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Added for You - Smart Media Communications; Part 3 - How To Write A Press Release And More
Many professionals and managers are so involved in day-to-day crises and fighting fires that they forget about a key leadership characteristic: self-management. Effective leaders are first of all effective in managing themselves – their time, their focus, their emotions and their careers. It’s too late to figure out what’s next for you once your company has merged, had lay offs, changed strategy or whatever. Here are the biggest mistakes leaders make in their careers.Burning bridges along the way. Each profession may seem big – but, as you move up in your career, you come to realize how ‘small’ each really is. Something you said or done may comes back to haunt you.Not having big enough goals. A key career stopper is setting your goals too low or not being willing to put in the
[PRESS RELEASE]-Set forth the purpose, bold.
[HEADLINE]-Bold and centered.
[SUB HEADLINE] centered and italicized.
[ATTENTION]: (target)-Bold-News editor, producers, etc.
CONTACT INFORMATION- (Contact name, Phone, Cell phone, Email, etc)
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]- Release date, could also be hold-to-date.
[Lead paragraph]-(City, state, date)-this is the lead paragraph directly related to the headline and should be followed by interesting body content that causes the reader to want know more about your topic. Keep this first paragraph limited to 3 to 5 lines.
[S
Building strong relationships is all about having two sides appreciate each other and want to build a bond that works both ways.This can generate the enormous benefits of collaboration, which is a valuable interchange of ideas and effort that is better than one plus one.When you are a boss, it's quite natural to take the lead in conversations, and those who work for you usually take the subordinate role as a matter of course - it's what they've always done!So you need to do more to make them feel an equal partner with you in the ventures you undertake. You need to make a special effort to show them how much you value what they say, as a way of encouraging them.One special way can be particularly effective.This is a small step you can take in every conversation, which, like magic, make
TOP-7 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
1. What are you writing the release for? What results do you wish to receive?
2. What is the best audience for the release? (newspapers, radio, TV, magazines)
3. Why would they cover it? What’s the related story angle? Is it a local or national story?
4. What is the geographic target for the press release (where will you send it and how will you get it there (fax, mail, wire service, email)?
5. Is my headline unique? Do I have an interesting angle to the story?
6. Have I answered the 5WH formula? (Who, what, where, when, why and how).
7. Have I researched press release writing and releases on line to find examples to work from?
BEFORE YOU WRITE THE PRESS RELEASE
Here are some simple rules to keep in mind when writing press releases:
1. KISS: Keep it simple stupid! Write your press releases concisely, make every word count, don’t misspell and don’t get off point: ideally, limit your press release to one page.
2. Put yourself in the shoes of the media who are extremely busy and hate reading press releases. Give them a reason to read it (great headline, useful advice, interesting story idea)
3. Do not use jargon, abbreviations and slang.
PRESS RELEASE FORMAT
Press releases should have an industry acceptable format as generally set forth in the following example. While press releases vary from one to another, these elements will appear in some capacity.
[COMPANY NAME & LOGO]-bold and centered.
[PRESS RELEASE]-Set forth the purpose, bold.
[HEADLINE]-Bold and centered.
[SUB HEADLINE] centered and italicized.
[ATTENTION]: (target)-Bold-News editor, producers, etc.
CONTACT INFORMATION- (Contact name, Phone, Cell phone, Email, etc)
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]- Release date, could also be hold-to-date.
[Lead paragraph]-(City, state, date)-this is the lead paragraph directly related to the headline and should be followed by interesting body content that causes the reader to want know more about your topic. Keep this first paragraph limited to 3 to 5 lines.
[Se
When does your consideration for a subordinate's or colleague's feelings, as a trade-off for being honest about their poor performance or behaviour become counter productive?When does tolerance for small performance shortfalls as a trade-off against a positive attitude, become a liability?The simple answer to these questions is, ‘Most of the time", if not, "Always".The useful answer is more complex.Most people take some comfort from having known work boundaries. People appreciate knowing what constitutes "good" performance and behaviour.Work boundaries are set one of two ways.One is by means of written standards, the "what" of the boundary. The standards are sometimes accompanied by a work instruction, the "how" of the boundary.The other is by means of formal or informal
TOP-7 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
1. What are you writing the release for? What results do you wish to receive?
2. What is the best audience for the release? (newspapers, radio, TV, magazines)
3. Why would they cover it? What’s the related story angle? Is it a local or national story?
4. What is the geographic target for the press release (where will you send it and how will you get it there (fax, mail, wire service, email)?
