Writing Killer Press Release for Massive Publicity

Online marketers are always on the lookout for promotional channels that are novel and are yet to be saturated with the unfortunate stigma of marketing abuse. Different people are constantly trying to find new ways by which they could promote their online enterprises.

One of the newer, and most effective, marketing strategies are press releases. Press releases are informative and objective pieces which are supposed to be newsworthy, and are circulated in PR wires for pickup by various news groups and editors. Once a press release is picked up, it can be published in various channels all over the Internet, or even through print publications.

Immediately, the sharp marketing mind would be able to see the grand potentials of press releases as amazing tools that would help them spread the word about their business. Imagine the promising things that await if ever a press release is picked up or print or online publication. Such would be tantamount to instantaneous exposure for your business to entirely new audiences!

However, you cannot simply write a press release the same way you would an article, or a content piece, or a sales letter. To employ the same style with press releases would be to court disaster. Your press release wont be accepted by newswires, hence, it wont have the chance to get picked up.

So how exactly should you write a press release? Lets take a look at the guidelines below.

* Pay attention to the 5 Ws. These are Who, What, When, Where and Why. These are the questions which your press release should focus on. If youre going to write a press release for your dog grooming business, for example, you should be able to state who you are, what your business is about, when it will, or was, launched, where it can be found and why it was established. If you are going to launch, or just launched, a new product, you would have to state who the creator is, what the product is all about, when it was or will be launched, where it can be bought, and why it was introduced to the market.

* Be objective. Remember, a press release should be a newsworthy item. News is never subjective. Stay away from flowery words that merely tend to hype up what you want to discuss. Stick with the facts, and ONLY the facts. You are writing news, not a promotional piece.

* The ultimate aim is to promote your product, but be subtle about it. To do this, reorient your focus. Try to make your press release informative instead of persuasive. Remember, youre not writing a sales copy. Youre writing something that would announce your business or your product.

* There are three parts to a press release: the headline, the summary, and the body. The headline is the title of your piece. The summary is a paragraph that would serve as an introduction to your press release, or a summary of its most salient contents. The body is where you objectively discuss the 5 Ws.

* Length is not a factor. Dont ever think that if you write a longer press release, it would have a better chance of getting picked up. Often, the rule is, the more concise your press release, the better its chances are of success. A 1,000 word piece is considered a little too lengthy for a press release. 300 to 700 words are succinct enough for this purpose.

Press releases can win for your business the exposure it needs. It is capable of instantaneous results for as long your press release gets picked up and published. A lot of Internet marketers have testified to the power of press releases as marketing tools. So put on your thinking cap and commence to write an objective and informative piece about your business or product, observe the guidelines we have delineated above, and ready yourself for the new audience youre most certain to garner.

Of course this short article only gives you a brief guideline about writing effective press release. If you wish to learn more then I suggest you to download Press Release Magic, a 70-pages PDF manual that will give you more insight about how to promote your business using the power of press release. Heres the download link:
http://www.privatelabelpublishing.com/press-release-magic.pdf

What Are We Teaching PR Students?

How to do brochures, throw parties, talk to reporters and write press releases? Or, are we teaching them what PRs fundamental premise says we should be teaching them?

In so many words, whether they go to work for a business, non-profit, government agency or association, students will soon discover that people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable
behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

Which is why, after public relations students digest THAT basic touchstone, they should be made aware that, as future managers, their core public relations mission will be to pull together the resources and action planning they need to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences.

But thats not all! Then PR students should learn that they will have to persuade those key folks to his or her way of thinking, then move them to take actions that allow their subsidiary, division, department, group or office to succeed.

What we want for our new crop of PR students is the knowledge that the right public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors among the very outside audiences who will help them succeed as managers.

Should you find yourself explaining the role of public relations, you must ask your audience to remember that their PR efforts will demand more than the use of special events, news releases and talk show tactics if they are to receive the
quality public relations results they deserve.

As to the results they can expect, tell them how glad theyll be that they took your advice when capital givers or specifying sources begin to look their way;
customers start to make repeat purchases; membership applications begin to rise; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start showing
up; politicians and legislators begin looking at them as key members of the business, non-profit or association communities; new bounces in show room
visits occur; prospects actually start to do business with them; and community leaders begin to seek them out.

Discuss with your audience why its SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Above all, be sure they really believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt their operation.

Go over with them the need for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of their most important outside audiences. Have them ask questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced
problems with our people or procedures?

