Layout 1. 1-2 pages in length. 2. Double-space. 3. 1.5 to 2 inch margins. 4. Use company stationary with logo and slogan. 5. Avoid bright or dark-colored paper. 6. Center "News Release" at top. 7. Place a "release date" under "News Release". 8. On second page, type "page 2". 9. Use company stationary with logo and slogan on page 2. 10. Leave out "release after" date on second page, all else should be the same. 11. At end of press release, type "-30-" or "# # #". 12. Include both black & white, c More..

Smashing the Myth of the Press Release

A musician spends years honing his craft. He writes world-class songs and performs them in a manner that moves his listeners to tears. He records a demo tape and sends it to record labels. He gets a contract and becomes rich, famous and adored. The lesson: demo tapes are the secret of becoming a famous musician. Wait, you say, the demo tape was just a tool, just his way of conveying his talent. It's his ability as a musician that got him the contract and made him famous. You're right, of cour More..

10 Tips for Tantalizing News Releases

Want to get radio interviews and coverage in print publications to sell more books? Master the art of writing magnetic media releases that attract attention of editors and publishers. A media release (which also goes by its former name, the press release) is a one page, double spaced, single-sided document designed to transmit news about books, products, and people. Because of its official sounding name, authors often make the mistake of sounding like Sgt. Friday of the TV show "Dragnet" when More..

The Four Seasons of Publicity - Building an All-Year Publicity

If you're like most publicity seekers, you probably think one project at a time. You've got a new product coming out in April, so you send out a release in March. You've hired a new executive, you'll put out a release when she's on board, etc. For hard-core publicity insiders, though, there's a rhythm to generating coverage, based upon the natural ebb and flow of the seasons. Such an approach can help you score publicity throughout the year, and will help keep your eye on the ball from January More..

How to Tie-In With News Events to Score Publicity

It's safe to say that we live in interesting times. It seems we hardly have a breather between wars, tragedies, scandals, epidemics, circus trials and other events that capitalize the media's attention. For the business seeking publicity, the "news hole" for more traditional stories -- new product reviews, business features, offbeat promotions -- keeps shrinking as the "big story" mentality takes hold. Fortunately, you're not completely at the mercy of world events when it comes to obtaining so More..

Publicity From Thin Air

In an ideal world, your business would be overflowing with newsworthy stories, and the media would be waiting with bated breath for your next press release, ready to give you front page coverage. In the real world, however, it's not always so easy to generate real news. There are only so many hot new products or breakthrough achievements with which a business can capture a journalist's attention. So what do top publicists do to get news coverage for clients who have no news to share? They cre More..

Read more About Grandma Says...

Press Releases for Every Occasion

To many marketers, the press release is something of a "one size fits all" proposition. You want to get media coverage, you knock out a press release, send it to some journalists and sit back and wait. Of course, smart Publicity Insiders already know that's a prescription for failure. You know that your press release has to have a "hook", be well-written and sent to appropriate journalists in an active, not passive, manner. But there's another part of the puzzle that even savvy publicity-seeker More..

Press Kit Elements That Work

Considering how fundamental they are to the publicist's trade, it's always amazed me how lousy almost all press kits truly are. Your typical press kit is a bloated folder filled with puffery, hype, irrelevant information and worse. The vast majority of these monstrosities do little besides kill trees and clog newsroom trash baskets. The good news is that creating a press kit that actually works really isn't that hard. Let's look at the elements of a winning press kit, and help you avoid some co More..

Forget the Press Release - Heres How to Pitch Like Roger Clemens

Stripped down to its core, publicity is little more than one person persuading another. You, the publicity seeker, must persuade a journalist that your story is worthy of receiving print space or air time. Your ability to sell your story to a journalist is what it's all about. If you've ever sat with an insurance salesman who droned on and on, you probably know that simpler is better when it comes to persuasion. A few choice words, a brief, well-reasoned argument and a strong close can make the More..

