Press releases enable organizations to get their news out, to promote the work the people in the business or organization are doing, or to announce changes.

Writing press releases have characteristics that are unique to their purpose and audience.

1.) Successful releases have a “hook” to get the reader’s attention. Write a strong headline and opening sentence to propel the reader’s interest through the details of your release. See if your opening sentence, by itself, could tell the main idea. In the first paragraph, cover the who, what, when, where, how, and why of what you are announcing.

2.) Successful releases use expert quotes. Strong, succinct quotes drive the release and nail the main points your are making in the release.You can use direct quotes that you got in your personal interview in-person or on the phone. It is wise to get permission to use direct quotes. You can also use indirect quotes that you get from a written or spoken source hat were not directly made to you.

3.) Successful releases stick to the essential information.”Just the facts, ma’am,” as Joe Friday said. Present the facts in an interesting way, without “fluff”. Present your information so that it is relevant to what is going on in the community and to your intended audience.Make sure your information is accurate.

4.) Successful releases are written in a newsy style and use correct grammar. Keep the release to under 500 words, with relatively short sentences, three or four to a paragraph.

5) Successful releases provide contact information: points of contact, address, phone numbers, Fax numbers, emails, etc.

The media receive many press releases, so it is important to get your press releases noticed, seen as newsworthy and relevant,and, ultimately, communicated to your target audience.

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Tags: media relations, write, media, press, business

You have been picked by the editor of a newspaper, or the segment producer of a TV program to become a part of a story in which you are to be featured or quoted. The media found you important enough to be interviewed and to represent your field. But why do you want to be the story? What good does that do you? Quite a lot. The following is a quick review of the top three benefits public relations can bring to you and your business.

1. Prominence By Association – Let’s say you are being featured on an evening news segment; your interview could be placed in between an interview with the President of the United States and a feature on the newest medical breakthrough. What difference does that make? You’ve heard of guilt by association? This is importance and prominence by association. It is said that we are judged by the company we keep. You are now in the company of the newsworthy, and because of your association, you have suddenly leaped ahead of your competition.

2. Mass Communication – By being featured in the media, your business, service, or product will reach (depending on whether the story is local, regional, or national) hundreds, thousands, and possibly millions of people. You will not be viewed as a hard sell, as another ad to ignore, but as a communicator of information. You and your message will enter homes and businesses, not as an ad or commercial, but as a news story.

3. Validation – Anyone who reads, sees, or hears you interviewed or featured in the media will perceive you as an expert. Instead of being viewed as a salesperson, you will be perceived as an authority. When people seek you out, they will be seeking you out as a specialist, as someone who the media deems important enough to be featured in the press. You have avoided spending thousands of dollars in advertising and have gained two things no amount of advertising could ever buy you – validation and credibility.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2007

Anthony Mora
President & CEO

For further information visit this site

Anthony Mora began his media career as a freelance journalist for such publications as Us, Rolling Stone and other local and national publications. He also served as editor-in-chief of two Los Angeles-based entertainment and lifestyle-oriented publications. In 1990, Anthony formed Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. a Los Angeles-based media relations company that specializes in media placement, image development, and media training. AMC Inc. has placed clients in: Time, Newsweek, 60 Minutes, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other local, national, and international media outlets. ! Anthony has been featured in: USA Today, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, Entrepreneur, Fox News, MSNBC, and other media. He has written three books. The most recent, “Spin to Win,” is a step-by-step guide on how to define goals and utilize the power of the media to achieve success in any field.

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Tags: media relations, media, association, communication, news

Ebook writing is a simple process, but that does not mean it is an easy one. Writing requires planning and organization before the writing process can begin. If you spend some time thinking about what you are going to write and who your readers and audience will be, more people will want to read your ebook and the process of writing it will be more enjoyable for you as an author.

The first step in writing an article, ebook, or even a traditional book is to decide what you would like to write about. Think about what you are passionate about and what you know well. This could be something that you have had much experience in, such as your career or a hobby that is very special to you. Whatever you decide upon, begin to make notes and to do further research so that you will know as much as possible before you begin to write.

Making an outline will then be the next logical step in your ebook writing process. Decide what the main ideas are that you wish to convey to your readers and list them in a logical order. Next, make notes that describe each of these main ideas in more detail. These will become your chapters. Give this area a lot of time and thought so that you will be able to visualize what your ebook will be about in great detail and who the likely audience for your ebook will be. If you have a list of people that are interested in your topic, ask them what they would like for you to include in your ebook.

Find out how to get your ebook written NOW by visiting here, where you will receive free tips and a Special Report on writing and marketing your articles and ebooks.

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Tags: media, organization, write, plan, media relations

Here are some tips every entrepreneur and small business owner can use, to gain local media coverage, for their business. Make a habit of sending out detailed fact filled press releases that provide lots of relevant information about your business and its products to every media outlet in your region.

The fact that you are releasing a new product line is not merely enough to warrant space on their day planner, but if your release identifies one or more unique benefits or features of your product, then they may give you some face time.After all, reporters are always looking for friendly, enthusiastic people in their local area, with a story to tell. If your story is interesting, when people hear your story, they will want to know more about you and your business.

If you always share useful and important information, the local media may be willing to use your information and mention the name of your business, giving you free publicity.

Having a contact list of local media sources in your area is by far the most important starting point. This list should include the E-mail addresses of the editors of the major newspapers and other local media as well as small weeklies, entertainment papers and magazines that are published regularly.

Any time you take a trip to the grocers and retailers in your community look for these types of publications that are usually found in racks by the door. Build and keep this list updated because it will become a valuable tool for your present and future marketing campaigns.

