to start is with a GREAT press release. Now I can almost see half of you leaving now, dreading the thought of having to write one of these. Bullshit Avoid the use of the word Bullshit It is important in this new paradigm of political correctness to tone down the language a bit. In this present period if you use such words like Bullshit, even when you are describing something that definitely is complete and total BS; it makes you look just as bad as what ever you are describing. Three Steps To Pump Up The Drama In Your Copy All the world's a story. Video games have storylines; newspapers report stories; country music lyrics tell a sad tale. Top 7 Things To Do Before You Hire A Copywriter Now that you've decided to hire a copywriter, how do you go about finding one? Here are seven things to look for to make sure the match is a good one.#1 - Define your expectations. Quotations as Expressions in Life Quotations are expressions, usually in the spoken form or in literature, which are referenced to by others. Usually, quotations are written within quotation marks, as a verbum dicendi, to indicate that it was an expression given by a particular person. 11 Things You MUST Know Before Hiring a Copywriter! If you're considering hiring copywriting help for your next brochure, Web site, or marketing project. Congratulations! You should get great results if you hire a pro to do it right. Fill Your Readers with Confidence Site visitors generally stay with you for as long as they feel confident that they will succeed in achieving their goal. It's a simple truth, but important. Sticky Homepage Copy in 30 Seconds Yes indeed, that's all you've got, 30 seconds to make your website visitors decide to stick around.. Freelance Writers: Double Your Income Freelance writers are a strange group of people when it comes to running their own businesses.They are outspoken and enthusiastic while selling their clients' products and services, but are hopelessly shy and reticent about blowing their own horns. 5 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Copy 1. Isolation technique It doesn't matter how good your copy is if they don't read it. How To Take Your Freelance Writing Chances Your initial freelance writing assignments are the best way to present yourself to your client for repeated work. If you provide for them a good product, at a good price, they are likely to come back time and time again. Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important elements in copywriting. As has been said countless times before, if you don't get your readers' attention with the headline, the chance of them reading your copy is virtually none. Five Tips for Writing Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines If you made it this far, the headline for this story has caught your attention. Hot headlines are a hit with readers because they stick out, grab attention and urge them to read the rest of the story. A Quick Free n Easy Content Writing Course I do not pretend that a one-stop shop solution to content writing exists, but my experience has taught me, that working toward a 100% effective writing formula isn't a complete waste of time.At my firm (a content writing business), we find it particularly useful to go through a number of steps before we put pen to paper. Engage Your Customer - Write About Benefits Think quick. In 10 seconds, can you list the 5 key benefits you offer your customers?I bet you said "Yes". Who is Your Customer? When you want to sell something?anything? you need to first know who is going to buy it. Why? Because your ad copy has to be written to that person. 16 Golden Rules of Master Copywriting You could spend thousands of dollars on advertisement and have extremely low or no results in sales because of your poor planed copy. You shouldn't be amazed by the fact that huge corporations all over the world do that mistake and waste millions of dollars on false advertisement campaigns.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
