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Posts Tagged ‘Release’

It is not enough to simply write a press release and then publish it on the web. You should know the correct press release format. Hundreds to thousands of new press releases are uploaded on the web every hour of every day. You should not take the unnecessary risk of making a press release on something of great importance knowing your press release might just get lost (or simply get by unnoticed) in the jungle that is the Internet.

Things to remember in writing a press release

Before going to the actual press release format, you should first remember the following guidelines in press release writing:

• Write your copy in the third person perspective.

• Make sure your copy is less than 500 words or about a page only.

• And finally, make sure your press release is as accurate, concise, and reasonably detailed or informative as possible.

The elements of a correct press release format

There is no black-and-white rule on how your press release format should look like. But there is one that is used mostly by media practitioners. It will be to your advantage if you make sure that this format is consistently followed. Below is a list of elements that should be included in your press release:

1. “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” or “HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL [date]…” This should always be placed on the top left corner of the copy.

2. Headline. As in any kind of copy, your headline should contain or describe what your press release is all about. Be creative but do not sacrifice necessary content. You should limit your headline to one sentence only.

3. Origin/location and date. The reporter should always orient the reader as to where and when the copy was released.

4. Body. This is where your story goes. It should consist of multiple paragraphs.

a. Paragraph 1. This should act as the summary of the press release. This is where you should find the five Ws: what, when, where, who, and why. Ask yourself: “If the reader got to read only this part of the release, will he or she get the overall picture of what I am trying to convey?” The answer to this question tells you whether you should develop your first paragraph further.

b. Succeeding paragraphs. Pick up from the information you have already presented in paragraph 1. This should elaborate on the provided facts. You may include quotations from customers, users, and other authorities in the field.

c. “-more-” Writing more than one page is discouraged. But if necessary, the word “-more-” should always be included at the bottom of the page.

5. Company/organization information. It is a must that you include background information not just of your company or business but also of all other organizations mentioned in your press release. This should also contain the contact information of the respective entities.

6. END or ###. This indicates the end of the press release.

The next time you intend to write a news event or product release, make sure that you follow the correct press release format.

Electronic press release kits are the same as regular press release kits – the only difference is that they don’t have any pleasantries for the journalists. Well, and they are distributed in CD or over the internet. When it is made available online, editors of newspapers working around the world can download the content straight from the news syndication website. They can also receive them through email. There aren’t any restrictions, especially when it comes to delivering news online.

 

Electronic press kits (EPK) have the news article or press release. It also has necessary background information of the company. They can be quite extensive, as you can include all relevant data in the kit for the editors to explore. A good option for marketers and everyone who wants to get his/her news across to a maximum number of people. Companies, non-profit organizations, political parties, etc all now use EPK for possible inclusion in newspapers, magazines and websites.

Drafting electronic press release kits require some skills and understanding of what the editors need. No editor will like to make his editorial space another advertising billboard. They need news – what is in it for the readers type news stories. Your success with EPK depends on your ability to convey in clear language that there is something for the readers. Newsworthy events, development of new technologies, curious uses of different products, etc all make for news. If the release has no news value, it won’t get published.

Video News Releases

They are also like EPK. The difference is they are aimed at television channels. A news video, which can be included in the local channel as news, companies can get some exposure through VNR. Just like in case of EPK, you need to have a newsworthy or interesting story weaved into the video. You can very few seconds to sell the story, you need to make sure the video passes like a bullet. There are techniques that you can use to make your VNR irresistible by TV news editors.

Apart from the local TV channels, you can also target the websites catering specific geographic locations or target demographic groups. There are several websites now available online, streaming videos. The visitors of such websites use high speed broadband connection and they watch the videos just as TV programs. When planning VNR production, make sure you target this group too.

There are different strategies of gaining attention of the editors. They include releasing a funny or entertainment video, a compelling news story that editors can’t overlook, and videos featuring celebrities are always in demand. They go to both TV channels and websites delivering online videos.

Entertaining or informing news releases also go to newspapers – both local and national papers. Some editors pick shorter news items – less than 200 words, while others have 700 word releases OK. Also think about the newspapers and magazines that give snippets of less than 20 words.

When it comes to electronic press release kits, your primary requirement is to get your release printed or published in websites. We can help you reach hundreds of editors in a matter of minutes.