8 Ways to Use Local Publicity to Drive Your Business

While scoring a nice story in BusinessWeek or USA Today is something to celebrate, there are times when you need to grab attention a bit closer to home. If your business draws its clientele from a specific town, city or region, focusing your energy on getting an elusive national publicity hit may be overkill, especially when getting publicity where you need it -- in your home town -- is often so much easier. Let'slook at some techniques you can use to reach potential customers right where you More..

The Ultimate PR Edge: Getting Reporters To Open Your E-Mails

You know that getting publicity is vital to the health of your business. You probably also know that e-mail is the way most publicity seekers get in touch with reporters to score that precious coverage. Here's what you don't know: The vast majority of e-mails sent to journalists never get read. Bottom line: if your e-mails don't get read, you have no shot at getting the publicity you so desperately need. Here's how to beat the odds: Avoiding the Spam Trap To a spam filter, your humble e-mail More..

Editorial Calendars: A Key to Publicizing Your Business

What is the one thing that all of the best public relations agencies do every year? They research and compile editorial calendars from publications that are pertinent to their client's business. You should too. What's an editorial calendar? Editorial calendars are schedules of what topics a publication plans for cover for a particular month. For example, the INC. editorial calendar for July 2003 http://www.inc.com/advertise/magazine/calendar.html states that they're writing an article on var More..

Creating Your Online News Room: How To Build a Site The Media Will Love

From time to time, people ask me how public relations has changed during the two decades in which I've been seeking publicity. My answer: technology. Twenty years ago, the fax machine was a newfangled novelty. Our primary means of communicating with journalists was the telephone and the US Mail. The advent of e- mail and the web has made life easier in many regards and tougher in others - namely, thanks to hordes of clowns with money making schemes and software that "blasts" press releases indis More..

7 Tips to Get More Mileage Out of Your Online or Offline Publicity

You worked hard to get a story on your business in a popular website or your local paper. Don't let your efforts ends there -- here are seven tips to help you maximize your online and offline publicity: 1) Reprint, Reprint, Reprint! A favorable article on your company or products is marketing gold - it implies that the publication or website has given its endorsement. The best part is that you can enjoy the benefits of this "third party endorsement" long after the article has appeared. If you More..

Pot Roast and Public Relations (or, How Your Web Site Can Be Your Best P.R. Tool)

Recently I had a craving for pot roast. I racked my brain to think of a restaurant that offered a great pot roast (as you can see, I'm not a whiz in the kitchen). Anyway, I did what I usually do when I need to find information - I searched Google for "pot roast boca raton" to see what restaurants came up. Well, only one restaurant's menu that featured pot roast came up. I had never eaten there before, so I phoned them to make sure they still had pot roast on the menu (alas, they didn't). But h More..

How To Get Zero Cost Publicity For Your Business Part 1

Would you like to expand the volume of your business? You can let thousands know about your service, your store, or your new product without spending a penny. Whether you want to make more sales or get an offer on television, you can broaden the scope of your clients by freepublicity. You don't have to climb a flagpole or hire a dancing bear to get attention.In fact, with just a telephone, flyers, and some follow up letters, you can be making much more money than you are now. What product or w More..

How To Get Zero Cost Publicity For Your Business Part 2

This is the ending to my previous article, How to get no cost publicity for your business. Some other options include signature files, joint ventures, free for all links, informational articles, webrings, and giveaways. Signature files are great ways to get free publicity for your business. It's just a short blurb at the end of your email. It's not considered spam. Of course, you shouldn't just send blank emails to people, just so they'll see your signature file. That might be considered spam t More..

How To Write More Powerfully For PR, Offline And Online

Years ago when my Dad owned a group of local newspapers I spent my school and college vacations working in the editorial office. We used to amuse ourselves over our sandwiches at lunchtime looking through and trashing the endless press releases that would arrive in the mail each day, all beautifully produced with glossy photographs (this was in pre-internet days). We trashed them because all but the odd one or two were ill-considered, highly subjective, barely camouflaged advertising copy that More..

