Send Out a Press Release; Get in More Business

By Craig Ritsema

Every business needs some amount of media exposure in order to increase their chances of doing more business than usual. A press release, which is an informative statement or document sent out by a company, is given to a media house in the hope that the media house will publish it in their publication/s – online or offline. A press release may contain just some basic business information, information about a special promotion or event, or some exciting development in the company.

Having a story, feature or an interview published in media places the limelight on a company by highlighting the contents of the press release to hundreds of thousands of readers. Apart from getting the publicity and establishing credibility, a company can use these press release clippings and snippets as part of their in house coffee table book or in a press kit.

Though a press release can be turned out at any given point in time, it is best to time it when a special event or promotion is happening in the company. If the press release has meaningful content in it, the media houses will give it better placement because they too want the readability index of their publication to go up. If there is no meaningful content in the press release, the media will push it into a remote corner of their publication.

The format of a standard press release is simple and has been maintained status quo through the years. Typically, a press release has the words "For Immediate Release" on the top left corner – in this case the material should be printed by the publication as soon as possible, preferably immediately. But, if the intention of the press release is to publicize a forthcoming event, then the advance date is mentioned with the phrase: “For Release After [date]". After the release schedule, the full company and contact information is mentioned.

Next, we come to the material contained in the press release, which is also known as the “body”. This is the heart of the press release and contains material/information that is to be publicized. Ideally a press release should make for crisp, fast and exciting reading and therefore, it is best to curtail the number of words. Needless to mention, if the press release is long and extends beyond one page, you must make the mandatory noting such as "more" or "carried over to next page". Before the press release ends, there should be a small paragraph that talks about what the company is all about followed by the words, "End".

When the press release is being written, the writer must focus on the intended purpose and develop copy around it. The words must be sharp and clear and the language must not be long and drawn out. Apart from the objective, the writer needs to write in a style that will cater to the target audience – for example, if the target audience is yuppies, then the press release must be written in a snappy style.

Once the press release is done, it needs to be submitted to the media, which comprises of newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and Internet. You must approach the right media for the correct publicity – for example, if you are planning a local event then a radio channel or a popular local newspaper can get you terrific publicity. It goes without saying that you need to submit your press release well in advance, enabling the media house to check it and plan its placement.

If the media ignores your press release, do not give up. Try out new and different media sources or redo your press release. Remember, every media house receives a whole lot of press releases daily and it may not be possible for them to accommodate each and every one. The moral of the story is that you must keep trying and not give up simply because your press release was rejected. All the best.