Writing A Press Release: Your Blueprint To Success

This post was written by Internet Marketing John on June 30, 2010
Posted Under: Traffic Generation

newspaperWriting a press release is somewhat intimidating if you have never tried doing it before, but like everything else there are some tips you need to learn before you begin that will make your task easier.

Consider these 10 simple tips as your blueprint to success.

1 – When writing your headline, make it a short and compelling keyword phrase.

2 – Your summary should be brief and concise. A compelling summary should not read more than four sentences at the maximum. A two to three sentence summary should be what you are trying to achieve. Your summary should focus on only the main points of your press release

3 – Your opening paragraph is also a summary of sorts, but because you are trying to include all of the main points of your press release in your opening paragraph, it will be somewhat longer than your summary.

A good opening paragraph is nothing more than a re write of your summary, and can be as long as several hundred words. You can elaborate on your summary to better describe it, but keep it to only one paragraph.

Remember that the people that read press releases only have a short time to wade through and sort out what they consider “worthy”. Lengthy opening paragraphs, unless they prove to be super compelling and newsworthy, will get ignored.

4 – The body of your press release is not intended to SELL anything, so don’t do it. The body is where you provide supporting bullet points and teasers to generate interest if you are able to.

5 – When writing a press release, ALWAYS write in the third person as if you are a reporter interviewing yourself. Initially, it’s a bit difficult writing in the third person, but with some practice it doesn’t take long to get used to it.

6 – Present facts and cite your source or sources, but don’t make them active links. It’s not absolutely necessary to present a bunch of facts in your press release, but if you can do so; it does make your press release look a little bit better.   Cite your sources as just domain.com.

7 – It’s a good idea and actually very important to use quotes from yourself when writing your press release. Remember that you are interviewing yourself; so ask yourself some questions and then answer them.

Role play with a microphone if you want to get the feel of it; but ask yourself some questions and include at least two quotes from yourself.

Some news services will place quotes in bold print or use them as a teaser for the press release. Having at least a couple of quotes will help your press release become more visible.

8 – When writing a press release it’s a good idea to inform people why they should go to your website for more information.

Don’t be too overt when you do it but it’s perfectly fine to tell readers that they should visit your website to get a free report, free sample, free video, free information, or even trial software.

9 – Use a closing paragraph the summarizes the key points you are trying to make in your press release. You have to give readers a reason to go to your website or they won’t go.

10 – When writing a press release, make sure that you have a paragraph at the end about your company. An “about paragraph” should be about your company and how long your business has been in existence, etc.

If you have no company, write a little bit about yourself and why you created your website or blog and what you hope to achieve.  Keep it low key in a single statement and make it only one sentence long.

If you have an interesting picture of your product or something related to your target market, include it.  If you want to include a picture of yourself, that’s also acceptable.

Writing a press release will create a surge of traffic and back links when done properly, so follow these tips and consider them your blueprint to success!

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