Make Sure Your Media Room Rocks

If a reporter was writing a story about you and your company and she visited your website, could she find anything useful and interesting about you to use in her story? And could she find it quickly? Or would she immediately abandon your site and look for one of your competitors to write about? Make it Easy for the Reporter Every website today should have a "Media Room" (also known as an online press room) with everything a reporter needs to write a story quickly. Not only should you include in More..

Do You Have A Press Package?

How do you make a friend of the media? A press package can go a long way in helping you deal with the media. It allows you to have everything you need handy. Many individuals in the media will ask you to send yourpress package to them, so it is very important to be sure to make one up and to keep it up to date. What does a press package contain? 1. Your biography 2. Your picture 3. Information on Your Company 4. Press Releases 5. Any articles written about you Note: If you are a frequent spe More..

Ramp Up Your Newsletter to Build a Strong Business

To survive in business, you've got to focus your attention on the areas that will guarantee you success. Your clients are your greatest asset. Taking the time to educate them and connect with them will pay big dividends over the long haul. There are lots of ways to spend your marketing dollars. But I've found that the number one most effective marketing tool around is a newsletter. This is the perfect time of year to fine tune - or develop - yours. Hey! It's good news! What sets your newsletter More..

How to Get $1000 worth of Advertising for $60

Ã‚Â©2004 Jeffrey Dobkin Sixty dollars doesn't go a long way in buying advertising space. But ifyou spend it creatively, you can get over ten times that value innewspaper or magazine lineage. And it's easy if you know how. Here'show. You're familiar with press releases, right? A press release is a singlepage of information about your product or service that is sent to amagazine or a newspaper. If selected to be published, it's printed as ashort story and appears as if the magazine or newspaper More..

7 Simple Steps To A PR Launch

A PR product or service launching is a perfect way to build momentum slowly. It handles the first and most important hurdle to overcome in building a brand -- credibility. Step 1: Be a leak-er. The media adores describing events that are "going" to occur. Use it and use it to its longest capacity. Don't jump out too soon. Step 2: The Slow Buildup. Like a rose, slow gets more beautiful to people the more it unfolds. It is the way people expect and are comfortable with, respect it. Step 3: Recr More..

Online Business Press Release Writing Tips And Ideas

Press releases are one of the most cost-effective ways to get promotion for your online business. Many entrepreneurs ignore this type of promotion because they don't know how to write a press release. It's important to promote your online business with press releases because of the media all over the internet. The following is a list of some common press release writing tips: - your press release should sound like news, not an ad - you should only send your press release to the media related t More..

A Guide to Optimizing Public Relations Content

This guide to "SEOing" your PR efforts can help you get high-ranking search results for your press releases, marketing white papers and ezine newsletter content. Whether you are managing PR efforts for several online companies or just one website, you've probably wondered how you can increase your sites (more importantly, your work) overall impact in the Web community. While the answer lies less and less on traditional forms of promotion such as press releases, learning the tricks of the trade t More..

Possibilities Of The Blogosphere For The PR Industry In Spanish-Speaking Countries

Only two media in Spanish speaking countries offer RSS: the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the Argentine ClarÃƒÂn. Although the blogs are becoming more visible in the media and are becoming a research topic, still they are something of small "evangelist groups", who promote its use? but this can change in little time. To face this great challenge, Spanish-speaking PR professionals have to identify the enormous opportunities that other colleagues, fundamentally those whose native language is En More..

What is GuerrillaPR Anyway?

Public relations is the art, as one of my colleagues put it, of "offering peoplereasons to persuade themselves." In other words, we are not Madison Avenue;we don't tell people what we want them to think. Rather, we give themevidence, facts, and opinions that help them reach a conclusion. If we're goodat what we do, they will reach the conclusion we've been hired to promote. The differences between traditional public relations and Guerrilla P.R. arerelatively simple. First of all, public relatio More..

Seven Tips To Get Your Press Release Noticed

If you're seeking to promote yourself or your new business on a limited budget, you probably cannot afford the benefit of hiring a public relations agency to work on your behalf - at least not in the beginning. You've probably spent considerable money to get to the point of your grand opening or new product release, which could easily fail if nobody cares that you exist. The cost of hiring a marketing professional is usually worth your money as what you're ultimately purchasing is results. In More..