To the media any release can be relevant if it tells the public an interesting story, in which, your business or product just happens to play a role. Maybe your product is in demand because of a new city ordinance or it’s the same product used by the astronauts that is being introduced for private use for the first time. You can find a hook or an angle that other businesses have not taken advantage of with any item.

Subway’s use of Jared and the facts that he was able to lose weight by eating their subs is a great example of finding a new angle for a product. If you can’t find a hook then develop one, this provides customers with an incentive to spend their money with you instead of your competitors.

Another good way to get the media’s attention is to by sponsoring a charitable event.

“Find some way to get connected with the community, but it must be something from your heart”, explained Michele Miller, partner at Wizard of Ads, an AZ, marketing firm, in a recent article.

It shouldn’t be hard to find a worthy organization, doing a thankless job, that you can donate all or part of the sales proceeds, for a day, week, or a specified amount to help them with their budget.

The charitable component of the story will bring in media attention and create consumer awareness about your product or service. One added bonus is, the great feeling you’ll get, knowing that you made a difference in someone’s life.

Always implement a targeted public relations program, that include on-line press release distribution and viral marketing, directed to your ideal customer. Take the time to acquaint yourself with using on-line tools that can assist to get your business noticed. Be sure that any on-line releases that use web-based PR tools have been optimized to be “search engine friendly” in addition tailor your message to resonate with your target audience. One added benefits is that on-line releases are indexed by the search engines, for six months.

People looking for related information will have access to releases in their natural search results too. This gives them a definite edge over the traditional method. Indexed releases may become fresh news or a hot topic of discussion on a slow news day, when they hang around that long.

Nothing takes the place of having a strong marketing plan that includes effective advertising, interacting with other elements in the marketing mix, to pave the way for your product or service.

E J Jolivet is a freelance writer working, living, and writing in Houston, TX.

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Tags: media relations, plan, press, coverage, budget

Publicity is a tricky area for small business. You may not have a lot of money to spend yet you need big results. You may have a nice size budget but are not sure where to spend it to make the most impact. A small business owner cannot event get advice without paying high fees. Here are 9 things you must do to make business. Start from here and move your business forward!

1. Get a real news release written by a professional. Many copy writers will tell you they write news releases. If they were good at it, they would be in publicity, not copy writing. Being a good at copywriter does not automatically make you a good publicity writer, just like being a good driver does not make you a good NASCAR driver. Get a pro and pay the fees for them.

2. Make sure your news releases are going out locally on a regular basis. Your local media should know about your first, keep them in the loop. That will help you spring to regional and national prominence.

3. Create events. Not just a sale, or the tired “you buy my stuff and I will give some money to charity”, do something worth talking about. Impress the media. Unless you are giving large sums of money to a charity, the media doesn’t care and the public doesn’t believe you.

4. Let your entire staff know about the publicity going out and what their response should be. Nothing is more frustrating than calling to get more information and no one knows what is going on.

5. Recycle some publicity during the year. You can repackage some things and use them for a new season, holiday or event.

6. Pay Per Interviews are not all bad. People use to tell you never pay for an interview. In today’s competitive world, you may need that edge. Do some due diligence and check out the source then make the most of it be leveraging someone else’s network with a paid interview.

7. Set aside some money from your marketing budget to get your publicity done

8. Create a mastermind group with other businesses for publicity ideas

9. Create your own personal list from Bacons Media Source. Your personal list of contacts will be a gold mind.

Dr. Letitia Wright is the host of the Wright Place™ Television Show and the producer of the Power of Mentorship Movie. You can find out more information about the show and movie at this site

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Tags: media relations, business, publicity, professional, event

The first thing you should do when asked to do a radio or television interview is say, yes, then control the panic that may set in.

A lot of people unfamiliar with doing an on-air interview are daunted by the prospect and get very nervous. This fear can stop us moving ahead and saying no to the chance of promoting our businesses. You need to put this fear into its right perspective – what is the worst thing that is going to happen to you?

You might think you are going to die or pass out and faint once a microphone is put in front of you but it is highly unlikely. The knocking knees and shaky voice you might think will give you away but generally nerves are pretty normal and not noticed so much by other people even though you may be feeling it strongly.

Nerves can be used as a source of enthusiasm to show your commitment to the subject you are talking about. So let’s look at how we might eliminate unnecessary fears from an interview situation.

Prepare

You only have one chance to get it right with live radio or television. You know your subject better than anyone else so think about some possible questions they may ask and prepare your answers. Ask your partner or a friend to ask you a few questions and have a rehearsal – practice. Find out as much as you can about the program on which you’re being asked to appear – is it live or pre-recorded? What angle are they taking? What are they expecting from you – what are the question areas? Is the audience completely general, or is targeted at housewives or business people? Think about the points you could make which are most interesting, useful and relevant to the appropriate audience.

Stick to the Point

What’s really useful is to prepare three or four main points which you wish to convey. Write them down on a sticky note and refer to it. Most radio interviews are less than four minutes long so always keep to the point and avoid being drawn into side issues. Always try and take control and use every opportunity to get your message across. Don’t wait to be asked the appropriate question.

Give Yourself Time To Think About It

The phone rings, and out of the blue a journalist is on the line asking you some tricky questions about your company’s activities. How do you handle it? Your company’s reputation may depend on the answers you give. Don’t be afraid to call the journalist back rather than talking straight away off the top of your head – but find out when their deadline is and don’t leave it too late. Use the time to think through what you should be putting across, particularly in response to any controversial issues that are likely to be raised.

