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1. How to Write a Press Release for Guaranteed Success
Luckily, with press releases, there are enough insider tactics to talk about and
I’m sure that unless you are an absolute veteran at writing a killer press
releases (in which case you don’t need to read this content, do you?) this blog
post is bound to teach you a new trick or two.
Oh well. I’ll let you decide.
Common Myths
First, I want to dispel a few common myths associated with press releases and
their success.
Guaranteed Success
Press release firms, whether in distribution or providing writing services, play
up their distribution numbers, but apart from a few mentions of using a story
angle and legally bound to say that distribution does not guarantee success,
there is scant mention of the reality of press releases.
Unless you are a big company, where the mere mention of your name constitutes a
story in itself, your press release will NOT be successful just because it was
distributed across the desks of newspaper editors across the country.
Just writing an ordinary press release that focuses on your company and
distributing it across the region (or country) will not bring you real
publicity. Promotion through a press release comes only with packaging your
company information within a story so compelling that reporters will want to run
it.
More is Better This works in two ways:
First, writing long press releases will NOT give you a better chance at selling
the story. Reporters are always on a deadline, and need to digest and assimilate
the information given to them as quickly as possible.
They will read your headline, and if they like it, move on to the summary, and
if they like it, move on to the lead, and so on. Just like it is sensible advice
to curtail your resume, your press release has the same time and space limits
applied to it.
Second, sending out multiple press releases in quick succession is generally a
bad idea (unless, once again, your company is a big brand and generates interest
just through its name).

2. A press release is supposed to promote how your company contributes to the
industry or society in a meaningful way ’ do not trivialize the process by
exaggerating every little detail about your company’s operations.
A Press Release is the Best Method for Promoting Your Business
A press release can do your business a whole deal of good ’ provided that you
have a ''hook'' that reporters would jump for. With or without the hook, you
must remember the time factor involved in using a press release. Your press
release has just 2-3 days at most to make an immediate impact.
If there is no response in the first few days, chances are your press release
did not do as well as you thought.
Don’t end up depending on press releases as the sole element of your marketing
strategy.
A press release is a marketing tool, just like search engine marketing is a
tool. It is good for generating immediate publicity, but just one press release
is not very effective in the long run.
On the other hand, search engine marketing tends to yield long-term results that
show a ROI only after a few weeks’ time.
Diversify your marketing outlook and make press releases a part, and not the
sole objective, of your marketing strategy.
High Rankings
Does a press release really bring you high rankings? Press Release SEO, I went
into some detail about how your press release can be used to increase your
website’s search engine rankings.
The problem is ’ promises made about high rankings fail to mention that your
press release MUST be covered in a news report to generate any sort of
substantial link-building ’ a critical component for high rankings.
Over the long-run, press releases will gradually improve your search engine
rankings. Take note that a significant increase in rankings from a single press
release will ultimately depend on the success of the press release.

3. Another point to note is that the purpose of press releases is NOT to improve
your search engine rankings ’ it is to promote your company in the media and
generate positive publicity, which in turn would hopefully lead to increased
business.
Search engine rankings come from strategies focused on improving them, and that
is where a comprehensive search engine marketing strategy comes in to play.
Learning how to write a press release or how to send out local press release
free can be the difference between an indifferent response and a substantial
return on your investment. You will only learn with time, but by using the
advice in this book you can jump-start the process.
Better yet, use the Success Factors explained next to do the following:
’Give your press release a polished, professional look.
’Write in the tone the media is looking for
’Learn more on how to wrap your story around your company, and not the other way
around.
Success Factors
Let’s get started. A Specific Purpose
The first factor in making a successful press release is to understand that a
press release has a specific purpose. A press release is meant to relay an
interesting story to the media.
That is NOT why you would write the press release, however. You would be writing
the press release with the view of promoting your company or how to write a
press release for a new charity event.
On the other hand, journalists are looking for a story. If it involves your
company, so much the better for you.
But no one in the media is looking to do you a favorunless you do them one first
(by sending them a story they can publish and make the paper, and themselves,
look good).
Forget search engine rankings. Forget promotion. Focus on writing a true,
compelling, interesting story that involves your company.
Follow the Right Style
A press release is written according to a specific style. It is meant to inform,
not to sell. Yes, I’ve said this before: Cut out the sales hype, remove any

