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Top 10 Tips for Writing a Press Release
Here are 10 tips for writing an effective Press Release to catch the eyes of
Journalists. These tips will help to make your Press Release Newsworthy.
- The first lines of your press releases shall include the most important
parts of your Press Release.
- Craft a compelling headline. The headline makes your release stand out.
Keep it short, active, and descriptive. If you don't know how, read a number
of compelling headlines till you get some idea.
- Hook reader with the first paragraph. A first paragraph shall summarize
the five W's: who, what, where, when and why. In fact, most readers will give
up if you haven't "hooked" them in the first few lines.
- Put the most important information at the beginning. This is a tried and
true rule of journalism. Never hide golden points to the end.
- Don't sell but answer questions! Making over-inflated statements is
helpless to your business. Write a release that answers questions about your
business, rather than piling flowery adjectives without saying why.
- Don't say it, show it. Avoid saying something is "unique" or "the best".
Instead, show how people will benefit - i.e. save time, save money, make their
life easier, etc.
- A 'non-biased' source like university professor or software reviewer is
very helpful.
- Provide all possible contact information including mail address,
telephone, fax, e-mail and web site (especially for online business).
- Proofread & Proofread! Do remember to proofread your press release for
typographical errors before you send them out.
- End your press release with "###" (without the quotation marks) after your
last lines of text. This symbol lets the editors know they have successfully
received the entire release.
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