Have Something To Say

If there are controversial issues in your area of expertise, work out where you stand, and what you should say. It is better to respond rather than say “no comment”. Don’t be afraid to put your point of view across.

Make It Interesting and Relevant

Make your message more memorable by using real stories and examples. Use word pictures. Cut through the clutter with words that paint a picture in the mind of the listener. When you have facts and specifics to back yourself up, you will come over as more authoritative. Remember to stress the points that are likely to interest the listeners or viewers rather than just your own internal messages.

Make it Personable

Use the interviewer’s name to make it more personable when answering questions. If you’re doing an interview face-to-face use eye contact and try and interest the interviewer in what you’re talking about rather than thinking – do I sound OK – do I look alright on TV. If your eyes flicker around during a TV interview, you look uncomfortable, and possibly a bit shifty. If you keep your eye-line focused on the interviewer, you will come over as being in command of your subject. Focus on getting those main points across.

Be Buoyant & Enthusiastic

Be bright and buoyant in your answers – boring answers will probably be edited out and boring interviews will be dropped altogether. You need to be slightly more animated and larger than life. Pep up your delivery so that it is bright and enthusiastic, rather than dull and low-key. Remember broadcasting is a performance! If you do not hold the audience’s attention, there are plenty of rival channels people can switch over to.

Mind Your Language

Think about the way you talk in your work life – is your conversation peppered with abbreviations, technical terms and other jargon? For the outside world, this will just not do. Imagine instead that you are chatting to someone who is perfectly intelligent, but who simply doesn’t know anything about the subject. People often make the mistake of addressing their remarks to the interviewer (who may be well informed) rather than the audience.

Keep Your Comments Concise

Catchy short answers work best in the media especially for television news. They’re known as “grabs” and can be slotted in to a news story. If you watch the news, or listen to radio news, you’ll notice that the grabs or “sound bites” are about 5-7 seconds long. If you don’t give enough information the journalist will simply ask a follow-up question.

Be Available

Always make yourself available for radio interviews. Be available to go into the studio for better quality than over the phone. If you’re on talkback radio use a landline not a mobile phone and be aware of external noise. When you do radio interviews make sure the background is as quiet as possible.

Warm Up Your Voice

Always take time to warm up your voice so you sound more articulate, intelligent and authoritative. This will give you more confidence.

Call to Action

Most people will remember the opening and closing of a radio interview. Always have a strong closing with a call to action, something you want listeners to do i.e. attend the event or buy the product. And finally remember to smile – when you smile you feel and sound much friendlier – and enjoy it!

Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications Consultancy and author of Apprentice to Business Ace – your inside-out guide to personal branding, is a business educator and speaker on personal branding through image and media. To learn more about how you can achieve recognition, enhance your image and shine, sign up for free monthly tips here.

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Tags: media, interview, media relations, educations, press

These days, business requires sophisticated communication with clients and customers. That takes the artful use of essential promotion tools: marketing, public relations, and advertising. Almost all business executives would agree that promoting your business is a smart idea, but few understand the value in a free communication tool that is often much more powerful: the news media.

Even business executives who do understand the value of media attention sometimes shy away from it because they view it as something too difficult to control. To be sure, reaching your target audiences through the news media requires a different strategy than communicating with them directly. It means understanding what reporters need in order to tell a story and understanding how you can meet that need. But there is so much to be gained by understanding that strategy, it’s a wonder more executives don’t make media outreach part of their business plans.

Business and news reporters are not interested in promoting your business for you, but they are interested in gaining a fuller understanding of a topic or a different point of view in exchange for giving you access to their readers, viewers, or listeners. Successful interaction with the news media requires an understanding of what each of you has to gain: You gain a profile-enhancing forum while they gain a quotable expert to help tell a story.

So how do expert sources keep the media calling? Here are some tips to help you on your way:

Let them know you’re around

You needn’t have an expensive media plan to get going as an expert source. Call business reporters and introduce yourself with a few specific suggestions about stories or angles on which you are qualified to offer expert opinion. The more specific your suggestion, the better. Read or hear something you disagree with? Track down the reporter and suggest a follow-up story from a different angle, or if the facts in the story are wrong, offer the correct ones in a polite, respectful way. Your aim is to introduce yourself and get on the reporters’ contact list as an expert source to be called at the next opportunity.

Do your homework

Interacting with the media successfully means understanding how stories are told. Become a sophisticated consumer of news. Read, listen, and watch news reporters with an eye toward issues you might contribute something to. Watch how experts are used to move a story forward and how concisely they can frame a point.

Learn how to be quotable

Journalism’s charge is to deliver information to a wide audience in short form. Help the reporter find the essence of your point, rather than forcing reporters to heavily edit and select your points for you. Remember, you’re not being interviewed to tell everything you know, but to offer your perspective on what you know. Decide what you have to offer and how you can speak about it succinctly and memorably.

React quickly

News, by definition, moves quickly. If you’re going to interact with the media, you’ll have to learn to keep up with ever-changing news cycles. You might have the most expertise on a given topic, but if you’re not accessible to reporters on deadline, you won’t become a reliable source they can turn to again and again.

Stick to what you know

Resist the temptation, even when prodded, to speculate or comment on rumor. Being an expert source doesn’t require you to be an expert on everything. If you don’t know, don’t be afraid to say so. Do offer the reporter some alternatives such as other ways of finding the information so you continue to prove your value as a source.

Don’t spin

Don’t lie to a reporter, or stretch the truth—ever. Nothing is more important to a reporter than his or her reputation, because that reputation means job security. Damage a reporter’s credibility and you won’t get a second chance to become a source.

