Tag Archives: press release

Is Your Copy Worth Reading?

Posted on by
Reply

Good pr copy

We live in a fast paced world, not having enough time to read a good book or a complete article. Maybe that’s why blogs are popular, what do you think?

Ok, let’s look at how to get people, like editors, publishers, reporters and your audience to read your copy. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a press release, an article for a magazine, copy for your web site or sales materials. These all need to follow the basic steps of writing clear and concise copy with enough flare to keep the interest of the reader. Your pr clients will at first want more fluff. Following the basic rules will get you more results.

I came across an article titled "Seven Steps to Writing Copy Your Market Will Actually Read". The title alone gives you the feeling that there is some value to reading it, right? Well, that’s the point the author was making.

Daphne Gray-Grant outlines her seven rules in easy to follow language. Most of which is common sense, but in today’s competitive industries, we cannot take things for granted.

A couple of tips are to use short, two-syllable words over three and four-syllables. This she adds is true with sentences. Keep them short. I like the fact she addresses what "short" means. It is about 14 words.

For publicity writing, make sure to eliminate cliches from your press releases, story’s and any letters to editors, or reporters.

Use these tips and maybe you will begin to see positive results.

See Also

Choosing a Web Browser

Posted on by
Reply

Can a web browser be safe?

We are always wondering who out in the Internet world is the villain. Almost every week we hear about a hacker breaking into a database, or some virus, or now the unsafe browsers that hackers are stealing your valuable information.

Just today, I read this article titled "New Flaw Hits Internet Explorer and Firefox". Boy, this headline got a lot of attention. I was even curious to see what this was all about. No one wants to feel that surfing with a browser is going to create a problem. And we don’t expect this to be a way hackers can hit us, unlike email.

Especially companies like publicity firms, marketing agencies, or research companies who rely on using the Internet. Even PR Clients are questioning the safeness of this industry, from the use of spamming through email marketing to downloading research documents to registering for a company newsletter, we are all becoming very concerned about our security.

So after reading this "Flaw" article, it basically isn’t as scary as it intended to be. As a matter of fact, it was probably a press release before being a short article. And guess who was the advisory to this…right Symantec. No further comment.

This just shows you the power of publicity and how a press release, or an article can motivate people. Using a professional public relations agency can make things happen for your company. Both positive or negatively. It isn’t necessary to try and have a scary article published like this to get attention. It is always best to find something of positive value to potential clients. This is the best form of pr you can do for your company.

See Also

Publicity Tip #2431

Posted on by
Reply

Photos can make a you look better


When you write a release, or better yet, an article to pitch to the media, it is a good idea to include photos.

Wow, what a great idea, bet this isn’t original! You’re right, but read further to learn what I mean about including photos.

Believe it or not, most pitches are only text that the media receive. Just adding good quality photos can make your story become more interesting to the reporter because now you are providing a visual.

This alone needs to be given careful thought. Just as you want the story you are writing to not look like an ad to the reporter, you need to plan the types of photos to include.

One publicist, Joan Stewart, wrote an article on this subject. She gives you about 11 tips on what to look for when shooting photos to be included in your pitch.

What I like about her article, her advice goes beyond what to take for photos. Joan provides tips on what not to do. Such as groundbreaking, or ribbon ceremonies. These are overdone, and unless you are a major real estate developer, or a high profile company, forget these types of stories and photos.

Your publicity campaign and all your public relations activities should be part of the overall business and marketing plan. There will always be some last minute pr projects that your pr client’s need created immediately. It is the master marketing plan that should set the guidelines for all the publicity. Be sure you have a solid database of the reporters, editors and publications you want to target.

See Also

Free Publicity, Does It Exist?

Posted on by
Reply

How to get the most of a PR campaign

GET US FREE PUBLICITY!

These are the words we hear most often from clients. So how Free is it?

Publicity is a powerful method for getting your message to potential customers, but only when you know what you are doing.

Remember, nothing is free. If you have an in-house person, you are paying for that pr director, or manager to spend the time to write, distribute and meet with reporters.

Hiring a publicity firm has basically the same costs.
When you place an ad into a publication, or run a spot on radio or TV, those are controlled forms of media which can become costly for smaller companies.

When you get a release or article published, in comparison, it didn’t cost anything to have that visibilty in that, or those media. The cost was in the preliminary stages of developing the article and getting it to the right media.

Knowing how to write an article, or a press release (these require different writings) is critical of getting something published. Reporters and editors want to publish stories of interest and be informative for their audience.

I spoke about distribution before. This is also important. Shot gun mailing to all media will not do you any good. Targeting specific media will help to control the distribution and makes follow up more productive. Use the Internet news media whenever possible. Here you can modify the press release or articles and use keywords in the body of the information. Using a professional pr firm can help a public relations campaign become more successful, because they have the contacts and knowledge to get these published.

Bottom line. Is publicity free? I guess It all depends on what you consider free.

See Also

What To Write About

Posted on by
Reply

Make the story interesting and meaningful

Publicity firms are always asked by their clients to "write something about our company that is great!"

To do this you need to make sure what you are going to write is going to have credible information to that publication’s readers. Just because you or your client feels the information is valid, think of whom you are going to pitch the story to. Go through a list of questions:
1- How important is this information to the readers of XYZ publication
2- Does this offer anything that can help or enhance a readers knowledge to improve their life, business, etc?
3- Am I only writing this to get people interested in the product or service? If so, re-think this and re-write it to be lees self-serving.
4- How timely is this information?

These are but a few points to consider when you need to "get the word out" for a client or if you are a company doing pr internally, then re-think your story or release.

The worst thing you can do is submitting non-informative information in the form of a press release or story to reporters, because the industry hears this type of communication. It can cause a negative effect on you, the company you work for and can cause future releases to be less considered when you get this type of reputation.

Make the words count, in more ways than in numbers. It is up to you to put aside the "sell" and write for the good of the potential readers of a publication.

That will position you higher on the list with reporters.

See Also

Know the Media

Posted on by
Reply

Get familiar with reporters work

It’s been awhile since I sat down and wrote anything, but no excuses but just keeping busy.

With that said let’s move on to some good info.

If you are trying to pitch an article or get some recognition for your company, or a client, it is wise to know something about the reporter you are pitching the article to.

For example you wouldn’t send out a press release about a product without knowing the main features and interesting things it offers the readers. So why would you contact a reporter without knowing his or her writing style or subjects they prefer to write about.

To concur this I saw a blog at Dan Janal’s site that had a comment from John DiPietro who wrote to Dan that "I ALWAYS DID RESEARCH ON THE WRITER PRIOR TO THE INTERVIEW".

This gets you further acquainted with the writer and makes an interview, or pitch easier.

Mr. DiPietro also commented "I always read one of their other pieces, then COMMENTED ON IT TO THEM. This brought me into a more friendly relationship with them."

Reporters like to know that you know their work and will many times be more open to hearing about your company or the story you want to pitch to them.

Now that isn’t the secret to getting a story. This is only a method to help you better get a chance to present the story. The rest is up to how important the story is to their readers; the credible information and how it applies to helping readers improve their business, etc.

So now that you have the story you want to pitch, select a reporter or two, read at least one or two recent articles they wrote and then see if your story fits that reporter’s style and publication. If it does, you’re ready to make the call.

See Also