Press Release Blog

In a recent email exchange with our free review process we looked at well written release that had a few flaws. These appeared to be very minor…but like a lot of news releases a few small points can derail it.

Here’s a summary of the conversation:

Avoid the use of the word “FREE” …. choose; at no cost or similar. And avoid “!”

There are few reasons for this:

• This will be posted online and search engines will most likely think your release is sales letter not news…news gets much higher rankings.
• Reporters receive your news they way they request it…most request it via email, so junk mail filters screen for words like “FREE” and penalized (points towards Spam) each use of “!”.
• Other things to avoid:
  • All caps in the subject line or body
  • Use of a highlight marker
  • Terms like “making money”, earn $XXX, wealth, etc.
  • Excessive use of “$” or repeated punctuation: ***, $$$, !!!, etc.

Jake

First, the old saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”, answers the the above question very well.

Second, by sending your news to the media you are letting them know that you exist and subtly demanding there attention.

Third, your letting the media know you’re “press friendly”. That is; you are a willing and eager participant. You’re also going to take the steps to help the media put out an informative story.

Fourth, you are saying to the media that you are a news source. They may not do a story on your current release, but will “bookmark” you as a reference if and when they have story that is within your subject matter.

And last…but definitely not least…persistence pays off! Having a steady flow on news to the media will eventually get you that “big story”. It may just influence that reporter that put you on the back burner for a “someday story” or it may create a familiarity with the press…a trusted source.

~Bill

A successful press release strategy

Yesterday one of our clients was featured on the NBC Today Show. This is the grand slam of PR, it doesn’t get any better then that. How they got their was not by a single shot press release. It took some effort and a coordinated PR strategy. Long before they became our client they where doing a rounded PR strategy. I didn’t even have to ask, a simple web search made that evident. This shows that even a small company can get the press larger companies usually dominate if they work smart.

Having a press release and public relations strategy is important. Rather than just doing a press release when something big happens. It pays to have an all around marketing/ public relations strategy. What I mean by this is to tie your PR efforts together, have them complement each other. Be consistent, keep a steady stream information to the media. This is central to developing a familiarity of your products and services with the media. They will know that you are serious about your business and that you will be a good source of news for there audience, the consumer or B2B. If you have a “Media” or “Press” section on your website keep it up to date and add new content often. Don’t judge “what you think is news worthy”, let the media decided that. Most people are shocked at some things the press picks up off your website and does a story on. If you don’t have a media section on your website, it’s a prudent idea to create one.

Featured on the TV show and here’s the Today Show’s website blurb about the product:

It’s the section on; If you’re lugging a laptop, consider the Aviator Laptop Stand

And it happens to be a great product that fills a niche.
Here’s the products home page:

Aviator Laptop Stand, Works On Any Flat Surface.

~William

We’re always asked about our press release distribution service…”How will my press release do”, or How many reporters will contact me or write about me” or “what should I expect”?

We’ve done and do daily metrics on many things related to the press releases industry. One of them is how well we gauge or how well we expect a press release to do question. I can tell you that most aspects of our business can and are “scientific” and some things are more of an “art form”. The question, “How well a press release will do”, definitely falls into the later. That said, we can and do give feedback…mind you, this is always an “educated opinion”. We’re above a simple roll of the dice (50/50)…but not by as much as you would think. Currently we’re at 67% accurate on our opinions. And when a client follows are advice exactly that rises to 74%. There are some definite “scientific” things that most of us should follow when writing a press release.

These are:

• A press release is not a sales letter it is a statement of fact
• Cover all the bases; who, what, where, why and when
• Include direct quotes from the principals, in the third person
• Have an enticing headline and opening for the first paragraph
• Have a good subject line for the media that get their news releases via email (80%+ get it via email) - That’s our Job to give you an optimal subject line!
• Include lots of contact methods
• Have a “Press” or “Media” section on your website. Many times a reporter will get your release but write about another subject on your website. This happens often, more than 20% of the time.
• And another tip I’ll include here is: Be prepared, but don’t sound rehearsed when a reporter contacts you. Reporters are real people like you and me. Be professional if they are with you and casual if they are casual.
• Do a “Press Trip or Tour” if your in the travel or entertainment industry. Set aside some press samples if you have a book or product. Give them a test run if your in a service business. Aside from the travel industry and author/book where this is a given, not many press release include this…that may be all you need to make your news release stand out from the crowd.
• Be persistent, just like an advertising campaign where it may take 7 views to make a sale, the same is true for press releases - it may take more than one to get some good press. And just like sales…test, test, test.