With a bit of preparation and research, you can join the list of reliable sources for news outlets of all kinds—and build your brand and credibility.

Aileen Pincus is president of The Pincus Group Inc., an executive-coaching firm offering training in presentation, speech, media, and crisis communications.

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Tags: relationship, media, media relations, activity, business

A mass explosion of free publicity is the best reward to launching a successful PR campaign. The ultimate goal of a PR campaign is to receive loads of free publicity about your book, product, service, or cause. This type of free publicity most often leads to more sales, brand awareness, strategic alliances, and so on. Making headlines is the greatest and fastest way to make people want to do business with you.

Achieving free publicity success often involves research and doing your homework. However, the rewards are well worth all the time and effort you put in. Imagine receiving a feature story about your book, product, service, or cause in a newspaper or magazine for free? Advertising is expensive and most likely would cost a pretty penny to publish a full feature article in a newspaper or magazine. Learning how to successfully pitch stories to the media could bring in tons of free publicity.

Here are some tips to guide you on how to pitch stories for maximum PR media placement:

1. Release – The first step is to prepare a media or press release about an announcement. It is important to consider that your release should be telling a newsworthy story. New additions, breakthroughs, mergers, acquisitions, research findings, etc. A media or press release will tell the story that you are trying to pitch.

2. Research – Make sure to find media publications that are related to your story pitch. Look for chemistry by matching publications that focus on your industry, topics, reviews, etc. This is the single most important step to receive the most free publicity exposure. A great release and story that is pitched to the wrong media source will never get picked up.

3. Pitch – When pitching your story remember you only get one opportunity to make a first impression. Be ready to pitch your story in 30 seconds or less. Identify why your story pitch is significant to the media source and how readers can benefit from your story pitch.

4. Promote – Allow media publications to find you by promoting your release. Try using press release wire services to help promote your release. There are a number of free press release wire services like this site or this site.

5. Build – Start building relationships with the media and become a lead source for media publications. Give them what they want, a great story!

Media publications run on news and supplying news is what will get you free publicity. Mastering how to strategize to receive the best media publicity involves knowing how to match your story pitch to the right publications. Keep researching, keep pitching!

“CR” Cataunya Ransom is the Co-founder of Mosnar Communications, INC. She developed a niche for Luxury PR & Global Marketing. Guiding clients on how to brand, market, and promote luxury products, events, and services. Highly respected as a luxury public relations expert! “CR” consults clients and speaks to audiences about luxury public relations and global marketing practices. Visit this site

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Without question it must be really nice to be Oprah Winfrey. After all who truly reach the heights to have an annual show appearance that becomes the holiday season biggest rave and be able to give away millions of dollars in prizes to the audience? This year’s Oprah’s Favorite Things show for 2007 give away over 2 million dollars in prizes to the audience, awarding over 300 audience members prizes worth over $7,247.33 a person.

Oprah typically selects 20 companies and products to feature during her favorite things show. What about the other hundreds of millions of other companies and products out there? They can generally wait another hundred million years to make the list or turn the hype from Oprah’s Favorite Things show into their own publicity campaign. This theory proves to be a sure bet for success as Oprah even selected her very own book to appear on Oprah’s Favorite Things as her #19 pick – O’s Guide To Life. No wonders how this will impact her book sales?

The first thing is to understand the hype surrounding Oprah and the power her name carries in the media. Oprah’s Favorite Things show is an instant boost to the economy and for the lucky 20 companies selected a mega revenue surge. Just knowing this information you would think that most companies would kick down doors to be apart of this publicity. However, few take advantage of this golden opportunity to increase brand awareness or revenue earnings.

Publicity tips to capitalize from the hype of Oprah’s Favorite Things:

1. Item Category – Review Oprah’s Favorite Things and search for a product that is in your same category. Highlight features and benefits that make your product standout.

2. Promote Category Selection – Prepare a media release about Oprah’s Favorite Things selecting your product category. Tell what makes your product’s features and benefits standout. If possible reveal customer testimonials, experiences etc.

Here is how a good sample header would appear:

Oprah’s Favorite Things Wows Audience With Body Butter

XYZ Company offers a wide selection of body butter including the same scent selected on Oprah’s Favorite Things list with all 100% pure and natural elements.

3. Next Year’s Campaign – Now is an excellent time to start campaigning to make Oprah’s Favorite Things list for 2008. Pitch Oprah’s producers on how you started your business, if you borrowed a loan from your father-in-law or took on a second job stress those points. Let them know about your struggles to success. Tell them why your product should be featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things for 2008. Don’t forget to include product samples and customer testimonials.

4. Target Similar Lists – There are thousands of other media resources that are searching for holiday products to highlight. Often many of them trend themselves after Oprah’s Favorite Things and looking for similar products or bigger better ideas to top Oprah’s list. A good start would be to target holiday gift guides, magazines, newspapers, etc. Contact your local area newspapers, radio stations, talk shows etc. Often times you can create a local buzz and turn it into national news.

5. Christmas In July – July is the ultimate time to target publications for December, which Christmas features most often need six months plus. Present your pitch why your product is a favorite things holiday gift idea.

Utilizing the publicity power of Oprah’s Favorite Things is a great strategy to increase brand awareness. This is the golden opportunity to take rejection and turn it into something positive. The power of the O factor is limitless.