4. exaggerations. Focus on the facts, your story and write to inform.
The best way to learn doing this is to follow the style that the media most
commonly uses. How do you do this?
Pick up a leading newspaper (Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, etc.) and
absorb their style. Learn how the top reporters write.
Of course, you shouldn’t copy them completely, but the idea is to develop a
writing style that the media is familiar with, and in addition, is known to
succeed.
Know Your Market
Yes, you’ve read that personalizing your press release for a particular market
will increase your chances of publication within that market. But that’s not all
there is to it. When you are writing for a particular market or event, you have
to know the following:
’What news and angles are the most popular in your industry?
’Who makes up your eventual target readership ’ that is, the people who will get
to read about your press release if any member of the media decides to run it as
a story?
These two factors will help you pick the most relevant ’hooks’ for the
journalists, as well as mould your writing style and language to suit your
audience. An example of this is Google and their press releases.
Before the IPO, Google maintained a comfortable, non-formal style of reporting.
Following the IPO, as investors began to take serious interest, Google’s press
department developed a style more in line with the corporate world.
A niche market will always have a loosely-defined personality ’ people who share
certain interests, have similar ''emotional triggers'', have the same hobbies.
Look to tap into that personality and use it to your advantage.
Building Success
A press release is a time-sensitive tool. If it doesn’t generate publicity
within a few days, it has not done its job. On the other hand, one successful
press release does not transform your company into a media darling.
So what do you need to do in order to consistently be in the media spotlight?
Over a long period of time (6 months, a year maybe), build upon one success
after another by regularly providing the media with thoughtful, riveting
’hooks’.

5. Just one press release won’t cut it ’ you have to produce top-quality and a
killer press releases time and time again. Build on the success of one press
release by copying what works, and eliminating what does not work.
After a few press releases, you should have a pretty clear idea of what style
works best and more importantly, you will be able to define an identity ’ a
style specific to your company, using your press releases.
Learn From the Best
Much of your knowledge of how to write a great press release will come from
observing other writers. Whenever you see a company being reviewed in the
newspaper, follow it up and check their press release.
Are they doing something you haven’t done? Is it just their brand making the
headlines, or has this company really achieved something newsworthy?
Distribution ’ Building Your Reputation
I’ve said this several times:
If you are NOT a big company with a recognizable brand name, no big publication
will run your story unless it is really good.
Unfortunately, there are times when big newspapers won’t accept even a great
story for lack of space and / or time.
To beat such rejection, start from the bottom of the ladder. In the battle of
small vs. big publications you will always have a tradeoff between having your
story heard and getting big publicity.
Local publications tend to give much better response rates, and are a wonderful
opportunity to build up momentum for your company’s publicity.

6. There have been several cases of big publications picking up on stories started
by small newspapers. This is no guarantee, but what is certain is that if your
press release is accepted for publication by a small newspaper, you will have a
better chance the next time to pitch your story to the bigger fish.
The maxim ’start small, think big’ works wonders with press releases. Building
Success, a previous Success Factor, talks about taking a long-term approach to
building your presence in the corporate world.
Use a similar approach in building your reputation ’ start with the small
newspapers (using the techniques mentioned in the next Success Factor) and when
you start getting published, move up to the major leagues.
Your company’s past publications will give you the leverage you need to be heard
and seen in bigger and bigger newspapers.
Combine Manual and Service Distribution
Are you worried that your press release will not get the due attention? Are you
undecided about going the personalized way with manual distribution and the
’mass-approach’ method of distributing your press release through a distribution
service?
Factor: Building Your Reputation
Pitch your story to a few local newspapers and gauge the response. If they are
interested, and plan on running your story, that means you’re doing something
right ’ let them run the story and follow it up with a service distribution,
targeting a large number of publications within your industry.
What if they are not interested?
If you are turned down, there can only be two reasons:
’Your story isn’t good enough ’ in which case it’s back to the drawing board.
’Your story is not a match for their publication ’ in which case you should re-
evaluate your research and find another newspaper more relevant to your industry
and target market.
As your reputation builds, you’ll be able to leverage your past exposure and
publicity to approach bigger publications. After you win over your city
newspaper, it’s time to move on to the state-wide, and from there on, national
publications.
The reason?
A personalized approach can work wonders for your publicity ’ it is the perfect
testing ground for your press release ’ you can test its market value without
spending a dime.

