How to Create Killer Press Releases For
Any Business, Product, or Service

By Terry Dean

Do you want to drive your hit counter crazy and get so many orders that you just can't handle them? If so, then it is time that you move over into one of the kings of marketing techniques, the press release.

The problem is that around 95% of press releases (if not more) end up in the round file. So, many marketers have come to the conclusion that press releases just don't work for them or their business.

This is about the same percentage that claim the Internet just doesn't work for their business. The Internet does work, if you know how to work it.

Press releases work...if you know how to work them. As an ezine publisher I receive dozens of press releases every week, but they almost never get published. Only one or two lines get read before the delete button gets pressed again. If someone who only gets a couple of dozen press releases weekly gives them a line or two of reading, what do you think that those publishers getting hundreds or even thousands of submissions do with each of their press releases?

If you want them to even give your press release a second glance, it is going to have to be written correctly, be interesting, and extremely newsworthy. If it is anything else, your press release will take a quick do not pass go trip directly into the circular file.

The biggest error I see with the press releases that are sent to me is that they are sales letters for the person's product. They don't even make an effort to give good information that a publisher could use. They think that someone is going to publish their "ad" for free. I don't think so!

Before you even begin writing your press release you must begin to think about it from the publisher's perspective. They are looking for news. They are not looking for your product or service. In other words, try to piggy-back your press release on current trends and stories that are already being published when at all possible.

Once you begin writing, keep it short. A press release should be one page or less and should never tell the whole story. Reporters are a busy lot and the ONE goal you have in mind when writing the release is to perk their interest. Then, they will contact you for more information.

In the upper left hand corner of every press release, write the words "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" unless there is time sensitive material involved. If you are involved with something concerning Valentine's day, you may want to write "FOR RELEASE BEFORE VALENTINE'S DAY" or some other similar phrase using the date or time involved.

In the upper right hand corner of the press release, write "Contact: Terry Dean." Substitute your name for mine, of course. Then, list below that all of your contact information such as company name, address, phone number, fax number, email address, and web site address on each line below that.

Never leave out your personal name. Publications do not want to spend time trying to find out who to contact personally. Never forget your phone number. They will want to contact you quickly in most cases. Make sure that phone is available to be answered or that you can quickly call back if you are unavailable. If you wait even one day to get back in contact with them you can sometimes miss out on your free story.

Then, you will skip down a couple of lines and in the middle of the line you will write your headline. Just as in a sales letter, the headline will make or break the entire press release. If it doesn't reach out and grab a reporter who is glancing at hundreds of different press releases, then your whole effort goes down the drain.

Your headline is your primary opportunity to really sell your concept to the reader. You should spend around 80% - 95% of your time creating the press release in this one area. If the headline is exciting and newsworthy, you will start getting calls. If it isn't, then most publishers will never get past it.

In most cases your headline should be making a bold and exciting claim that you can back up. If your company sells web sites, don't tell them that there is a new web hosting company available. Tell them How Anyone can Have a Web Site Designed and Hosted for their Business in 24 hours or less...if you can do it (remember, you may be adding a whole boatload of new customers if the release gets printed).

When you write a sales letter, you have to come up with a USP for your company. You have to know what makes your product, service, or company unique. Think about the headline of the press release in the same way. You have to write the headline with an idea of being so Unique in your approach that it is newsworthy.

Paul Hartunian, who is one of the top publicity geniuses, says that there are three ways to get publicity for any business.

1. Have a solution to a problem.
2. Get involved in the latest fad.
3. Be a nut.

Hopefully in your business you don't want to be seen as the "nut" so I recommend one of the first two options. Whichever one you choose, make sure that you make a bold headline that will grab the interest of your prospect: the reporter.

Then skip a couple of lines and write the body of the press release. The body contains three major sections: summary, credentials, and the close. The summary should be a continuation of the headline and should tell the entire story in one short paragraph. Let them know the who, what, when, where, and why so that they would understand the release without having to read any further.

The credentials section will involve giving your credentials and/or showing a quote which enforces the power behind the story that you are giving out. In most successful press releases, this section is based on a quote about the story inside of quotation marks. Then, the name and the credentials of the person giving the quote are listed. Make sure that this quote is extremely professional and specific (just as if you were using a testimonial inside of a sales letter).

In the last section, you will want to close the sale. This is simply telling the reporter what to do next. Since the purpose of the press release is to just perk the interest and to get
them to follow up with you for more information, tell them to call you in this section if they would like more information.

You may want to add an extra credential or two in this section, but try to avoid making any type of direct sale. In other words, don't tell them how much your product or service costs in this section. You just want to get them to call you for more information or for an interview.

Then, in the center of the page at the bottom of the press release, include the symbol "###" which means that this is the end.

If your press release was properly prepared, you can expect to start getting calls after it is sent out. At this point, it is important that you are ready to respond with answers to the reporter's questions, have a media kit in hand to mail out, or to prepare for an interview.

Make sure to prepare these things before you ever send out your press release as you don't want to be taken unawares when the calls start coming in. Once you have their interest, don't lose it because you aren't prepared!