Do-it-Yourself News Releases for Small Business
How do you create some serious buzz about your online or offline
company on zero budget? That's what Celina wanted to know. She's
the owner of a website that specializes in desktop publishing
and site design.
It's a small, fairly new company with no money to commission a
professional media release. Still, Celina wanted to get the word
out so she asked me for some tips on how to write her own
release.
MAKE BELIEVE YOU'RE A JOURNALIST
First, put yourself in the reporter's shoes. Try to imagine what
kinds of stories would interest her and how you can make her job
easier by dropping a good story right in her lap. Ask yourself:
What sets your gizmo or your company apart from the competition?
Have you recently launched a new product or service?
Personnel changes, awards, events, surveys, poll results and
joint ventures can all be spun into news stories.
OH, THE HUMANITY!
Did you have to overcome some great challenge or difficulty to
arrive at where you are now? Or maybe one of your clients had a
special, urgent need that was filled by your product/service?
Bottom line - human interest sells. For example, big lottery
jackpots would never make the news if they blatantly promoted
the lottery corporation itself. But notice how the media flacks
writing the releases always focus on some aspect of the winner's
life... an ailing grandmother in need of expensive treatments, a
house that recently burned down and now can be rebuilt, etc. In
other words, the human angle that newspapers, radio and TV just
gobble up!
THE INVERTED PYRAMID
Write an enticing subject line, headline and first paragraph.
Get to the point quickly. Believe it or not, most news writers
and editors only take five seconds to decide if they'll act on
your announcement or not.
News reporters themselves have been trained to write using the
"inverted pyramid", putting the most important information --
who, what, where, when, why and how -- at the top. And that's
what they expect to see in your media release.
Unfortunately, most releases wind up in the garbage/delete
folder because they start weak, take too long to get to the
point, or are full of hype and puffery.
JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM
Keep the self-promotion to a minimum but do include all your
contact information -- e-mail and snail mail, URL, phone and fax
numbers -- plus a brief explanation of what your company does.
Emphasis on brief! In fact, keep the entire release to under a
page if possible.
The exception to the rule is complex subjects, like for example
an economic forecast, aimed at a niche market not a general
audience.
ONE PHOTO = A THOUSAND WORDS
If a photo is available and helps tell your story, by all means
include it. This could make your release jump out and demand
attention from a busy editor who sees nothing but black and
white type all day.
MILK THE LOCAL ANGLE
Try to send your release to a specific person working on a
specific beat at each media outlet, at least locally. This will
require some research but will ensure that a warm body actually
gets your announcement.
And keep in mind, the media love a "local boy/girl makes good"
story so really target your hometown newspapers, magazines and
TV/radio stations and work that angle!
GET A SECOND OPINION
If you're having a hard time finding any angle at all, ask a
friend or a business associate to lend a fresh perspective. You
may be too close to your own business to see the forest for the
preprocessed paper products. An objective bystander's insights
might surprise and inspire you!
GET OUT THE DICTIONARY
Finally, proofread your finished product meticulously for
errors. Then get your friend to do so as well. Two heads are
better than one. Ten proofreads are better than two.
In conclusion, give the media something they can sink their
teeth into. Dig hard, think laterally, navel gaze until you find
the one thing about your company that the public (and therefore
the media) would be interested in.
By handing reporters a ready-made story on a silver platter,
you're sewing the seeds of some serious buzz!