7. The only problem with manual submissions is that it takes time and effort. If
you and your employees cannot manage it, you will have to hire someone on the
outside to manage your press release distribution for you. In that case, you’ll
end up paying just as much for a single pitch as you would for nation-wide
distribution.
Bottom line ’ if you have the time or the personnel to make a personalized
approach to a newspaper editor, use the opportunity to test your press release.
You can always spend money on sending it across the country later.
Dealing with Rejection
Having your press release fail to generate any leads is a bitter pill to
swallow, especially if it was your first attempt at writing one. You may be
tempted to send your press release again, this time to a wider market, but that
might be just a waste of time and money. Instead, follow these steps:
Analyze your press release objectively. Does it lack a good ’hook’? Is there a
problem with the format? Does it read too much like a sales letter? All of these
factors can harm your chances and cause you endless frustration.
Did you pick the right publication / target market? Maybe your distribution was
focused too narrowly, or in the case of a personalized approach, maybe you
pitched to the wrong type of publication.
Rejection is not necessary a sign of failure. The key is to realize what has
gone wrong.
Does Timing Matter?
This is fairly over-looked point in press releases. There is every indication
that timing on a press release matters, but that has as much to do with sending
out your press release on the right day as it has to do sending out your press
release on a busy ’news’ day. Let’s look at them one by one.
Does sending out your press release on any particular day matter? To ascertain
extent, yes. On a general note, newspapers tend to receive the largest amount of
press releases slated for a Monday publication, and for some markets the weekend
makes for considerable interest. Unsurprisingly, the mid-week is slightly less
busy.
How much does this matter to the success of your press release? If you have
followed the advice in this book, and especially kept note of the Success
Factors, your press release should receive publication without having to resort
to marginal tactics such as sending on a particular day. Of course, the timing
would become critical if you wanted to build publicity for a particular event.

8. And that is probably the main answer for this question. Don’t worry so much
about sending out a press release on a particular date for acceptance; send out
a press release with the specific purpose of building the maximum amount of
publicity possible. What does that mean?
Send out your press release for publication on the busiest day, so you can
capture the biggest slice possible of your readership.
Another very important factor to consider is that you avoid having your press
release clash with the press releases of major players in your market.
Sure, your eventual aim might very well be to replace the leaders of your
industry with your own company, but when starting out, you will be muscled out
in a head-to-head contest with no second thoughts.
Let’s face it. You wouldn’t want to be in the unfortunate situation of having an
editor decide between running the story of a leading pharmaceutical company
(your competition) and running the story of a newcomer (your company) in the
medical technology field.
What to do? As part of your marketing strategy you should already be doing
research on your competition. Keep tabs on the market leaders, and ensure that
your press release will not clash with any predicted news release.
It’s not possible to pre-empt their every single move, but if you were to make
the obvious mistake of drumming up your new software on the same day that
Microsoft released Xbox’well, that’s a pretty bad mistake to make.
With all that you have learned in the content, you should be well equipped to
head out and write your own press release. With the help of Press Release hot
topics, there is no limit to the help you can get from the Internet and this
blog post.
And yet this content would not be complete without asking for your comments
based on the discussion. If you have any idea on how to write a press release
that will attract traffic, you are invited to share your thought on the Facebook

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