Promotion Ideas - Writing And Sending Out The Ideal Press Release
Promotion Ideas like press release writing & distribution can be a little tricky.
The reason being is that even if you were to follow every strategy & guideline for writing your release appropriately and effectively, you can still make grave mistakes in your distribution practices.
Like most promotion ideas, you need to plan things accordingly to ensure a painless experience & campaign.
You'll want to ask yourself these questions.
Is your release the right length? The only thing that matters is answering the "who, what, where, when, & why" in your release & laying out all of your facts.
If you get too deep into details & fail to get straight to the point, your release will go straight to the trash.
Is your release simply an ad? For editors, the greatest benefit of press releases that look like ads is they are great for getting the fireplace going.
Additionally, there is a huge difference between being editorial & advertorial.
Advertorial releases tend to require more approval of the content.
Therefore, stick to editorial rules.
You want to express your unbiased story.
Save the sales pitches for your own website.
Did you get permission? You can't just mention company names or use their sources without their granted approval, which is usually required in writing.
If you fail to get documented permission for your release, your life-changing moment could be rejected at the very last minute.
This can happen even if you got every other rule right.
Do you have any typographical or grammatical errors? Thoroughly check your release for misspelled words & poor sentence structure.
If you do not have the confidence to do this yourself, hire a proofreader that does.
Are you using Microsoft Word? Your release could look perfect on Microsoft Word.
However, MS Word uses special characters (such as quotation marks) that websites cannot understand.
Because of that, the websites will present your press release in an ugly format to the editor (not a good sign) & are likely to reject it.
Therefore, we recommend you download Notepad++ with the spell-check plugin.
It is a very powerful version of the regular notepad & is 100% free.
It will help manage your perfect press release without obstructing it with strange characters.
Is it fact? Do not lie or bend the facts.
Bad news spreads much faster than good news.
If you represent a popular company in your release & are telling a lie, it will hurt you & your company's credibility tremendously.
Do you have adequate information about your company's product or service? One grave mistake that many people make with a press release is a poor or inaccurate description of the company and its products or services.
This happens usually when novice PR writers handle the written release.
Are you confused with all of the extra options for hundreds of dollars more that claim to "improve" your release? Keep your pricing budget simple.
Do not fall for a bunch of extra options aimed at wasting your budget.
Your press release reaching the desk of a journalist is the important part.
Your press release looking pretty on a professional paper with a really cool graphic means nothing if it isn't an interesting release.
Do not ever let a PR firm tell you otherwise.
Are you trying to send this to every editor of the same company? This is the quickest way to get reported for spamming.
It will also spread to other PR companies as an alert.
Needless to say, such poor practices can do much more than just ruin your potentially successful press release.
Look at your release again.
Make sure your press release checks out after you ask yourself these questions.
If you "think" it checks out, look at your press release again until you "know" it is ready to come across the desk of an editor.
However, the most important part hasn't been mentioned.
Timing is everything.
Avoid sending out your press release to editors first thing on a Monday or a late Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
The reason is simple.
They receive a lot of releases over the weekend while they are not at work.
Your release will just be a part of a big pile of all of Friday's releases that came after they left work & get piled by the entire weekend of press releases.
If you are given time-frames that are best to send a press release without having to compete with others, it is highly recommended that use those.
Otherwise, plan your spontaneous releases ahead of time.
You want to catch an editor at the right time.
If you're entrusting your release to a PR distributor, ensure that they will do the same.
This promotion idea may have frustrating steps to follow, but it takes just one successful press release to get paid big.
If a successful release is what you want, make sure it is written & distributed the right way.
The reason being is that even if you were to follow every strategy & guideline for writing your release appropriately and effectively, you can still make grave mistakes in your distribution practices.
Like most promotion ideas, you need to plan things accordingly to ensure a painless experience & campaign.
You'll want to ask yourself these questions.
Is your release the right length? The only thing that matters is answering the "who, what, where, when, & why" in your release & laying out all of your facts.
If you get too deep into details & fail to get straight to the point, your release will go straight to the trash.
Is your release simply an ad? For editors, the greatest benefit of press releases that look like ads is they are great for getting the fireplace going.
Additionally, there is a huge difference between being editorial & advertorial.
Advertorial releases tend to require more approval of the content.
Therefore, stick to editorial rules.
You want to express your unbiased story.
Save the sales pitches for your own website.
Did you get permission? You can't just mention company names or use their sources without their granted approval, which is usually required in writing.
If you fail to get documented permission for your release, your life-changing moment could be rejected at the very last minute.
This can happen even if you got every other rule right.
Do you have any typographical or grammatical errors? Thoroughly check your release for misspelled words & poor sentence structure.
If you do not have the confidence to do this yourself, hire a proofreader that does.
Are you using Microsoft Word? Your release could look perfect on Microsoft Word.
However, MS Word uses special characters (such as quotation marks) that websites cannot understand.
Because of that, the websites will present your press release in an ugly format to the editor (not a good sign) & are likely to reject it.
Therefore, we recommend you download Notepad++ with the spell-check plugin.
It is a very powerful version of the regular notepad & is 100% free.
It will help manage your perfect press release without obstructing it with strange characters.
Is it fact? Do not lie or bend the facts.
Bad news spreads much faster than good news.
If you represent a popular company in your release & are telling a lie, it will hurt you & your company's credibility tremendously.
Do you have adequate information about your company's product or service? One grave mistake that many people make with a press release is a poor or inaccurate description of the company and its products or services.
This happens usually when novice PR writers handle the written release.
Are you confused with all of the extra options for hundreds of dollars more that claim to "improve" your release? Keep your pricing budget simple.
Do not fall for a bunch of extra options aimed at wasting your budget.
Your press release reaching the desk of a journalist is the important part.
Your press release looking pretty on a professional paper with a really cool graphic means nothing if it isn't an interesting release.
Do not ever let a PR firm tell you otherwise.
Are you trying to send this to every editor of the same company? This is the quickest way to get reported for spamming.
It will also spread to other PR companies as an alert.
Needless to say, such poor practices can do much more than just ruin your potentially successful press release.
Look at your release again.
Make sure your press release checks out after you ask yourself these questions.
If you "think" it checks out, look at your press release again until you "know" it is ready to come across the desk of an editor.
However, the most important part hasn't been mentioned.
Timing is everything.
Avoid sending out your press release to editors first thing on a Monday or a late Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
The reason is simple.
They receive a lot of releases over the weekend while they are not at work.
Your release will just be a part of a big pile of all of Friday's releases that came after they left work & get piled by the entire weekend of press releases.
If you are given time-frames that are best to send a press release without having to compete with others, it is highly recommended that use those.
Otherwise, plan your spontaneous releases ahead of time.
You want to catch an editor at the right time.
If you're entrusting your release to a PR distributor, ensure that they will do the same.
This promotion idea may have frustrating steps to follow, but it takes just one successful press release to get paid big.
If a successful release is what you want, make sure it is written & distributed the right way.