PR: Ten magic ingredients to get your press release published

Marketing Voodoo is pleased to present our first guest blog post by Jackie Mitchell of JM Communications, a PR specialist and copywriter who has compiled the insights below on getting your press release published. Placing an article about your business in print or online media raises your profile and helps to generate sales. It gets your message in front of literally thousands of people. One of the advantages is when these articles appear they have the endorsement of the journalist who wrote the article and the media in which it appears, so the value of this is considered much higher than the equivalent advertising space. Have you been trying to get an article published without success? Or do you think you have nothing newsworthy to shout about? Every business has something to say and although you may think it’s boring and mundane, the secret is to present it in an interesting way. Do you need to draft a press release summarising your business and its services, which you can send to journalists? When you think that journalists, on average, receive 100 press releases a day, the material has to be short, snappy and to the point. To whet the appetite of the journalist, what you need are ten magic ingredients to make your story newsworthy 1. Avoid ‘sales speak’ One of the biggest turn offs for journalists is to read that your business is “unique and brilliant”. Avoid ‘sales speak’ and exaggerated words. You can use those in paid for advertisements. 2. What are the benefits of the business? State in the first two paragraphs, what the benefits of your business are. Answer the questions “where, why, what, when”. For example if you’re opening a nail bar in Hampton, we need to know why and what are the advantages. So you could say something like “Hampton has its first nail bar opening on 19 May, offering busy mothers and career women late opening hours and Sunday opening.” This already has a newsworthy angle – that Hampton will have its first nail bar. 3. Unusual businesses If you run an unusual business like training clowns or anything to do with animals (cat whisperer perhaps), obviously it will be much easier for you to interest journalists with your story. Perhaps your business is more “ordinary” – you’re a will writer or a solicitor, then you need to find something else newsworthy that will attract journalists’ attention (see below). 4. The human interest angle All journalists like human interest stories. So tell them about yourself and how you started up the business. “Rags to riches” stories are always popular – how you sold your car, borrowed from friends and family to start up your dream business. Or how you overcame dyslexia, left school with two GCSEs and built a successful business. Perhaps you took a risk – you gave up your comfortable, secure 9 to 5 job to follow your vocation. You also have four children and manage to juggle family life and your own business – the media like to find out how you manage to do this, so you could write “my ten top tips” article. Family stories do well – if you’re a mother and daughter business, for example. Or you devised a business aimed at children, as you discovered a gap in the market from bringing up your own kids. Extreme career changes are of interest – you went from running an interiors shop to being a freelance lifesaver! 5. Unusual hobby If you’re an accountant or solicitor, it might be difficult to find something newsworthy to say about your business, although you could always comment about the Budget, issue advice and tell people about new services. Do you have an unusual hobby? Perhaps you’re a ballroom dancing champion or a karate black belt? This might help to interest journalists, but be careful that it doesn’t overshadow your business and what you want to promote. 6. Charity support London Marathon runners always get plenty of publicity, so if you fancy a challenge, then go for it! It could be that your company supports a charity, so you need to issue a press release about it. Journalists tend to look favourably on charity stories or anything that helps the local community. Perhaps your company sponsored a local event or one of your employees abseiled down your building in aid of charity. These are both newsworthy stories. 7. Celebrities Anything to do with a celebrity will get you press coverage, but of course this is difficult to achieve. They normally charge a large fee, but you may have contacts or a local celebrity genuinely likes your service and agrees to give you a testimonial. 8. Awareness Days/Weeks The calendar is full of awareness days and weeks, which receive plenty of press attention. They vary widely from National No Smoking Day to Homeopathy Awareness Week, so it’s a matter of finding one to match your business. Search for the awareness campaigns on Google and then tailor your press release accordingly such as “During Homeopathy Awareness Week, Helen Brown, homeopath in Sheen, will be offering……” 9. Inviting journalists to try out the service If you are a beauty therapist, restaurateur, hairdresser, homeopath, one of the best ways to encourage press coverage is to invite a local journalist to try out the service so they can write an article about it. It also means you meet the journalist. 10. Pictures A picture can sometimes make the difference as to whether your story gets published or not. You need a picture which reflects the story of the press release you’re sending. So if it’s a nail bar in Hampton, a picture of you having your nails done, for example. Do hire a professional photographer to take the pictures, as these can also be used for your web site and leaflets. Finding the magic ingredients for your press release is only part of the job. The other part is to send it to the right person at the right time, so phone up the office to check the name and when their deadline is so you can ensure the information reaches them in good time. Best of luck! Jackie Mitchell MCIPR runs Surrey-based JM Communications, offering public relations and copywriting. She has over 15 years’ experience in public relations in a wide variety of businesses, specialising in start ups and small businesses. For more information, visit www.jackiem.com Bronwyn Durand founded JupiterJasper, the Marketing Mentor for small businesses. Bronwyn is also The Brand Whisperer, with a special interest in building commercial identities for businesses. Do you get my free weekly email? Sign up to '1 Thing to Improve Your Marketing this week' here.