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Keywords: Electronic press kits, video news release, epk, vnr,

Category: Communications, mass media, news, or similar

 

Using press releases for marketing purposes for promoting anything from new web sites to new product announcements have become increasingly popular lately as business owners learn the powerful benefits of using press releases.

Press releases have been used over the past few years by quite a few smart business owners and marketers that have seen first hand how they can help their business get the recognition they need in marketing new products or services both offline and online.

But a lot of businesses have been reluctant in using press releases as they were unsure of how to properly construct a simple press release or how to distribute them for maximum effectiveness.

Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool and seo strategy if constructed and implemented properly.

Learning to write a powerful optimized press release can often drive tons of targeted traffic to your web site while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords.

The real secret behind writing any effective press release and to gain maximum exposure for your new product or service is to plan your release out carefully even before publishing it.

A poorly constructed or planned press release is just a waste of your time and resources. You want to target the message of your press release for the purpose it was meant for.

So, the first thing you must do before writing is to figure out just what do you want to accomplish with your press release?

- Do you want to create some brand awareness for your web site or products?

- Do you want to add additional subscribers to your newsletter or ezine?

—Or are you trying to promote a new product or service you have developed or are marketing?

Once you’ve decided what the most compelling reason is for your press release, you can then get down to the business of writing it.

The first thing you may want to do is sketch out a rough draft of your press release to see how it flows. Does it provide the needed information to get the word out and has it been properly formatted?

Most press releases have a certain format that they follow. If you’re unsure of how to format your press release correctly you can view a sample press release template here at http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasetips.php#template .

The number one most important aspect of your press release is your headline.

Get it wrong and you will limit the effectiveness of your release.

Your headline is what the search engines are going to pick up on first. The headline is what normally gets listed first once indexed so make sure you use it advantageously. List any key points here, using your keywords or a catchy headline so that it will grab your reader’s attention.

Also try to keep your headline as short as possible as Google gives more weight to keywords if not surrounded by irrelevant words. Again planning is essential.

If promoting a new site include the URL in the headline. If promoting a product or service then include some keywords in the headline.

Some press release services use a summary box. I normally write a catchy one-paragraph recap of my press release using some of my targeted keywords.

Without being spammy, I will normally optimize my press release by using some of my targeted keywords in the first and last paragraph. I will also include some of them throughout the release for a keyword exposure of approximately 2-5% saturation.

Tip: if you’re promoting a web site, I will normally mention my URL around three times within the release for the maximum benefit.

One of the first questions I had when I first started writing press releases was what was considered a great release? What did it consist of and how was it constructed?

Being curious, I emailed my contact at http://www.prweb.com/ and asked them if they could show me a few press releases that they considered as excellent examples.

These releases have received their editorial scores of 5 on their scale of 1 to 5; with five being the highest.

They sent me three of them for review and you can see each one of them here:

http://prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb136748.htm

http://prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb149213.htm

http://prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb203448.htm

Study each one of these against the press release template to see what is required for an effective release.

Note: to get additional exposure for your press release via www.emediawire.com you have to have an editorial score of 4 or higher. So it is to your benefit to write the best release you can the first time around.

Once you have studied the examples and want to try submitting you own press release you need to know which ones are the most popular ones being used.

Here are some of the press release services I have used and found to be effective:

http://prweb.com/

http://www.pressbox.co.uk/index.html

http://www.webwire.com/default.asp

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/

With most of press release services you can submit your press release for free or via paid inclusion. Paying for inclusion gives you the benefit of faster indexing into the search engine news services and natural search engine result pages.

Normally your release will be picked up by Google news within a few hours after its release. From there it will normally show up in the natural search results within a few days or a week.

I have used both of these services in the past but have found that paying them at least the minimum amount for their distribution services will allow you to view your stats online. It will also allow you to choose different categories for my press release to be displayed in, giving your release a chance for wider coverage.

So using press releases can and is a very effective marketing tool that you can use for promoting your web site or affiliate products if done correctly.

By using press releases, I have been able to create a steady flow of targeted visitors to my web site and affiliate programs while generating dozens of back links to my web site.

Even though the effects of each individual press release may be short lived, they still have provided me with both free and inexpensive ways for getting hundreds of new visitors to my site and quite a few top ten positions in Google for my targeted keywords.

So isn’t worth while to at least check out the benefits of using press releases in your marketing methods? A little work now could reap amazing results.