A press release is an announcement of something newsworthy that is submitted to journalists and other media representatives.
By submitting a press release you can instantly create a buzz with your message and receiving a boost of traffic to your site.
You could submit a press release about you, your business, a new site, blog or product launched. This could be anything to do with your business.
When creating a press release, there is a certain format you have to follow. But before you create your press release, you want to keep in mind of the Five W’s: Who, What, When, Where and Why.
Your readers want the facts. You don’t want to sound even slightly like an advertisement. There’s other advertising methods for those – don’t include it in your press release!
Here is the standard format for a Press Release:
1) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – place in upper left hand margin and use all capital letters.
SKIP ONE OR TWO LINES
2) Contact Information – include your name (or press contact’s name), title, telephone and/or fax numbers, email, and website address.
SKIP TWO LINES
3) Headline – use a catchy, attention-grabbing headline. Headline should all be in bold text.
SKIP TWO LINES
4) Lead Paragraph – this is where you include the all important Five W’s giving the main points of what your press release will cover.
SKIP TWO LINES
5) Text – this is the main body of your press release in which you will expand on your message here.
SKIP TWO LINES
6) Re-cap – here you want to re-state or summarize your message, including any highlights such as product release dates or place your site’s url again for good measure.
The worst thing that will happen is your site will receive an incoming link from a high ranked site.
Other tips on creating your press release:
– should be no longer than once page in length
– use short sentences and double space between your lines
– proofread it many times to ensure there is no grammar or spelling mistakes (don’t look unprofessional)
– your headline and lead paragraph should grab your audience’s attention
Other ideas for creating your press release:
– new contest or sweepstakes at your site
– an interview with an expert for your topic
– new membership or forum
– a free product you’re giving away
– if your business has received a reward
– results of a survey or poll that you hosted
– a coaching course or event that you hosting or associated with. There are many other ideas you could use when creating your press release. These are just some to get your started.
