Dear Dan: I’m planning to send out press releases for our new business, but I’ve never written one before. What are some things to include or watch out for? – PR Hound
Dear PR Hound: For young entrepreneurial companies just starting out, a little publicity can go a long way toward jump-starting sales and boosting business visibility. If you can afford it, hiring a public relations firm or independent PR pro to handle publicity is a great way to go. They know how to create buzz, the right ways to approach the media and can take this task off your plate while you focus on other things.
But small businesses that can’t afford traditional public relations firms can still get noticed by writing and distributing press releases on their own, if they do it right – even experienced pros can mess it up, forget to include key information or fail to make the main point of the release clear.
Here are some tips:
1. Remember the basics: Every press release should include the name of a person to contact, that person’s title, a phone number and e-mail address. You should also include the date and a short, punchy headline.
2. Avoid jargon. Write like you are explaining your business to a savvy person in an entirely different field.
3. Get to the point. You only have a few seconds to capture your target reader, so your release must cut to the chase quickly.
4. Include your URL. Even seasoned PR pros sometimes botch this one. We live in a Web-centric media world. The first thing most journalists, editors and prospects will do if they find your story interesting is check out your Web site for more information.
5. Answer the question: “What is the news here?” Reporters, editors and other readers of your release aren’t interested in a sales pitch or lecture. Build your story around a news “hook” – an upcoming event, award, milestone, new product or service, for example.
6. Quote the expert. Use direct quotes from key people involved in the news of your press release, and make quotes conversational and interesting.
7. Accuracy counts! Make sure that every fact in your release is accurate and can be verified, and other people mentioned have given permission for what you are writing about them.
8. Include an “about us” paragraph at the end. This is standard in a business release; it’s a two- or three-sentence synopsis of what your business does, with a link to your Web site.
Some online press release distribution services to consider include My PR Genie (www.myprgenie.com); PR Web (www.prweb.com); Businesswire (www.businesswire.com) and PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.com). •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at
editor@business.com.