Media Kit: 25 Component Possibilities

Media kits include a combination of information whether created for electronic delivery or print. The number of components depends on the kit's focus and intention. For instance, an author's kit would include a different combination of information than a service business, or a multifaceted company or speaker. Here is a list of component elements to pull from and tips to bring a media kit together. No single kit will need all components. Choose the components that match your or the receiver's ne More..

Make the Media Your Friend

The media (newspaper, radio, television) can be of enormous help to the small and home based business. So, it is very important that you develop a relationship with them. When you first start your business, inform your local newspaper by using a press release that you are starting a new business. Almost all newspapers have a section which announces new businesses. So check out that section, call the newspaper and ask who you would send your release to and in what format they want the informatio More..

Building The Best Network

If you want to succeed, build a great team. A great team multiplies your prospects for success; it enables you to form relationships with powerful people who can make your dreams come true. A great network supports your strengths, fills in your weaknesses and allows you to d build on your teammates' accomplishments. When you have a great team, people assume that you are great and will stand in line to get to know you, do business with you, and help you. They will also be delighted to pay your pr More..

The 7 Deadly Sins of Press Releases

A press release is often your only chance to make a great first impression. Newspapers, magazines and trade publications receive them by the truckload. That means sloppy, inaccurate, pointless releases are the first to hit the newsroom wastebasket. To make sure yours isn't one of them, avoid these 7 Deadly Sins: 1. Providing insufficient or wrong information on your press releases, particularly telephone numbers. Releases must be complete, accurate and specific. (Note: A news release is the sa More..

16 Publicity tips for Restaurants

With a dismal failure rate of more than 75 percent among restaurants, you must be sure you do everything you possibly can do to promote your restaurant through free publicity. Here are 16 tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed--even if you don't have a big advertising budget. 1. Call the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want to get into and ask for a copy of their editorial calendar. It's a free listing of all the special topics an More..

13 Publicity Ideas for Retailers

If you're trying to promote your store, but you don't have a big advertising budget, relax. There are lots of ways to get in front of the audience you want to reach by using free publicity. Here are tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed. 1. Tie your story ideas to the holidays. Here are some examples: Gourmet gift baskets that make the best Christmas gifts. Bookstores that are doing special programs that tie into Mother's Day. Health food stores that can e More..

Dont Pay for Radio Interviews

t used to be that all you had to do was pitch a great idea with a clever hook, and you'd be booked as a guest on a half-hour radio show. These days, however, hang onto your wallet. A new breed of radio host is insisting that guests fork over a few hundred dollars--sometimes more--for the "privilege" of being on their show. Some guests, desperate for exposure for a new book or project, willingly pay the money. Then they're disappointed when they get little feedback from listeners, or the show le More..

How to Work with Newspaper Photographers

The next time a newspaper photographer takes your photo, remember the 8 things they hate: 1. Bossy people who demand that other people be included in the photo, so there won't be hurt feelings. Never tell the photographer whom to photograph. This puts them on the spot. Usually, the photographer will oblige and take a few shots just to placate you, then make a mental note that you're a real pain to deal with. 2. Know-it-all photo subjects, usually amateur photographers, who think they know the More..

Publicizing Your Company

Got a huge need for publicity and a tiny publicity budget? You don't need to have a Madison Avenue-sized advertising budget to make your name known. Here are five ideas to help you promote your company: 1. Write a column. Go to a local paper, no matter how small, and offer to write a column on your area of expertise or on business in general. Don't ask to be paid for it, and promise not to promote your company. You won't need to-your byline, words (and maybe even photograph) will do that. 2. More..

Speak Up

Another way to really become known in your area is to speak up. Make yourself available to talk to every civic,business and educational group that will have you. Stress your expertise, and, as with writing the newspaper column,never try to sell anything-except your reputation as a knowledgeable, trustworthy professional. I know that many of you are saying. Not me! I hate talking in front of people. Well news flash - so do I. However, try a group like Toastmasters or small networking groups to s More..

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