Carson and Company

It is now a new year, yet I see pr clients, manufacturers, and companies still submitting press releases that are written for them, not for the media.

It is not rocket science, but it does take a flare and talent to write a press release that the media will publish. A few common mistakes when writing a press release: Headlines are too long and do not say what the news is about, it doesn’t announce the main objective of the release; another point, the body of the releases usually are written as if it is a newsletter, or boasting how great the company is and forgets to address the issue at hand. Then the poorly written release doesn’t tell you whom to contact, instead directs you to their site, or gives a general phone number to call.

A good release should have a strong headline, announce in the first sentence what you want the reader to know. Remember, each publication has readers; it is up to the editors, reporters to have interesting articles and information that keeps readers subscribing. This is true of any newspaper or magazine, or online media news. Knowing this, you should identify the audience of the publication you are submitting the release, and then fine-tune the information to fit that readers profile. Speak to them, not at them.

If you are a PR Client that tells their PR Agency, or your internal publicity writer how to create the press release, then you are doing more harm than good for your company. PR Clients need to let the professionals do their job. The president or CEO of a company should check the releases for accuracy, but not dictate how to write the release.

Many web sites are available to teach the basics of writing releases. If you Google the words “write press releases” a list of sites will appear. This is a good place to start. Some other free sites that offer information are New Venture Publishing, PR Web, and a Publicity Insider and many others.

Now it’s time to start the year in the right direction of writing and submitting good press releases. If you are in need of some help with your publicity campaign, or need writing help, give us a call. We will make you look and sound great!

If you are a pr client, then take notes, this can help you get press releases published. If you are a small pr agency, make sure you know these tips.

It seems when pr clients have press releases they feel the “world” wants to know all about it and cannot understand why it hasn’t been published. To get press releases published, you should first start in your own local backyard. This means contact your local media. Local newspapers, radio shows, TV reporters, and even online eMagazines. When you do this, it will help build your company name among the media. Even local papers, and other local media get the attention of national press. So start in this manner and then follow these steps.

To find the types of local media in your area, there are many sources you can use. Since we are in the age of Internet, this should be your first place to research. It is best to Google, or Yahoo the industry you or your pr client is in. I’ll give you a few places to look, such as:

Media Post. This lists all the media in the US

NewsLin.org provides a list of countries for media sources

ABYZ News Links, this also is a directory of countries

I need to mention that you or your pr client must have a web site. Why? In today’s fast moving world, a company’s web sites are a source for media, reporters to verify information, or to collect additional information about a company. After the press release is professionally written, now where do you submit it? Begin with the local media– newspapers, magazines in your area.

Then use the online sources. Some of these are: PRWeb.com. This site allows free distribution of releases. Another Free online site is Free-Press-Release.com. Many other excellent online sources exist. But start small and build your own media list that is specific to your industry.

Remember to post these press releases on your pr client’s web site. Having a “newsroom” is what reporters; editors look for when visiting a company site. If you need more help or tips for press release distribution, call us at CarsonPR. We can get you noticed!

As a PR Client you need to follow the rules

Publicity agencies and pr clients sometimes loose sight of how to write a press release for the media.

When you submit a release to a publisher, editor, or a freelance writer, it is important to follow the basic rules when writing "newsworthy" releases.

All releases should follow these simple rules:
• WHO
• WHY
• WHERE
• CONTACT

Keep in mind WHO the publication’s audience is when writing. Sometimes it is necessary to modify a release if the audience varies even slightly.

Know WHY it is an important release. The product or service may be important to you, but what about the readers and your industry. Make it important to them and the editors will then not toss your release into the trash.

If the press release has a location, such as an event, seminar, or announcement of the unveiling, be sure to mention this. Otherwise, pr clients need to list the location as their main office, or headquarters. Publicity agencies need to also list the pr clients location, not theirs.

Finally, put the contact info for the pr client. The publicity agency should also include their contact info as the focal point. Be sure the person listed is available to respond in a timely manner.

See Also

• Make your press releases “publisher friendly”
  Each release should stand on its own

Publicity 101

How many times have you or a pr client tried to contact a customer about an important issue only to realize they are out of town? Wasted time? Maybe. More than that is the frustration of not reaching that person.

