Archive for December, 2009

Once you see what a news release can do, it’s tempting to start churning them out left and right. There’s nothing wrong with an aggressive strategy, but trying to get maximum mileage out of non-stories is a dead-end.

You want your releases to attract viewers. You also want them to garner the attention of media players. On top of that, you can only get optimum value from your efforts if you find a way to get your releases syndicated to as many locations as possible.

Those things happen when you find a way to share legitimately interesting and valuable information. A press release that announces “Internet Marketer Washes His Hands After Eating BBQ Ribs” isn’t news. Either is “Marketing Firm Promotes Jones to VP”. Those are just facts. Dull facts that mean little to others. Unless you can somehow frame those bits of minutiae in an interesting way, imbuing them with additional value, they’re not press release material.

Press releases are often called NEWS releases for a reason. Stick to things that matter.

You need to make press releases part of your Internet marketing strategy. First you need to know one thing: Good writing matters. In fact, the quality of the writing displayed in a press release can spell the difference between tremendous success and crushing failure. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that good writing makes for good press releases. Let’s look at three reasons why you should make sure your releases are extremely well-written.

First, in order for your press release to do anything, someone must either decide to follow up on the lead you’ve provided or publish the release somewhere. That means you’re going to need to submit it to a press release distribution site or company. While there are websites that will publish anything you send them, the serious players–those who give you a real chance at significant syndication and media coverage–are going to insist that your release meets certain standards. One of those standards is quality writing. If you hand them sub-par work, they won’t accept the release.

Second, good writing enables you to transmit your marketing message within the constraints of a news story. A clunky writer who lacks subtlety and that “special way with words” isn’t going to be able to get the job done. A talented press release writer, on the other hand, can spin a story that aids directly in marketing and promotion while still retaining a sufficient level of newsworthiness. If the writing isn’t good, the press release is perceived as a ham-fisted marketing message and falls flat. That’s obviously not what you’re shooting for! You want people to be inspired to learn more after reading your release.

Third, you want your releases to trigger certain responses. Good writing encourages all of them. A well-written piece is far more likely to get picked up on various websites who utilize syndicated content. The better sites skip the lousy releases, looking instead for quality content. Additionally, you’re far more likely to develop a direct traffic flow from your releases to your site on the part of regular readers if you’re knocking them out with a great piece of reading. Finally, those who make editorial decisions for online and offline media are far more likely to impressed and interested by a well-written releases. It’s a big part of leveraging your releases to get significant media exposure.

Those three reasons should be enough to encourage you to write the best possible releases. If your writing skills aren’t up to snuff, you may want to seek out a freelance writer who has a strong skill set and background with respect to press releases. You can’t just send out anything. You need to write good press releases if you hope to get strong results.