A fellow blogger and friend of mine said that to get a new blog off to a good start I should write a press release. Thing is, I don't even know what a press release is and how to go about doing it. What type of things do I put in a press release?
mainly the same as those sites where you can submit articles. will only work when you really have somthing to tell though
1. No, it's not the same as writing and submitting articles. 2. If you have no idea what it is, your best bet is to hire someone who does. You have to understand what constitutes a news angle (launching a blog in and of itself usually isn't newsworthy), and you need someone who can help you figure out your best distribution plan (hint: it's not posting it to a huge collection of press release distribution sites). 3. If you insist on trying to do it yourself, at least take some time to learn about press release writing first. Here are a few resources I have available on the subject (I run a PR firm where I specialize in online PR, so I do know what I'm talking about): How to Write a Press Release Free Press Release Template 25 Press Release Ideas Press Release Writing Tips Effective Free Press Release Distribution in 5 Easy Steps 7 Signs that Your Press Release Sucks
PRWeb has a simple guide, and you can submit them there as well. It's a little awkward to write one for yourself though (kind of like interviewing yourself), and you can usually hire folks without paying an arm and a leg.
Press Releases are easy enough - though make sure that they goto relevant magazines / press companies. i.e. if you write articles about celebrity debutantes then don't submit it to telecommunication trade magazines. Make a list of potential magazines / websites that you want to deal with and ask them if they have a press release email.
Yes JhMattern is giving you great resources. But maybe I can help you a little with another 10 Tips on How to Write a Press Release. Good luck in your business.
Honestly, a PR press release is really simple, no matter what anyone says. 1st. You want your most important information first "Who, What, Where, When, Why" So if you are launching a new blog on Football you'd say Something like "Football fans have a new reason to surf the web. The new blog www.soccerfans.com has launched and is offering up-to-the-minute stats, user forums....etc" Basically you want to engage your audience enough to visit, also make sure in the release you link to your site using keywords, so rather than just www.soccerfans.com you would put in a link "Soccer Fans Blog" and have that hyperlinked, but also once use just the URL so its fresh in the mind of your readers. I suggest the Who, What, Where, When, Why format as its the newspaper layout most people know, always put the most important info at the top and the least important at the bottom, its standard Pyramid paper writing.
Simply goto PRWeb and look at the releases submitted today, you'll get a feel for how to write them in no time.
This is precisely the problem with folks thinking press releases are "easy" - and why the vast majority won't ever get significant coverage. The example here doesn't even begin to touch on news, and in some distribution outlets would be scrapped immediately on reading the opening paragraph for violating a big PR sin: 1. Hyping something up (a new blog isn't a new reason to surf the Web) - you're acting like it's something unique, which it isn't. 2. You repeat that mistake when you start talking about the blog posting stats. Who cares? Other sites are doing that. It's not news. Not even close. Never pretend to be offering something unique or newsworthy if you're not. If it's not newsworthy alone, then you need to find something to tie it to to make it more timely so people have a reason to care. Remember - press releases are about much more than SEO. If you send a bunch of crap releases, you run the risk of tarnishing your site / company image down the road. People in the niche will remember it, and you run into a "boy who cried wolf" scenario - if you say you have news repeatedly when you don't, no one is going to listen and cover you when you do.