There's a very general misconception sometimes that a press release is the only tool for announcing your news to the media... people just assume they can throw anything into a basic press release template to get coverage, and that's not the case. When it comes to events, it's sometimes better to use a media advisory. I came across a recent press release sample where the two had been a bit confused... it "looked" like a press release, but should have more likely been written as a media advisory. I come across a lot of bad (and really great) examples of press releases and templates regularly, so I decided I'd start making that a bit of a regular feature in my blog - there's nothing like learning by example. Since I commented on the differences between press releases and media advisories, I figured it was only fair to post a media advisory template as well. Media advisories would essentially be used if you're running an event, and you'd like to invite the media to attend (either to cover it for broadcast news by recording it, or having print journalists come to write on the experience). So if you come to a point where you need to invite journalists to an event that you're running, feel free to use it as a basic model. And just remember... no matter what, if you want to build a buzz through the media, you should always bend over backwards to simply give journalists what they expect out of you. Making their life easier by giving them all of the appropriate information up front will generally increase your chances of coverage. Jenn
Thats the reason I never go for Press Releases, because I don't have any earth shattering news to share which is concerned with my sites, if I however do have a news of that kind some time in the near future, I'd love to make an awesome press release for it and submit it to PRweb.com and the like IT
If your news is that "awesome" skip PRweb and get it directly to journalists through a newswire service or manually. It can make a huge difference in coverage, and distribution I'd say matters even more than the writing of the release, b/c the news and how it's written really doesn't mean much if you can't get the right eyes looking at it. You don't need earthshattering news for a press release to be successful. But there has to be something that would grab someone's interest and make them want to write or otherwise report on you.
If it's a new product as in it's exclusive to you, then probably yes. If you're just retailing and adding a product from someone else, probably not. It depends on the product though... is there something about it that hasn't been done before? Is it a major improvement on something? etc.
For a site you'd have to make sure it's really different... what you think is a unique idea on the Web may very well have been done before. And it would have to appeal to a wide enough audience to make it newsworthy to whatever kind of media (newspapers, online outlets, just bloggers, etc.) you're hoping to reach. Yes, I'd generally say send a release about new software, and announcing any upgrades, fixes for a large enough problem, etc. It might not bring major media coverage unless it's already recognizable or completely different with wide appeal, but getting picked up in smaller niche media or blogs can still amount to decent exposure with your target market. For software, if you really want to build a buzz, you should also be actively soliciting reviews from opinion leaders in the niche... contact them about sending them a free copy or allowing free download so they can review it.
Thanks! That was highly professional standard help and seriously JHMattern, you sure do know about your stuff! Really great. IT