Now imagine a reporter, editor, or publisher trying to contact you, but you were unavailable. Maybe you were at a trade show, or at a new business meeting, or in a seminar, or just traveling.

At first you would think, hey, they’ll leave a message. Not really. These are reporters who have deadlines to meet. They will pass you up and go to the next person on their list.

How do you avoid loosing the call? Simple, leave a voice message on your phone that says, "if you are a reporter or from the press, please call me at (leave a cell phone number), or leave your number and I’ll call back within a couple of hours.

Make sure that you check your office voice mail messages frequently. And if it is your cell phone that you give to the press, be sure to check that message box often as well.

Being available to the press for a story that you are pitching is extremely important. The media works on their time, not yours. Keeping this in mind should make your pr clients realize that positive publicity can only be accomplished when you make yourself available to the press.

What you should not do is send emails of your schedule to the media. That is a waste of time and the reporters are not your secretaries, so respect them and not bother these media people with nonsense emails.

See Also

• Learn how to look good to reporters and the media
  Let the press know how to reach you

Photos are important for publicity

Before you send out that press release or article to the editors or publishers of a magazine, make sure you analyze the photos. This means to make sure the photos are:

• Not boring
• Has a visual that is of interest
• Captures the mood you want
• Is creative

These are a few tips to consider when submitting photos in any publicity campaign for pr clients.

Another tip is to make sure when you include people that the photos are not showing a smiling person if the release, or article is of a serious nature. A book titled "How to use Photos and Graphics in your Publicity Campaign" sums up a lot of the mistakes publicity people make too often. Whether are in the publicity industry, working for a pr firm, or happen to be a pr client doing your own stuff, this book could help. It is not telling you things you probably don’t already know, but it will keep you in line with the things to look for when including photos with your pr campaign.

In addition, you need to consider different angles of the subject. Of course, if the release is about a product, there are only so many ways to shoot it, right? Wrong. Be creative, but not too creative. The purpose of the photos is to help visually get the message across and offers the publisher, or other media, an option to use when publishing the release or article.

Just like a good ad has more potential of being noticed and read, a well written release with good photos has a greater chance of being published.

See Also

• How to get more out of your publicity campaign
  Keep the attention by using creative photos

Good pr copy

We live in a fast paced world, not having enough time to read a good book or a complete article. Maybe that’s why blogs are popular, what do you think?

Ok, let’s look at how to get people, like editors, publishers, reporters and your audience to read your copy. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a press release, an article for a magazine, copy for your web site or sales materials. These all need to follow the basic steps of writing clear and concise copy with enough flare to keep the interest of the reader. Your pr clients will at first want more fluff. Following the basic rules will get you more results.

I came across an article titled "Seven Steps to Writing Copy Your Market Will Actually Read". The title alone gives you the feeling that there is some value to reading it, right? Well, that’s the point the author was making.

Daphne Gray-Grant outlines her seven rules in easy to follow language. Most of which is common sense, but in today’s competitive industries, we cannot take things for granted.

A couple of tips are to use short, two-syllable words over three and four-syllables. This she adds is true with sentences. Keep them short. I like the fact she addresses what "short" means. It is about 14 words.

For publicity writing, make sure to eliminate cliches from your press releases, story’s and any letters to editors, or reporters.

Use these tips and maybe you will begin to see positive results.

See Also

• How to write good copy for publishing
  Editors and reporters like organized copy

Look inside the company for possible new articles

It is the job of the publicity professional to find that special slant, or angle to get an article visibility in the media. Without going into controversial issues, you can find lots of potential publicity articles by looking at your own company closer than normal.

Most of the media will accept these as possible articles, but it only takes one publisher to run the article to make this a successful campaign. It will also keep the company name visible to editors, writers and other media, so when you send other releases, you will be a familiar name to them.

There’s and article titled "What’s Your Backstory?" that hits my point home. For years I have tried to get clients to think outside of the publicity box. This isn’t always easy, because new ideas tend to scare pr clients into thinking, "who wants to read that?". But that isn’t always true. A publicity expert can transform a good story into an interesting article, without adding false or misleading information.

An example the article gave was for a doctor. Here is a short list of topics for a doctor:

• What experience led the doctor to enter the medicine field?
• What was or is the most difficult case ever faced
• Humorous situations the doctor encountered
• Try an angle on interns, the doctor mentored

I am sure you see how digging deeper into a company can uncover other publicity angles. When your publicity agency begins to develop the pr campaign, the best public relations service you can do is to provide something in the "backstory" or a human interest on a specific executive. Try it, you can only gain more exposure with the press by doing this.

