How to write a good press release?

Hi

I never wrote a press release and I am a little lost.

I have a free hip hop music competition site and we are going to make a major relaunch of our whole site in a month or so.
So I thought it would be time for a nice press release.

Do you have any tips how to write a good press release?

Should the text be long, short, should I describe my project in it in detail or just point out highlights?
Should I make it in promotional speak or should I write it as some objective viewer?

Any tips, pieces of advice and comments are welcome

 

I would post that you are looking for someone to write a PR for you. Basically I would hire out the first couple until you see what works. PR is tricky you dont want to come off too much like a pitch. Anyway I would post you wants here and rentacoder etc.

 

Lots of sites with tips and templates for PR's. For example:
http://www.press-release-writing.com/

If you really struggle with writing, it might be better to hire someone, like Dan said, because time can be costly too.

 

Thanks but I am a do-it-yourself man.

I am not 100% satisfied with my press release so far but if anyone is interested...

---------- Press Release v.1.0.1 -------------

Hip Hop competition platform does major relaunch

The international Hip Hop competition platform HipHop-Battles.com goes live with its second version. Two years after its first launch the platform got a complete makeover and introduces a third competition area for graffiti artists besides the older beatbox and rap audio competition area.

Frankfurt am Main, Germany (PRWEB) May 1, 2006 – The international Hip Hop competition platform HipHop-Battles.com goes live with its new improved second version two years after its first launch. Besides a complete makeover a third competition area for graffiti artists is introduced next to the older beatbox and rap audio competition platform. “Our goal is”, said project founder Michael Scheel,”to provide a free platform for international Hip Hop artists to compete their beatbox, rap and now graffiti skills as well with other artists from around the globe”.

Hip Hop was, is and always will be about competition or so called “battles”. From the beginning artists strived to be the best in what they did. Constant competition is one major reason for the evolving of Hip Hop as an art form and lifestyle. The first battles were held on the streets, later they were taken to the clubs as the audience interest got bigger and now it reached the internet where there are no boundaries.

Two and a half years ago when beatbox, the art of vocal percussion and the so called 5th element of Hip Hop, became more and more popular, the idea for an interactive competition platform called HipHop-Battles.com was born. Soon after its launch it became a success and was used by thousands of beatbox artists worldwide. The rap competition platform that followed a year later introduced a second element of Hip Hop to the project. With this relaunch HipHop-Battles.com now adds to this success by launching its third competition platform for graffiti, the oldest element of Hip Hop.

“The new graffiti competition platform gives graffiti artists a new way of legal exposure to their art form”, said Eike Reifhardt, Designer of HipHop-Battles.com and dedicated graffiti artist himself. “I’d call it the next level of graffiti, because its only limit is your creativity. It is your global ‘sketch book’ that you show to the world”, he said.

But HipHop-Battles.com is not only an interesting place for Hip Hop artists alone. It provides Hip Hop fans with access to over 12,000 free and legal Hip Hop MP3s and a way to vote on ongoing battles in a democratic voting system. The ranking system tells the visitor about “who is hot and who is not” and gives orientation to new users to find interesting battles to listen to.

“It took us a long time”, said Marcel Oelke, programmer of HipHop-Battles.com,”to develop the professional battle system that we launched today. We created a system that makes it possible for everyone to compete with artists you would otherwise have never met. It does not matter if you are a professional artist or just starting, HipHop-Battles.com is where you need to be.”

HipHop-Battles.com ©2006 is part of the MadeByPeople.com Network

For additional information contact Michael Scheel or visit www.HipHop-Battles.com


-------------- END ---------------

I will especialy work more on the summary part at the beginning. I don´t like it very much so far.

Any feedback from more experienced users is welcome

 

Hey Dastarbug,

I would suggest you think about shortening your PR a bit. Think about your target audience and also remember the fact that you may be sending this out to hip-hop friendly radio stations or printed media outlets. Make it easy for them to skim through your content and pick out the most important bits and pieces. I find that a lot of times press releases can be too long at times and then person who is sorting through the press releases received via fax or email may not have the time to read through everything or every one. So keep this in mind. Also you may want to check the punctuation for missing comas and rewording of sentences. Try reading it aloud and you will catch a lot of things that you may not have noticed when reading it in your head. Also have someone else read it too. You are always blind to your own writing.

Good luck and cheers,

Ryan

PS. It's not bad at all by any means. It could use a few more revisions. Keep at it as you aren't too far off.

 

Thank you for your feedback

I will have it readproof by a native english speaking litarature student when she has the time so spelling, punctuation and grammer will be corrected.

I have written this press release for readers that are not that much into hiphop. I thought that the real target audiance of our project will hardly skipping through PRs.
I read the PRWeb tutorial about how to write a pr and they said that I need to avoid jargon. That is hard to accomplish when writing mainly for a hiphop audiance. (e.g. any hiphop "fan" knows what a battle is, but will the journalist know as well, or the non hiphop reader? Or what about beatbox? Does anyone of you know what beatbox is? If you would not have read my explanation in the news itself?)

I thought about write a second pr that I will send out directly to hiphop websites, portals and maybe radio stations but I am not sure yet.

About the shortening part. You made a valid point but it is hard for me to delete parts of it because for me it has a logic layout.

The first paragraph is (below italic) the point about what this press release is all about.
The second is the explanation why we do what we do.
The third is the how it evolved to the point of this press release.
The quotes make it more interesting to read and try to bring a point accross (at least I hope they do).
The last paragraph between the 2 quotes is why we are interesting for anyone and not just artists so the news audiance is widened.

Maybe I just worked to long on this to be objective about what is realy important.

If anyone has suggestions about which part(s)/sentence(s) I could get rid of or shorten.... shoot

Any help is appreciated

 

I've had lots of success with making PR's look like news stories.

You start with a problem.

Joe schmoe is an avid hip hop enthusiast who was looking for .....

then you expand it out to a major problem...

Many hip hop fans find it difficult to .....

then you fit your site into it and how it solves the problem

After hours of searching online, hip hops fans are increasingly finding sites like ..... helpful .....

Add some quotes in there and you have a press release.

 

I've got a basic template on the AIA Marketing & PR site that you're free to use ... there are also a few articles with tips and explaining the basics of writing and online distribution. http://www.allinfoaboutmarketing.com/index.php?page=Sample_Press_Release_Template

Jenn

 

Does this promote illegal street art / vandalism or move it into a legal arena?

There are much more juicy angles you can come up with other than just a launch. Think about what the implications are, what the critics would say. Make the news contriversial. Get a critic to comment, like a senior police officer or mayor, if you don't have connections yourself, look up their contact details and list them as recomended comentators.

The news here isn't that your site has launched something - yawn - its the ramifications... what effect it might have.

It is new and interesting so has the potential for very significant news coverage if you spice it up.

But if you are aiming for decent coverage I would definately pay someone to write it because the potential is there, but the release you have now is too promotional. I doubt journalists will cover it in it's present form.

Also, include some stats on how popular the website is. Some stats on the cost of graffiti removal in large cities etc.

You might also want to add your name to this list for next time.