“CR” Cataunya Ransom is the Co-founder of Mosnar Communications, INC. She developed a niche for Luxury PR & Global Marketing. Guiding clients on how to brand, market, and promote luxury products, events, and services. Highly respected as a luxury public relations expert! “CR” consults clients and speaks to audiences about luxury public relations and global marketing practices. Visit “CR” at this site

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Tags: media relations, promote, person, product, information

The first PC keystroke combination is for use when you have several programs open on your PC at the same time, and you are toggling between these programs, to usually share data or refer to needed information (say on your Internet browser). Here is how it works:

Hold down the “ALT” key, and then hit the “Tab” key. Windows will then bring up a small window showing icons of all of the active desktop programs that are currently running (and on the new Vista operating system, it will actually toggle between the full screens of your different running programs). Keep holding down the “ALT” key, and hit the “Tab” key again, and the window will “scroll” over and highlight the icons of each of the active running programs. If you then release the “ALT” and “Tab” keys when it hits the icon of the program you would like to jump to, your computer will jump to that selected program.

Try this combo if you are sharing data or information between two or more open programs on your desktop – this keystroke combo can definitely save you some time vs. using your mouse to do the same thing.

And if you’d like to close any of these programs once you get the data or information that you need, simply hit “ALT-F4″. That will immediately close whatever program you are actively working in. That can save quite a bit of “mouse time” too! Enjoy!

Randy Dean is the “Totally Obsessed” Time Management/PDA Guy and E-mail Sanity Expert. A very popular speaker and trainer, Randy has led programs all around the United States on better time management and e-mail sanity. The author of the book, Major Satisfactors = Major Success, and developer of the popular speaking/training program, “Taming the E-mail Beast: Managing the Mess of E-mail and Information Overload”, Randy is working on a new book and related DVD program on how to better manage your productivity and sanity related to e-mail and info overload. Randy also has popular speaking programs for conferences and association meetings, including his “Finding an Extra Hour Every Day” program, “The PDA Power Program”, and “(RE)Awakening the Passion and Energy in Your Work and Life”, as well as highly rated training programs, including his highlight full-day “Time Management for Busy Managers, Leaders, and Professionals” course. You can learn much more about Randy and his upcoming courses and programs at this site
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Tags: media relations, keystroke, combinations, program, computer

If you’re a small business or service, an artist, or non-profit organization with limited dollars for marketing and promotions, not to worry: You can still get media coverage for your special event. Even if you’re just starting a business, planning your first art exhibit or music video viewing, there are PR strategies that can result in publicity for an activity you’re not certain the media will support.

Visualize having tons of orders and requests for your products, services, or cause. Imagine receiving calls for interviews for radio, television, podcasts, blogs, newspapers, and even magazines. And envision using free publicity to achieve all of this! Free publicity is the one way to get a call from the Queen herself, you know Queen “O” Oprah Winfrey! Which just a mention of products, books, causes, or services on the Oprah Winfrey Show can typically skyrocket a business into instant fame. Top television talk shows like the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The View, etc are often very attracted to popular local storylines first. Learn the top ten ways how-to use press releases to get free publicity and you could line your business up to receive a phone call from “O” or The View, too.

Did you know that publicity is supposedly seven times more effective than advertising? And it is free – that is if you do it yourself. If you know the elements of writing a good media release to capture the attention of journalists, you can cash in on no cost editorial coverage. Here’s a few tips to help you write a media release.

The Beginning

The first and most important thing is to have something interesting to say. Consider your USP – just like in sales. It’s your unique selling proposition. After all publicity is “selling”. You are selling a story idea to the media. I like to call it the unique shining point. It really needs to stand out, shine, be compelling – not an advertisement, not a boring product plug.

Another element that will really hook the journalist in is to consider the ESP the emotional selling point. Often it is the human element in the story that will capture the reader’s attention therefore the attention of the media. Think about what your story is. What is your background? Have you overcome any obstacles to get where you are today? Any achievements or milestones? Where is the human interest?

What’s more compelling? An announcement about a wedding limousine service, or the 30th anniversary both in marriage and business of the couple who run the service? This is a story I helped someone uncover in a seminar I conducted. The couple later went on to get a full page color photo and editorial story in a wedding supplement in their local paper – for free, just by working out the human element of interest to readers.

WIFM

What’s in it for me? Or what is in it for them. How does your product or service help others? You media release needs to state that key element. How will the reader benefit?

It’s uninteresting to just say, “Jones & Smith Accountants today announced the launch of their revolutionary new accountancy software package… Better to state – small businesses now have a better way to measure, monitor and manage the costs involved in running their business, thanks to Jones & Smith’s new online measurement & analysis accounting system.

The Heading

Write a catchy headline with a short, punchy phrase. Observe how headings are written in newspapers and magazines. You need to grab the reader’s attention. Of course that is if you are planning to post your media release snail mail with your product sample or full media kit. But most releases these days are emailed. However, the same principles apply. Use a compelling subject heading or the journalist will simply hit delete. Make it provocative.

The Content

Have a bright opening; start with your strongest point first. Instead of the conventional “today announced that” lead, you should make your release stand out from the crowd with a strong, compelling lead paragraph. As editors and journalists get so many releases every day, you only have seconds to grab their attention. The first paragraph is where your important information goes but it needs to be written in an exciting, creative, interesting way.

Consider the 5 W’s – Who, What, When, Where, Why; This is an easy formula to remember when writing your release but it is still not enough without some “zing” or compelling elements to “hook” the reader in.

Again – how does it help? Remember the benefit to the reader and perhaps include some “how to” tips on whatever your product or service is.

Use memorable quotes; either of you or someone well-known who can endorse your product. Quotes are often used by the media as they make the story more “real” or personal. A good quote can include why you’ve started this business or developed your product or how it helps your target audience.