See Also

• How to find publicity inside your company
  Publicity is everywhere, try your Backstory

Some call it Microcontent

What good is having a strong publicity campaign if your web site is poorly designed, or difficult to navigate.

Even a good publicity professional can do only so much to generate traffic to a pr clients web site. It is then up to your business web site to make customers feel good about the product or service.

What makes your site better than your competitor’s?
Several things. It can be the graphics, the text, the images, and the ease of navigation, among other things.

For this lesson, I want to discuss the content of the site. One writer, Ann Wylie, has an article that explains the "Microcontent" of a web site. Basically she divides the topic into several sections:

• What is Microcontent and what it includes

• Why it is important

Ann gives some good advice on what to do, and not do when building the content. When you use these tips, it will be helpful to your existing customers, potential customers, and above all, the media will praise it. Editors and writers will find things easily. This will bring a positive view because the good content will be easily understood.

In the article, advice includes these areas that are needed for Microcontent, such as:

• Page Titles

• Navigation Bars

• Headlines

• Subheads

• Highlighted Text

• and many other sections

A good example of why illustrates when you do a “search, find and save” and it is now in your bookmark. Then when you want to go back a few days or weeks later, the bookmark reads “Welcome to XYZ Corporation”, or “Untitled Page”. I’m sure you experienced this and clicked several bookmarks before finding the site you were looking for. And if you are like me, you can’t find it quickly, and decide to do another search.

So think about making your site more pleasing to visitors. It is good publicity for you and your company.

See Also

• How to get your web site user friendly
  Use Microcontent with optimization

People Knowing People

Publicity is basically the networking of people. Whether they are reporters, publishers, editors or broadcasters, you need to communicate with people.

When your network grows among the media, the more people you meet, the better opportunities you have in getting the story published.

If you are a professional publicity agency, or a pr client, then you need to make your network becomes a priority when establishing  your contacts. If you are in a vertical market, then your task is much easier. If you are in a more general consumer market, then you need to be more selective on the media that you network with. Why? Because you can’t expect to have a very large network and stay in contact without giving them nonsense stories. These people are just that, people. Just like you, they too do not like being sent stories or releases that try to sell a product or a company. Make the content be informative, something that their readers will enjoy.

Another tip, you don’t want to oversell your company, or your pr clients. Too much selling, or pitching, is like the salesman who doesn’t know when to stop selling. Your network of media can become a friendly one. Not meaning a social thing. Why? Because getting too close to the media as a social group puts you in a different perspective. Then they, the media, feel you are only getting their attention to get stories published. Keep your relationship professional.

I saw a journalist who has an article about this subject and offers some other interesting insights that expand on my thoughts. Basically, be honest, keep in contact with your network through eNewsletters, and follow-up as needed.

See Also

• Make Newtorking Part of Your Publicity Plan
  Your network can help gian favorable publicity

Intergrate these to be successful

Marketing and publicity need to interact and not be treated as separate departments. Often times, marketing directors and pr directors want to do their own thing in a company to show how successful their creative programs are working.

But this can work against you if you do not pool your talents and work as a team. Many times campaigns overlap, as do the different projects within a company.

By using all the resources from your departments, like Marketing and Publicity, you stand a better chance in gaining a winning campaign for your company, or pr client.

For example in marketing 101, you are told to follow-up to customers at least every 90 days. Publicity people also know that communication is important. For this reason, publicity professionals make sure they contact editors and reporters frequently. The old saying, out-of-sight is out-of-mind is definitely true in business.

Another important point- do not cut back on your publicity budget when it is trade show season, or when sales are increasing. Same is true about marketing. You need to do marketing all the time, not only when sales are low.

Getting a story or an article in any publication is rewarding. More so is when you capitalize on this with the marketing people in your company. Using the resources available can gain more mileage for your campaigns than isolating the two departments from each other.

In summary a public relations campaign is just as important as the marketing you do for the company. Have interaction with the two, hold regular meetings to discuss what projects are in the works, and quite possibly you might discover a new path to success.

See Also

• Make the best of a campaign
  Using Publicity with Marketing