Writing a popular press release
A popular press release is one important way to ensure a business or project receives media attention. A popular press release is one that grabs the reader's attention and is read by thousands. If the media thinks that the press release is worthy of further news coverage, they may develop a full feature story concerning the topic. This is a winning situation for the business owner and the journalist--the business owner receives free advertising and the journalist gets a breaking news story.
Instructions
1. Start off with a strong attention-grabbing headline that summarizes exactly what the press release is about and contains the major keywords related to the topic. Remember, readers might glance at the headline and move onto the next story if the headline does not grab their attention.
2. Date the press release. Never submit a press release without including the date submitted, the submitter, the location, telephone/fax number, email and website.
3. Employ the first paragraph in the press release to cover the basic information that you want the media to know about the company. Following the journalistic pyramid style, the opening paragraph should jump right in and explain who, what, when, where, why and how.
4. Follow up this information with focused details about the information. Continue on to the second most important information about the topic followed by focused details. Continue in this style with following paragraphs. Include at least three paragraphs in the main body. Any newsworthy press release should have at least three paragraphs. Five or less paragraphs is always best.
5. Use the closing paragraph to summarize the information included in the press release along with pertinent information about the company or project. Keep the press release short, around around 300 to 800 words.
6. End the press release with the contact information. For example, a contact name, address, telephone, email, web URL.
