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ALL PRESS WIRE and HEALTH FOOD NEWS is now part of the Ratner Media News Network combining over 25 years of news reporting and distribution. The following tips are from one of our posting partners PRWeb.com which will help you write a professional, concise and powerful news release.
Proofread: We recommend that you compose your press release in a Word or other text document instead of composing it directly on the online submit page. Writing online will not achieve the best results. Write your release, print it, and proofread. Rewrite and then proofread again. The more time you take to do it right, the more you invest in your company's first impression.
Start Strong: Your headline, summary and first paragraph should clarify your news. The rest of your news release should provide the detail. You have a matter of seconds to grab your readers' attention, so you want to capture it with a strong opening.
Identify Yourself: If your news release does not identify the source of the information and news within the first few paragraphs, you may lose the promotional value your release can provide you. Readers want to know who is talking; letting them know builds the credibility of the release and promotes your name and brand online.
Write Professionally: It takes only a few sentences to discern whether a news release is written professionally. If your release contains hype, slang, excessive exclamation points or direct address, chances are it will be viewed as an advertisement rather than a news release. There is no better way to destroy your credibility than to distribute a release full of hype. Additionally, on occasion, media outlets may pick up your release and run it in their publications with little or no modification. The more professional your release sounds, the greater the chances are that this will happen.
Answer the Tough Questions: Not everything is news. Your excitement about something and its availability does not necessarily mean you have a newsworthy story. Think about your audience. Will someone else find your story interesting? Let's assume that you have just spent a lot of effort to launch a new online store. Announcing a company's opening is always an exciting time for any business, but the last thing the media wants to write about is another online store. Instead, focus on the features of your site's shopping experience, unique products and/or services. Answer the question, "Why should anyone care?" Make sure your announcement contains news values like timeliness, uniqueness or highlights something truly unusual. Avoid clich�s such as "customers save money" or "great customer service." Focus on the aspects of your announcement that truly set you apart from everyone else.
Pick an Angle: Try to make your press release timely. Make sure that your release has a good news hook. Tying your news to current events, recent studies, trends and social issues brings relevance, urgency and importance to your message.
Utilize Anchor Text and Features Try to make your press release timely. Make sure that your release has a good news hook. Tying your news to current events, recent studies, trends and social issues brings relevance, urgency and importance to your message.
Illustrate the Solution: Use real life examples to illustrate how your company or organization solved a problem. Identify the problem and why your solution is the right solution. Give examples of how your service or product fulfills needs or satisfies desires. Using real life examples powerfully communicates the benefits of using your product or service.
Don't Be Afraid to Toot Your Own Horn: Try to make your press release timely. Make sure that your release has a good news hook. Tying your news to current events, recent studies, trends and social issues brings relevance, urgency and importance to your message.
Don�t Give Away All the Secrets: If you're running a new promotion this season, tell readers where they can go to learn more. Provide links to pages deep within your site where readers can read the specifics about your news and then act upon it. If you give your readers no reason to click through to your site, they're not necessarily going to. This kind of "call to action" pulls them away from reading and urges them to respond.
Stick to the Facts: Tell the truth. Avoid fluff, embellishments, hype and exaggerations. If you feel that your press release seems sensational, there's a good chance your readers will think so too. With so much information available to the consumer, readers are naturally skeptical. If your story sounds too good to be true, you are probably hurting your own credibility. Even if it is true, you may want to tone it down a bit.
Use Active Voice: Verbs in the active voice bring your press release to life. Rather than writing "entered into a partnership," use "partnered" instead. Do not be afraid to use strong verbs. For example, "The committee exhibited severe hostility over the incident" reads better if changed to "The committee was enraged over the incident." Writing in this manner helps give life and energy to your release, which may set it apart from the rest of the pack.
Economize Your Words: Wordiness is distracting, so be concise. Use only enough words as needed to announce your news and tell your story. In addition, we've found that the news search engines sometimes reject news releases with overly long headlines, excessive lists and high overall word counts. Avoid using unnecessary adjectives, flowery language or redundant expressions such as "added bonus" or "first time ever." Make each word count. If you can tell your story with fewer words, you'll have better results with your readers and the search engines.
Limit the Use of Jargon: Jargon is language specific to certain professions, industries or groups and is not appropriate for general readership. While a limited amount of jargon is required if your goal is to optimize your news release for online search, the best way to communicate your news is to speak plainly using ordinary language. Using an abundance of technical language and jargon limits your reading audience.
Your press release should include a few essential components. They are:
1. Date Instructions
"For Immediate Release";
"For Release Before " or
"For Release After "
Use one of the latter two if your press release is of a time sensitive nature. For example, if you are holding a public speaking event, you will want to use the "For Release Before " and make sure you input the final date for registrations. |
If you are using the "For Release Before " ensure you are sensitive to media deadlines. Send your release out well in advance.
2. Headline
Write an attention-grabbing headline. Make it benefits-oriented (why would it be of interest to people?) and descriptive. Avoid hype and promotional language ~ remember, this is a news story.
3. Contact Information
Include as much information as possible here. Make it easy for the media to contact you. Include your phone number, address, company name, fax number, email and URL. Include the hours you are available at the listed phone number and add an after hours phone number, if applicable.
4. Summary
Before you get into the body of the release, write a sentence or two to summarize your press release. Make it interesting, you want the recipient to keep reading. Also, include the area to which this release is relevant.
5. Content
This is the meat of your press release. Again, write a benefits-oriented story. Think of the target audience as you are writing. Your target audience is partly the editor or reporter who will be reading the release. Ultimately, however, your target audience is that editor or reporter's readers or audience. You need to write a story that will be of interest to them.
The first paragraph should answer all the important questions - Who, What, Where, When, Why & How? You only have a few seconds to keep an editor's or reporter's interest. Here's your chance.
6. Signify the End of Your Press Release
The end of your press release is shown by a few simple characters. Place ### at the end of your release.