The Format

Title it “Media Release” and always include the date. Include your contact details of telephone, mobile, email and website address. Use letterhead and keep the content to one page – any more and you will lose the journalists’ attention. When using email, cut and paste into the body of the email – don’t send an attachment.

The Contact

Send your release to the appropriate person – be sure to do your research. Check that the “food editor” is still just that and not now the “finance editor”. Find out the name of the person and their direct email.

Always follow up with a phone call or email and keep your media liaison consistent. If you provide good information you are not a nuisance, you are providing a service. Journalists and editors need our information to fill their newspapers, magazines and radio shows.

Supply a creative photo or suggest a photo opportunity that will add to the impact of having your information publicized.

Gaining publicity in the media will help you become known as an expert in your business field; it will enhance your image and reputation and help you to grow your business.

Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications Consultancy and author of Apprentice to Business Ace – your inside-out guide to personal branding, is a business educator and speaker on personal branding through image and media. To learn more about how you can achieve recognition, enhance your image and shine, sign up for free monthly tips at this site

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Tags: media relations, write, release, media, report

1.) Your topic should be worthy enough to be considered news, or else it’ll only be regarded as spam and ignored without getting a second glance.

2.) Your headline should be strong enough to get people to take notice because a lot depends on it. It sets the tone of the whole press release.

3.) The opening paragraph should live up to the hype generated by your headline. This keeps the readers riveted right from the start, and hopefully to the end.

4.) Give only the facts. You can make the writing interesting, but remember, this isn’t a literary piece. Your press release must be engaging enough, but keep it strictly informative.

5.) Practice good grammar and spelling. Make sure that sentences are well-structured with all proper punctuations in place. Also, don’t overlook the spelling mistakes. Typos make you look sloppy, disorganized, uneducated, and unprofessional.

6.) Answer the what, when, where, why, and how questions. Give the necessary details so that readers can get a clear picture of the message you convey. Double check contact details so you can be sure they’re correct.

7.) Action verbs take precedence over adverbs and adjectives. In press releases, flowery words have no place. Just get to the point with words that convey the proper mood.

8.) Credit all your sources. Quotes, facts, and figures should be properly credited if you don’t want anyone questioning your press release’s authenticity.

9.) Finally, include a short paragraph about your company/website at the end of the press release. This gives readers the necessary background information on what you are representing.

To take a look at more articles just like this one, click here G Allan Roberts has been a marketing professional for 15 years and has helped clients achieve marketing success both online and offline.

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Tag: journalists, media, media relations, news, press

A great deal of effort spent on public relations is wasted simply because it doesn’t meet the requirements of journalists. Get a good understanding of what they want, however, and you can secure coverage and build the reputation of your organisation.

You can become famous. Maybe you don’t want be famous but at least you can learn to make your product or service well known. Of course that will in turn help the bottom line and you might become rich and famous! Is that what you want – your 15 minutes of fame? Your opportunity to shine in the spotlight.

So how do we get that opportunity? Why not tell everyone who you are, what you do and how you make a difference. The way of doing that is through public relations and it is simply communicating who you are and what you do, it’s having “relationships” with your “public”.

One way of letting people know who you are is through publicity. Getting that free editorial coverage in press, on radio and television is what we all want. It’s our way of letting people know about our product or service or how terrific we are. But most of us don’t like blowing our own trumpet. But without promotion something terrible happens – nothing!

If you are an independent business owner you have a lot of things to juggle, a lot of hats to wear, that of lawyer, accountant, manager, entrepreneur, technician and of course marketing expert and under that umbrella comes PR, promotion and publicity. So let’s get rights down to the basics – the publicist. That’s what you need to be. You need to write a media release, send it out to the media and ring them up. Talk to the media about who you are and what your product is.

You need to sing your own praises or at least that of your own business. Publicity is very effective. They say it is seven times more effective than advertising.

No point writing that fancy media release with the dynamic headline, strong opening and all the elements of who, what, when, where and why – that’s all very well but you also need to follow through. Find out the name of the person you want to send that media release to and phone them up. Find out whether they want to receive the media release by fax or email – build a relationship. Get that message out and then follow through.

The first step is to go and buy the magazines. Have a look in the front for the name of the editor. Their phone number is usually there – it’s that simple. Then write and send your media release or perhaps even an article. Pick up the phone and promote your story idea to the media.

If your story is interesting it may be published in the newspaper or magazine and then you will reap the rewards of people contacting you and wanting to know more about you. It’s not that hard really. You can do it. So I hope to see your name on the front page someday – on your way to fame and fortune.

Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications Consultancy and author of Apprentice to Business Ace – your inside-out guide to personal branding, is a business educator and speaker on personal branding through image and media. To learn more about how you can achieve recognition, enhance your image and shine, sign up for free monthly tips here

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Tag: media relations, pr, positive, coverage, press’

One of the best ways to get your business, website, products and services noticed is by issuing a press release.

If you’ve got breaking news to share or a compelling story to pitch, knowing who to call is as important as the story you want to tell.

Contact with journalists

First, it’s important to recognise that there are different types of contact with journalists:

* expected – they might contact you in response to a story or statement that you have issued

* unexpected – on the back of someone else’s story – they want your expert comment, information or an interview

* unexpected – on the back of a crisis, something that has gone wrong in your organisation – for example, consumers/customers have been put at risk by something your organisation has done, or failed to do etc – this may be expected or unexpected depending on the situation.

