How to Use Press Releases To Promote Your Local Business At No Cost

Press releases are one of the best free promotional tools available to a local business owner. However, they are rarely used due to the fact that business owners feel they do not have the time or a newsworthy topic to provide. Learn how to quickly and easily produce a quality press release.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Press releases are not difficult, only require a small amount of time to create, and are VERY well worth the few minutes needed. To get started, you'll need to determine a 'newsworthy' topic to write on. This is easily done by looking at changes, even minor ones, that have occured in your business in the past few months.
2. As a previous owner of several small businesses, I know they are ever changing and there are always things to write about. Whether you've added or expanded on a product or service, hired a new employee, added a new line to the menu, or just added on to your building, you will find a topic that is of interest to your local area.
3. Call local newspapers/publications and ask if they are interested in a particular topic, this could provide a great starting point. Also, find out what requirements are needed for press releases, such as the word count, how to submit them and approximately how long you should expect them to appear. You don't want to submit a article about a subject in October and have it show up in the newspaper in April of the next year.
4. Once you have determined the topic you'll be writing about, use the standard writing format of Who, What, When, Where, How & Why. Use a few sentences to cover each of these and you will have a nicely written press release for your company.