We also have some good data on what types or categories do well.

• Technology press release always…and I mean always do well (I may have to eat those words someday, but not today!)…maybe it’s because where “geeky” around here and that’s the edge our clients get…but this seams true throughout the industry…but just a little better with us.
• On the tale end is “Traditional Art”, we are at 43% with that. That’s low, but is still much better than what most of our competition gets. Over the last 3 months we are a bit better, around 50%. That said, this is the hardest category to give an opinion on. We had 1 client that looked like it was going to be very hard to get them noticed…nobody predicted they would get the tremendous response they did. And on the other hand, we all had the same opinion that a press release would do great for another…and that fell flat.

Overall, as of today, 90%+ of clients get a least some press. That’s great, well above the average of our competition. We are constantly looking to improve, nothing less than 100% is always our goal.

To find out more about how to optimize your press release see our press release tips and how to write a press release pages.

~Bill

We get several hundred hits on our press release website, it’s always informative to see what keywords people use to find our service. One of the “keywords” or “keyword phrases” that always stands out for me is: “press releases that sell”, or some variation of that phrase.

Being in marketing, sales and public relations my whole life in some form I understand the need to make a press release produce revenue. We’ve found that the “harder a press release sells”, the less of a chance that it will actually do that. The main reason for this is reporters expect a press release or news release to be a statement of fact - not hype. They also tend to not want to read pitches (unless the it’s a stated that the document is a pitch letter). Reporters also “scan read” a document prior to actually reading it. So if your press release looks like a sales pitch it’s going right to the deleted items folder or the trash can.

The bottom line is the first thing you want to do is to get your press release read. The next thing is have the reporter think, “this will be good for my readers”. Leave it up to the reporter to give you a nice plug if they choose. In some cases the reporter will contact you; that’s when you give them a pitch…but make it a soft sell. It doesn’t even hurt to tell them, “mind if I give a little pitch?” Honesty is always respected.

~Bill

Many good questions about our service are answered in our Press Release Chat Service.

Here’s one that we need to do a better job at defining on our press release website:

Matt> Hello, you are speaking with Matt. How can I help you?
Visitor> Yes, I have a press release ready to go and wanted to know what you mean by regional press release.
Matt> Hello, the region is as you define it…city, state, tri-state, SW, NE,…etc.
Visitor> Okay, so for example I live in a part of Southern California called the Inland Empire, you could cover that area?
Matt> Yes, the region would be: Southern California for your press release -SF to SD.
Visitor > Awesome. That’s all I need to know, I guess now its just buying the regional press release?
Matt> Some national and Northern CA outlets that syndicate to your area as well.
Visitor > Ok. Very good.
Matt> Anything else I can help you with today?
Visitor > I guess one more question. My event is on Feb. 9. How soon should I send this release?
Matt> We like to get the release 2 weeks out…but most releases are done a week out.
Matt> It gives the reporter time to fit it into there busy schedule.
Visitor > Ok, I will go ahead and send it to you today. Thanks for your help!
Matt> Your welcome.

Note: the grammar was edited a little for clarification.

~Matt

We get many emails every day asking about our products and services. Many questions are very good ones and help us to improve our information on our press release service website. A question yesterday was a great example of this…”is there a difference between a press release and news release or do you use the phrases interchangeably on your website?…”

Here’s are reply:

Yes there is a difference, the old term is press release, the new term is news release. The new term encompasses the web and the idea that “news releases” are not just for the traditional media…they are also for the new media, direct to consumers/B2B and for SEO optimization.

We have decided to add a page to our main website in the press release tips section at some point in the near future to fully explain what the difference is between a press release and a news release…and what are some the key advantages of what a news release can do for our clients.

~Bill