How to Write Press Releases that Get Published
by Paul Krupin
Do you want to know the secret of writing a news release that
will get published? Here it is:
My secret for publicity success, developed from rigorous
self
assessment, after having sent out over a million
faxed news
releases on behalf of over 2,000 clients:
"Tell me a story, give me a local news angle,
touch my heart
(make me laugh or cry), hit me in my pocketbook, make my stomach
turn over, or grab my gonads."
Do this as many times as possible in a one page news release in
30 seconds or less and you will succeed in getting publicity.
A few years ago I spoke at the National Public Relations Society
meetings in Omaha. I found out that most publicists at most big
PR firms don't have a real clue
about how to write a news
release to get news coverage. They write corporate fluff.
Rarely do you see them create something that
makes an editor
drop what he’s doing and pick up the phone and call.
And yet
this is what you want an editor to do.
Few people who write a news release really think about what they
want the editor to do after they
receive and read a news
release.
I’ve been sending out news releases for people
for almost 22
years, and most of the people who come to me initially
write
detailed book reviews or commercial
news and web site
announcements, not short ideas for articles intended to attract
editors’ attention and get a dialog going that
results in a
feature story published.
I often have to tell them to start over or shift gears.
A lot has to do with the content
and quality of the book,
product service or web site, but let's just assume that you've
written the be-all, end-all of whatever subject in your field.
This is the ultimate sensation. The only thing anyone will ever
need or want. You're all charged up and revved up to go.
Now
what...
A Publicity Plan!
Yes! A Publicity Plan.
First, establish your goals for the release. Write
them down.
Memorize them. Sleep on it. Wake up and think about them
some
more.
Remember you have to integrate your marketing with your
PR and
keep it all within your budget.
So identify what you have
available and write down how much you want to spend --
and on
what -- and when -- and with whom.
Let's assume your goal is getting
the word out about your
product. It could be an initial announcement. It could
be part
of a year-long monthly campaign to a well targeted media
list
(again and again to get name recognition).
Look at your schedule and see that this week
your task is at
hand.
You want to get an article published
in as many places as
possible, to feed sales, acquire name recognition,
drive web
traffic, all of the above, or whatever. These are common goals.
Now it’s time to be more specific.
Narrow your options and
tighten the true alternatives you wish to seriously consider.
Think strategically. Narrow the goals and keep it as simple as
can be.
Whatever your specific publicity goals, you need to be mindful
of the types of news releases that can be written:
· Print
releases for feature stories · Op-Eds
Tips articles
Event announcements
Radio and TV interview releases
Product or services releases
Query letters
Internet News Releases
E-mail news releases
All these can produce publicity success. But writing each
type
of release entails arraying different
information into a
different format and style of presentation. Each release has
a
different purpose and asks the editor or producer
to take a
different action. And doing any
of these well in order to
succeed is a daunting challenge.
Every year I complete a qualitative review of our
custom news
distribution and the relative success people have been having in
getting published as a result of sending fax and
e-mail news
releases. We analyze this data
to see what works and what
doesn’t work. We ask our clients what got published and where,
and how much publicity or success they experienced as a result.
While this is by no means statistically
definitive, it is
nonetheless useful.
We've seen one page releases sent to targeted media lists result
in successful publicity (defined loosely as having resulted in
either wide national publicity, a significant number > 35, top
national interviews or bookings, or profit) for book authors,
publishing companies, product firms, and government agencies,
whose one-page news releases took one
of the following
approaches.
So no matter what type of news release
you write, you will
increase your chances of success if it incorporates one or more
of the following. Here's what appears to be working the best:
·
human interest angles --
particularly with heartwarming
anecdotal stories that reveal deep emotion
or feelings with
bright, colorful word pictures, and enriched sensory experience
· interpersonal relationships on difficult
or controversial
issues -- focus on love, sex, money, communications between men
and women, parents and children, companies,
and employees,
government and individuals,
tips articles advice and tactics
excerpted from books, ten
commandments, ten tips, etc.
unusual events -- unique personal accomplishments,
unusual
creative ideas
humor and wisdom, fun and tragedy
really new and unique products or books Internet
innovations
and developments
politically and socially important editorial tie - in articles
holiday and event tie in articles
At least in my humble opinion, for those of
you writing news
releases or seeking publicity, your chances
of success are
likely to be increased if you follow one of these formats.
Even when you do, you will maximize your success if you give the
editor a "local news angle". Localizing news releases maximizes
the publication of your release in weekly and daily newspapers.
The easiest publicity to get is the announcement
of a local
event with a distinct local human interest angle.
You don’t
have to do the editors work for him, but the idea that the news
release can be easily adapted to appeal to local needs must be
very clear.
Sometimes getting national publicity is harder, especially
in
mainstream publications. You need to have a news angle that has
some interest at a national level.
You also will compete
against everyone else vying for attention in the nation, and you
have to distinguish why your release is worth publishing
over
others.
You can make your job easier and be more successful by breaking
your national media lists into geographically distinct areas and
localizing the release.
You can create custom media lists
on the Internet at the
Internet to Media Fax: Click Here.
Even once you've identified you target media, settled on a type
of news release, it all comes down
to writing the actual
release. Assuming you are aiming at print (radio/tv releases are
a different animal) -- here's my advice.
Bottom line -- find out what works specifically in the media you
want to be in and use my special simple technique for publicity
and news release success.
The Identify, Imitate and Innovate Technique
Go to a newsstand, and pick up
the latest issues of every
relevant magazine or publication you can find. The ones you want
to be in. Spend at least . Then dissect each magazine for book
articles. Use yellow stickies, or cut
these out and make a
scrapbook. Study the publications closely and see how they write
book articles and reviews. Make a list of the headlines. Study
the style, length, focus, content, word choice.
Then start writing by imitating the articles you see. Remember
most of the small articles (which
are the easiest to get
published are one page 200 words.
Then Innovate it. Re-write it fifteen times. Make it Short
and
Snappy. Vary the character of your news release to the media you
are aiming at.
You've written the end all of all books in the field. Or you’ve
created the best product in the world. This
is the ultimate
sensation. The only book or product anyone will ever need.
Get
enthused. Now tell people why you are enthused in
150 to 200
words.
Read it out loud as if you were live on the
air -- see if it
sounds good.
By the way, good short articles in newspapers and magazines are
often read on radio stations and
on talk shows every day,
especially on morning radio talk shows. This has happened to me.
Listen closely when it happens.
Remember what the radio
announcer is doing. He's reading a paper or magazine on the air.
Wow -- a force multiplier effect. Like being seen on Oprah and
getting asked to do an interview with People
magazine (This
happened to my client Courtney Garton. You can see the 7/27/98
edition of People magazine). It also happened to my client Ms.
Karen Derrico, author of Unforgettable
Mutts. She did an
interview on a small radio station in New York City,
and was
heard by William Safire, who then wrote about the Million Mutt
March on Mother’s day in Washington DC in his column in the New
York Times.
A news release has to sing to you before you send it to me, if I
am to make you the best possible custom targeted media
list I
possibly can.
Best way I know to make it right is to follow in the footsteps
of the successful before you.
Paul J. Krupin is one of the leading PR and Media Consultants,
and is the author of the best selling ebook "Trash Proof
News Releases")
http://www.roibot.com/r_tpnr.cgi?R22577_tparttext2
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