5. Is my headline unique? Do I have an interesting angle to the story?
6. Have I answered the 5WH formula? (Who, what, where, when, why and how).
7. Have I researched press release writing and releases on line to find examples to work from?
BEFORE YOU WRITE THE PRESS RELEASE
Here are some simple rules to keep in mind when writing press releases:
1. KISS: Keep it simple stupid! Write your press releases concisely, make every word count, don’t misspell and don’t get off point: ideally, limit your press release to one page.
2. Put yourself in the shoes of the media who are extremely busy and hate reading press releases. Give them a reason to read it (great headline, useful advice, interesting story idea)
3. Do not use jargon, abbreviations and slang.
PRESS RELEASE FORMAT
Press releases should have an industry acceptable format as generally set forth in the following example. While press releases vary from one to another, these elements will appear in some capacity.
[COMPANY NAME & LOGO]-bold and centered.
[PRESS RELEASE]-Set forth the purpose, bold.
[HEADLINE]-Bold and centered.
[SUB HEADLINE] centered and italicized.
[ATTENTION]: (target)-Bold-News editor, producers, etc.
CONTACT INFORMATION- (Contact name, Phone, Cell phone, Email, etc)
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]- Release date, could also be hold-to-date.
[Lead paragraph]-(City, state, date)-this is the lead paragraph directly related to the headline and should be followed by interesting body content that causes the reader to want know more about your topic. Keep this first paragraph limited to 3 to 5 lines.
[S
Most car washes these days have robotic tunnel operated systems. These systems have an array of sensors, which tell the machine where the car is as it goes through. There are more robotics in the average carwash than the winner of the Grand DARPA Challenge, which drove an unmanned ground vehicle through the desert.Why are there so many robotic systems in the modern-day carwash? Well, it is simple a good tunnel carwash can clean a car every 45 seconds or less and two humans working at breakneck speed would take at least two to three minutes.Now let's flash forward to the present day and the unemployment of 4.7% in the United States of America. Car washes are now having trouble getting cashiers to work behind the counter of the carwash. This means they are looking for ways to go robotic in that job categ
4. What is the geographic target for the press release (where will you send it and how will you get it there (fax, mail, wire service, email)?
5. Is my headline unique? Do I have an interesting angle to the story?
6. Have I answered the 5WH formula? (Who, what, where, when, why and how).
7. Have I researched press release writing and releases on line to find examples to work from?
BEFORE YOU WRITE THE PRESS RELEASE
Here are some simple rules to keep in mind when writing press releases:
1. KISS: Keep it simple stupid! Write your press releases concisely, make every word count, don’t misspell and don’t get off point: ideally, limit your press release to one page.
2. Put yourself in the shoes of the media who are extremely busy and hate reading press releases. Give them a reason to read it (great headline, useful advice, interesting story idea)
3. Do not use jargon, abbreviations and slang.
PRESS RELEASE FORMAT
Press releases should have an industry acceptable format as generally set forth in the following example. While press releases vary from one to another, these elements will appear in some capacity.
[COMPANY NAME & LOGO]-bold and centered.
[PRESS RELEASE]-Set forth the purpose, bold.
[HEADLINE]-Bold and centered.
[SUB HEADLINE] centered and italicized.
[ATTENTION]: (target)-Bold-News editor, producers, etc.
CONTACT INFORMATION- (Contact name, Phone, Cell phone, Email, etc)
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]- Release date, could also be hold-to-date.
[Lead paragraph]-(City, state, date)-this is the lead paragraph directly related to the headline and should be followed by interesting body content that causes the reader to want know more about your topic. Keep this first paragraph limited to 3 to 5 lines.