Expected calls from journalists – If a journalist contacts you in response to your news story then you should be prepared to speak to them – there should not be any excuse. It’s essential that you are prepared before any press information is issued – ensure that you are clear on the messages you want to get across, have accurate corporate information and facts and figures to hand. If the journalist asks you a question you don’t know the answer to then don’t worry. It’s quite reasonable to say that you will check and get back to them. Just because you have set the agenda don’t assume that speaking to a journalist will be easy. They will be looking for their own angle and may well speak to your competitors, before contacting you, to identify who might disagree with your views or actions.

Unexpected calls from journalists – You might feel on the back foot if you receive a telephone from a journalist out of the blue but the most important thing to remember is not to panic. Never feel pressured into giving answers off the cuff. It is much more useful to note down what they want and take some time to gather your thoughts before providing any information or comment. Your job is to get as much information as possible from the journalist to assess whether this is an opportunity you want to pursue. When a journalist calls remember to ask the following questions to get the information that will be useful for you:

* where are you calling from (publication/programme) etc?

* what are your contact details?

* why are you calling? What is the story and where did you get the story? This gives you a start in being able to research the story to see if there is an angle for you and your organisation. If it’s from a press release then ask to see it

* what are you after – information, comment, interview? Check out logistics for interview requests – live or recorded, whether it will be one-to-one, part of a panel debate etc

* what are your specific questions?

* who else have you/will you be speaking to/interviewing? This is useful to know so you can work out the angle the journalist might be taking

* what is your deadline? The journalist may well answer with ‘as soon as possible’ but push them to be specific

* it’s also useful to note down the time and date of the call.

It’s quite reasonable to note down this information and then agree to phone the journalist back. This gives you some useful breathing space to think about your response and to consider what you and your organisation will get out of an interview.

Treat the conversation as an interview – Whether the conversation with the journalist is to provide additional background information, or an interview recorded over the phone line, you should treat them both as interviews. The preparation is the same whether you expected the call from the journalist or not:

* think about the key messages you want to get across in the interview/discussion

* think about how you can support your key points with examples and anecdotes, research etc

* ensure that you are clear on the audience and think about the most appropriate language to use.

If you are commenting on the back of someone else’s story then you may need to do a bit of further research to check facts and figures, and read up around the subject etc. Once you have gathered all your information and prepared your messages you should contact the journalist. It’s worth making colleagues aware you are doing this to avoid interruption – so you can focus on the conversation.

Unexpected calls fro journalists when something has gone wrong – If you have a robust crisis handling process in place then you will have materials, including a holding statement, in readiness should any calls come through from the press and media. If you have identified a risk area and have been informed of a possible crisis then it is essential to put the time into planning and to ensure that your communication is all in line. For crisis handling it is advisable to seek professional PR support – how you handle a crisis is just as important as the crisis itself.

It’s worth remembering, however, that when speaking to journalists there are two particular phrases you should probably avoid using:

* ‘no comment’ – this is the worst possible thing to say to a journalist as it suggests that you are guilty or have something to hide – that could damage your reputation rather than protect it

* ‘off the record’ – this is often misunderstood so is best avoided. While the journalist may not name you they can indicate your gender, the organization you work, your department, job title etc.

Getting your message across via the press and media is hugely valuable. Knowing how to prepare yourself helps to put you in control and gives confidence in handling their queries. While not every conversation or interview with a journalist may go as planned doing your preparation puts you in a strong position.

Using PR to build your profile and protect your reputation can help you influence the audiences that are important to you – I invite you to access more free articles, tips and information on this, and other subjects related to public relations, by visiting: here

Debbie Leven – Profile Matters Ltd PR Consultants UK

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Tag: media relations, advertising, agency, tips, journalists

One of the most difficult challenges for public relations campaigns is identifying the factors that will really cause people to change their behaviors.

Much PR and advertising is focused on awareness — making people aware of the dangers of a behavior, and/or aware of the benefits of changing.

But awareness falls far short of affecting people’s behavior. Otherwise, no one would smoke, overeat, drink and drive, or drive while talking on a cell phone. We all know the dangers of these behaviors, yet they persist. The answer to changing behavior lies in understanding the “drivers” of behavior.

For example, when my PR firm first started working with the local teen safe-driving campaign, we researched teens and asked them, “When you drive safely, what motivates you to do so?” Teens could say that they feared death in a crash; or feared hurting others. But overwhelmingly teens said “fear of a ticket” motivated them to drive safely. That’s great information to have; rather than trying to scare teen drivers with doom and death, focus on the more immediate consequences of getting a ticket. Older adults might be more motivated out of safety concerns, but for teens, who see themselves as immortal, safety messages fall on deaf ears. But many teens have gotten a ticket, or know someone who has, and that consequence is a more effective motivational driver. A little additional research showed that the financial consequences for one ticket can add up to $3,000 in fines and, more importantly, increased insurance premiums.

So the key to influencing people’s behavior with PR lies not so much in the creative execution of a campaign, but in the front-end research to identify the true drivers of behavioral change. Better research, better outcomes.

Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations issues of interest to nonprofit communications professionals.

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It’s easy to think that public relations is just about making the most of the news you have or ‘creating’ news stories that will appeal to the press and media. If you can respond quickly and provide helpful comment then breaking news is a great opportunity to boost your own public relations activity and profile. Here are some handy tips to get you thinking about making the most of breaking news.

Monitor the news – it’s essential to keep track of the press and media for the stories that are being covered. It’s unlikely that a week will go by without some sort of story appearing that you could contribute to. That means being on top of the news and stories as they appear and develop during the day. It’s not difficult to see the stories that are likely to get coverage over a couple of days.

