Published:
June 21st, 2006 02:26 EST
10 Tips to Writing a Successful Press Release
By Anne Laszlo Howard
1. The first lines of your press releases must include: "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE"
2. The second line: Date of the release
3. The third line: For more information, contact: followed by your contact information. Provide all possible contact information including mail address, telephone, fax, e-mail and web site (especially for online business).
4. Title/header should be a compelling headline. The headline makes your release stand out. Keep it short, active, and descriptive. If you don`t know how, read a number of compelling headlines to get inspired. You can do a search on the Internet to find compelling headlines.
5. Hook the reader with the first paragraph. A first paragraph must summarize the five W`s: who, what, where, when and why. In fact, most readers will give up if you haven`t hooked them in the first few lines.
6. Put the most important information at the beginning. This is a tried and true rule of journalism. Editors receive dozens of releases everyday and they don`t have the time to go hunting for the important information.
7. Don`t say it, show it. Avoid saying something is "unique" or "the best". Instead, show how people will benefit - i.e. save time, save money, make their life easier, etc.
8. Get a quote from someone who has reviewed your product or used your services.
9. Spell-check and spell-check! Do remember to proofread your press release for typographical errors before you send them out.
10. End your press release with ### or with -END - after your last lines of text.
This symbol lets your reader know they have successfully received the entire release.
You may also want to add a boilerplate, be it a short bio or company`s profile at the end of the release. The boilerplate remains the same in all release and is typed in a smaller font. For my corporate clients, I use a boilerplate, for my own release, I always include a one-sentence bio.
Thank you,
Anne Laszlo-Howard
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