Six Press Release Writing Tips

Getting a press release published can be a great way to advertise your business for free. Here's how to do it right…

Press release writing tip 1: find the right angle

Before you even think about writing a press release, you need to make sure you have the right story. The fact that you've just started a business isn't a good story. Trust me on this. If you want your press release to work, you're going to have to find an "angle" that your target publication will be interested in. There are various different ways to do this:

Tell a strange/funny/touching story about how your business started, or how you helped one of your customers.
Run a competition, offering your products or services as a prize.
Offer your expertise in an "ask the expert" feature or column (if your paper isn't running one, offer to write it for them)
Conduct a survey and present your findings in the form of a press release.
Sponsor a local student or organisation

Press release writing tip 2: answer the six golden questions

When it comes to actually writing your press release, clarity is the key. Try to keep it short, snappy and to the point, while answering the six golden questions:

Who
Where
Why
What
When
How

These are the building blocks of any story: as long as you get these down, you're off to a good start. And speaking of starts...

Press release writing tip 3: Get your opening paragraph right

It's a sad fact of life that editors are overworked individuals, and their time is precious. If the opening paragraph of your press release doesn't grab them, they probably won't bother to read the rest. In newspaper journalism, the convention is to make the opening paragraph short and to the point, and to use it to sum up the story as best you can. Even if the reader doesn't bother to read the rest of the release, the first paragraph should tell them what they need to know.

Press release writing tip 4: Look at it from the reader's point of view

Your objective in writing a press release is to get some publicity for your business. Fair enough. The people who read the publications you send it to, though, are only interested in being either informed or entertained (or maybe both). No one enjoys reading blatant sales pitches, so try looking at your press release from the reader's point of view. Always remember that the reader's main question is "why should I care about this?" If you don't give them a compelling reason to care about what you're telling them, you've lost them – and you've probably lost any chance you had of getting published, too.

Press release writing tip 5: Use quotes

Quotes are more interesting to read than straight text, and if you don't include some, the journalist who receives your press release will have to find them for herself. Including a few ready-made quotes in your press release will reduce the amount of work the reporter has to do, and that will give your release a better chance of being used.

Press release writing tip 6: Include your contact details

No matter how hard you try to get it right, there will inevitably be some small point which the journalist writing your story will want to clarify, and to do that, they'll need to be able to contact you. Making things easier on the journalist, makes it easier for them to give your business some publicity.

Hot Igloo Productions Ltd. for affordable press release writing

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