How to Write a Press Release to Promote Your Business
Press releases are one of the simplest and most inexpensive ways to promote a business. Yet business owners don't often know how to write or effectively use a press release to submit to the media. They want the press release to get their business’s products, services or activities in the spotlight. Editors, on the other hand, want newsworthy content for their readers.
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Things You'll Need
- Niche market
- Word processing capability
- Printer
- Story ideas
- List of publications
- Editors' names and addresses
Instructions
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Define your niche market. If you offer childcare services, submit your press release to publications geared towards parents. If your company provides secretarial assistance to companies, submit your press release to a business journal. Make a list of niche publications with their editors' names and business addresses and keep it on file.
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Create a press release template. Type in the name, phone number, email address and fax number of the company contact person and company website address. Include a title, or head, for the press release and a subtitle, if necessary. Start the body copy -- always double-spaced -- with a dateline, which is the distribution date of the release and your company's location. Include your company's biography at the end, followed by a row of asterisks or pound signs that mark where the press release ends.
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Draft the press release. Start the introductory paragraph with the basic Ws of journalism: who, what, when, where and why. Expand on the five Ws in one or two subsequent paragraphs. Limit the release's length to preferably one page by keeping sentences and paragraphs short. Use simple language, which cuts down on grammatical, spelling, punctuation and word-usage errors. And avoid jargon and wordiness.
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Tips & Warnings
Rather than focus your press release on the size or speed of your product, for example, focus on its money-saving benefits to consumers.
Press release templates vary and are customizable. Some companies use their business stationery, while others have a separate press release document. However, simple, easy-to-read fonts like Times Roman or Ariel in 10 or 12 point for the body and 14 point for the title remain the standard. Get ideas from other businesses' press releases.
Your press release might be better suited to the "community calendar" listing in a local newspaper than, say, the "New York Times" or "Washington Post." An exception would be an activity involving a high-profile participant or a first-of-its-kind event.
Editors and journalists sometimes use press releases as content for full-length articles, TV news segments or public affairs spots. You could be called for an interview, so be prepared for such opportunities.
Keep your press release timely. Dated content that arrives late to an editor's desk is a missed opportunity for promoting your business and a waste of the editor's time. Magazine issues go into production months before publication and may be tied to seasons or holidays. So, send releases to magazine editors with production schedules in mind.
Your press release could land your business in the spotlight with competing companies. Editors typically avoid appearing to promote a commercial business by referencing two or more companies from the same industry in one article.