[S
Recently, I monitored an interesting discussion in one of the forums about the length of headline on sales pages. Some of the posters were in favor of longer headlines because they communicated more information and had a better chance of catching the interest of the prospect. Other posters claimed that some headlines were so long that they were confusing. Some even claimed that they would take away your breath if you attempted to read them aloud. One poster thought that very long headlines often appeared to be a run-on sentence... even if it technically wasn't.I decided it was time to do a study. I wanted to compare headlines on profitable sales pages to headlines on unprofitable ones. I wanted to find out if there really was a difference in the length of their headlines.To perform that study, I fi
2. Put yourself in the shoes of the media who are extremely busy and hate reading press releases. Give them a reason to read it (great headline, useful advice, interesting story idea)
3. Do not use jargon, abbreviations and slang.
PRESS RELEASE FORMAT
Press releases should have an industry acceptable format as generally set forth in the following example. While press releases vary from one to another, these elements will appear in some capacity.
[COMPANY NAME & LOGO]-bold and centered.
[PRESS RELEASE]-Set forth the purpose, bold.
[HEADLINE]-Bold and centered.
[SUB HEADLINE] centered and italicized.
[ATTENTION]: (target)-Bold-News editor, producers, etc.
CONTACT INFORMATION- (Contact name, Phone, Cell phone, Email, etc)
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]- Release date, could also be hold-to-date.
[Lead paragraph]-(City, state, date)-this is the lead paragraph directly related to the headline and should be followed by interesting body content that causes the reader to want know more about your topic. Keep this first paragraph limited to 3 to 5 lines.
[S
What is the key factor in good advertising?With any small business, trial and error is often frustration. Strapped with a small amount of money to spend, errors in judgement or a simple lack of research into advertising often make it easy to walk away from advertising completely. Or worse yet, your small business ends up feeding some big advertising firm. And we all know that without advertising or with high overhead advertising, you risk putting up the closed sign for good.In this article, I will be sharing the key factor in good advertising. Some articles will tell you all kinds of interesting and different ways to do it but here is the key factor.Make sure you are advertising a specific item or service. We've all seen countless advertisements done by a company with a smear of information on
[PRESS RELEASE]-Set forth the purpose, bold.
[HEADLINE]-Bold and centered.
[SUB HEADLINE] centered and italicized.
[ATTENTION]: (target)-Bold-News editor, producers, etc.
CONTACT INFORMATION- (Contact name, Phone, Cell phone, Email, etc)
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]- Release date, could also be hold-to-date.
[Lead paragraph]-(City, state, date)-this is the lead paragraph directly related to the headline and should be followed by interesting body content that causes the reader to want know more about your topic. Keep this first paragraph limited to 3 to 5 lines.
[Second paragraph]-Here you have some flexibility in you content and can point to research data, supporting lead paragraph or tips and insights related to your headline. The body of this area should not exceed 3 to 7 lines. (5WH)
[Third paragraph]-If you need additional paragraph to clarify or highlight your points limit to maximum of about 7 lines of text. Each paragraph should be short and scannable.
[Final paragraph] Closing paragraph, here you want to conclude your points and go for the close and request them to contact you to set an appointment for interview for more information.
[TERMINATE/END] ### This symbol should appear at the end of your release to signify the end, a common practice in the business.
FOLLOW UP
One of the least enjoyed aspects of communicating with the media is the follow up stage. This is where you will call the most prime media you sent your release to and confirm they received it and read it. This is also a great time to find out who the players are through the receptionist (as indicated in (part 2) of this series. Ideally you will make direct contact with the target you sent the press release to and find out if they like the press angle or what you might need to do to improve your chances for coverage. You can often get good feedback this way, especially at smaller media in smaller markets (see part 2).
MEDIA KITS
Media kits are more comprehensive than a stand-alone press release. They are often designed using two-pocket folders and contain the press release, pictures, bios, resumes, glossy literature slicks and that kind of thing. You can often get by with two pocket school pads to hold the information you want to send the media. While the fancy customized folders are nice, most individuals and small businesses cannot afford to make them.
STRATEGY
If this is your first time approaching the media for publicity is makes sense to limit your initial press release distribution to a small market area so that you can reasonably follow up with all the media you sent it to. If you use a wire service, you can forget about following up with everybody except for the biggest fish in the biggest markets. That’s why I indicated targeting smaller markets in part 2 of the series, so you could control your follow up and hone your organizational and communication skills.
CONCLUSION TO THIS ARTICLE
It would be in your best interests to search for press releas
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