Sunday, October 25, 2009

Focus on the News with Press Release Creation

By Amy Trainor

Considering press release creation, the first question that should be asked is why is the story newsworthy? The only reason journalist care about your story is if it's news that applies to their audience. If you can't prove the importance of yours story, you'll be lost before anyone even reads it.

Quality press release creation spells out why the story is important from the beginning sentence. Provide useful information about the product with direct words that command attention.

The press release shouldn't sound like a sale. Press releases with something to sell get deleted or sent to the trash.

Good press releases start with strong language that clearly state the story from the first headline and lead paragraph. If the journalist can't tell immediately why he or she should keep reading, you'll be lucky if your press release gets used for scrap paper.

Make sure your press release illustrates the relevance of your story through concrete examples. Make sure the illustrations directly relate to the media branch's market. Answer the question of why their audience should even care in the first place.

Good press releases stick to the facts. Warp the truth, and you'll lost the journalist's trust. Once you've lost it, you can never recover.

Quality press release creation always avoids the hype. This is an immediate give away that your story doesn't add up to the journalist's attention. If your story is worth their time, you should be able to illustrate it in concrete language that sticks to the facts.

Stick to angles that are timely as well as newsworthy. Timing is everything to the media. Late news rots like cheese. Deadlines are tight, which makes the news hungry. Feed that hunger with concrete stories that immediately hook interest. As news is shared, the story can get passed up to bigger media outlets, which means hooking the smaller ones is crucial to get the larger ones to listen. Tell your story directly to communicate with the world.

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