Act quickly – the important thing is to spot a story and then act on it. The quicker you are in contacting the relevant journalist with useful comment or material then the more likely it will be that your efforts will pay off. The world of press and media moves quickly so you need to do the same. You’ll also need to consider the deadlines that journalists are working to. The 24 hour news channels mean that there is now much more scope for providing expert comment on the back of a news story. They have air time to fill and will be grateful if you can help them do that. Also, don’t forget that many of the stories that appear in the Sunday newspapers are the week’s stories in more detail and with additional comment – that gives you a great opportunity.

Help to push on the story – ensure that what you contribute provides useful information, can look at the story form a different perspective, help to move the story on etc. The audience wants to be informed and your job is to help achieve that. It’s no good approaching a journalist about a business story saying that you are a business coach – you need to be very specific, in relation to the story, about what you can contribute.

Make yourself available – if you want to raise your profile on the back of someone else’s news then you need to put time aside to do that. It can be disruptive because it’s not planned. Before approaching any journalist be clear that you can contribute time to follow through. If you are successful in your efforts then that may include travelling to a studio, doing interviews etc and that all takes time and effort. In advance of an interview you may also want to seek the services of a media trainer to help you prepare. This is a good idea particularly if you haven’t done much press and media work.

Build relationships – approaching journalists on the back of breaking news also provides you with a great opportunity to build relationships with journalists covering your interest area. Find out the type of stories they are interested and whether you can help them on other stories. Also, if you do a good job then it gives you scope for getting them to put you in their ‘little black book’ of contacts for future stories – that’s what you really need to achieve.

Become an expert – there are two ways to generate opportunities for comment and interview on the back of news stories. One way is to contact journalists direct. The other is for them to contact you. In an ideal world you should probably do both. There is a site worth looking at: www.expertsources.co.uk where you can list your details for a paid-for subscription. Journalists use it to find experts to provide comment for the stories they are working on.

Commenting on the back of other people’s news is a great way to build your profile and get exposure to key audiences. It is also an important way to build you profile while keeping your costs down. If you can build a reputation for providing useful and insightful comment then you will quickly find that journalists will come back to you time and again.

Using PR to build your profile and protect your reputation can help you influence the audiences that are important to you – I invite you to access more free articles, tips and information on this, and other subjects related to public relations, just visit this site

Debbie Leven – Profile Matters Ltd PR Consultants UK

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Tags: media relations, news, public relations, profile, journalist

Many people assume that to get publicity they need to know how to write press releases, organise press conferences or spend huge marketing budgets with PR consultants and agencies. Public Relations can be much simpler than that. If you have access to a telephone or email then you are half way there.

Simply put, public relations helps organization X reach its target audience Y. The means to reach the target audience vary — advertising, brochures, direct mail, newsletters, special events and media relations — to name a few.

In the old days, press releases were published in newspapers. Space limitations meant that only a limited amount of information could appear so journalists could pick and choose what to accept.

In the disaster field office there are three simple yet absolute rules to managing media relations. Businesses, celebrities, and even hospitals have created for themselves foibles and catastrophes due to a basic lack in the ability to manage media relations and the press. These problems stem from the fact that most failed to understand that the press serves the same people that they serve. Whether you are a corporation, a small business, a healthcare facility, or a movie star the press speaks at one time en masse to your public. If you remember this simple fact it is then no great intellectual stretch to understand that by partnering with the press and the media you can communicate vital information to your entire market simultaneously.

Rule Number One: Don’t get in front of the camera!

This may be obvious but if it is not your job to speak to the press do not get in front of the camera. Moreover ensure that your employees and staff do not get in front of the camera unless it is their job to interface with the media. Most media mishaps occur because the press is presented with multiple
messages and good, honest reporters attempt to make some logical sense of these conflicting stories.
Unfortunately no matter how good the reporter and how well meaning your staff when conflicting stories enter the press simultaneously nothing but bad can come of it for your organization.

Rule Number Two: Do not lie!

Now this is probably good advice in life in general, but if you lie to the press they will catch you and then they will make it their mission in life to destroy your career because you have just done irreparable damage to theirs, you have damaged their credibility. The media succeeds because people trust them. If they violate that trust no matter how unintended or innocent the violation they lose the public trust. With this loss of credibility comes the loss of the ability to do their job. Therefore everything that you say must be absolutely true and absolutely consistent with what the reporter observes.

Rule Number Three: Remember how the press keeps score!

The media does not keep score the same way that you do.

* They do not count dollars.

* They do not count lives saved.

* They do not count how many movies they appear in.
The press keeps score either in terms of minutes of face time on camera or inches of newsprint. In order for the press to score they must capture 1.5 seconds of you, approximately 15 words in print, and surround it with several minutes of themselves, at least 2 inches of newsprint.

If you know what message you wish to communicate to your market, their audience, and you must:

* Condense your message into a 1.5 second sound bite (fifty words for print).

* Ensure that message is absolutely true and consistent with what the reporter sees.

* Deliver that same message regardless of the question asked.
Do these three things and you will leave the reporter with only one choice, use your message or to not
score today. Under those circumstances the media will use your message every time because they keep score based on minutes of face time or inches of newsprint and to score they must surround your
message with their voice or their prose.

Remember these lessons from the disaster field office and your next media encounter will serve to bolster your relationship with the media and your position both with the press and the community.

Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is co-founder of Disaster Life Support of North America, Inc., a national provider of Disaster Preparation, Planning, Response and Recovery education. Through his consulting firm High Alert, LLC., he serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness and healthcare surge planning with Congressional and Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple medical specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Cited in 24 textbooks with numerous published articles, he is co-creator of C5RITICAL and author of Mastery Against Adversity. Dr. Ramirez invites comments at this site.

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Tags: media relations, media, rules, business, credibility