They should learn that the cost of using professional survey firms to do the opinion gathering work will be considerably more than using their PR colleagues who are already in the perception business. But whether its their people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

Public relations students need to know that here they must establish a goal calling for action on the most serious problem areas they uncovered during their key audience perception monitoring. Will that goal be to straighten out a dangerous misconception? Correct a gross inaccuracy? Or, stop a potentially
painful rumor before it really gets started?

An equally important lesson is this. Setting a PR goal requires an equally specific strategy that tells you how to get there. Only three strategic options
are available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like mushroom gravy on your pumpkin pie, so be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly dont want to select change when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Most students of public relations already know the importance of good writing. Explain to them that now is the time that good writing comes to the fore. They must prepare a persuasive message that will help move their key audience to their way of thinking. It must be a carefully-written message targeted directly at their key external audience. They must come up with really corrective language
that is not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards their point of view and lead to the behaviors they have in mind.

This step many of your students will find especially interesting. They must now select the communications tactics most likely to carry their message to the
attention of their target audience. There are many available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews,
newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be certain that the tactics they pick are known to reach folks just like their audience members.

Another reality PR students need to know is that the credibility of any message is fragile, so how they communicate it is also a concern. Which is why they may wish to unveil their corrective message before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

As always, the need for a progress report should cause them to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of their external audience. Fortunately, theyll want to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, they will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in their direction.

Reassure your student audience that, should program momentum slow, they can always speed things up by adding more communications tactics as well as
increasing their frequencies.

Students everywhere need reassurance that theyre on the right track, and future business, non-profit, government and association managers getting their first exposure to PR are no different. What they need to know about public
relations are three realities.

First, as outlined above, they must marshall the resources and action planning needed to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences.

Second, they must help persuade those key folks to his or her way of thinking.

And third, move them to take actions that allow their division, subsidiary, department, group or office to succeed.

Managers: Let’s Call a Spade a Spade!

Lets Call a Spade a Spade!

Brochures, broadcast plugs and press releases dont call them public relations. Call them what they really are, valuable tactical devices which public relations calls upon from time to time to move a message from here to there.

Nothing more, nothing less, and certainly not public relations Mother strategy which (1), marshalls the resources and action planning needed to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among a business, non-profit,or associations most important outside audiences. And (2), goes on to help a manager persuade those key folks to his or her way of thinking,
then (3) moves them to take actions that allow their department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

The management reality behind such an achievement is the underlying premise of public relations: People act on their own perception of the facts before them,
which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and
moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

The good news for those managers is that the right public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors among key outside audiences.

You may be such a manager. If you are, try to remember that your PR effort must demand more than special events, news releases and talk show tactics if you are to receive the quality public relations results you deserve.

Youll be glad you took such a step when capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way; customers begin to make repeat purchases; membership applications start to rise; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start showing up; politicians and legislators begin looking at you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities; new (and very ) welcome bounces in show room visits occur; prospects actually start to do business with you; and community leaders begin to seek you out.

Your public relations professionals can be of real use for your new opinion monitoring project because they are already in the perception and behavior business. But be certain that the PR staff really accepts why its SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Above all, be sure they believe that perceptions almost
always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Go over your plans with them for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Ask questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced
problems with our people or procedures?

The cost of using professional survey firms to do the opinion gathering work will be considerably more than using those PR folks of yours, who are already in the
perception business, in that monitoring capacity. But whether its your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify
untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

Its time to establish a goal calling for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your key audience perception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor cold?

It goes without saying that setting your PR goal requires an equally specific strategy that tells you how to get there. Only three strategic options are
available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be
none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like pancake syrup on your Finan Haddie, so be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly dont want to select change when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Here, good writing comes to the fore. You must prepare a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking. It must be a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. Select your very best writer because s/he must come up with really corrective language that is not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear
and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

At this point, you must select the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. There are many
available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.
But be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Since the credibility of any message is fragile and always up for grabs, how you communicate is a concern. Which is why you may wish to unveil your
corrective message before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

Inevitably, the need for a progress report will cause you to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Youll
want to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

A source of comfort for you, should program momentum slow, will be the fact that you can always speed things up by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

Calling tactical devices just that, avoids confusing them with the broader, more comprehensive mission known as public relations. A mission that allows managers of all stripes to alter individual perception in a way that leads to changed behaviors among key outside audiences, thus insuring the success of that managers operation.