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You wrote the release - now to get the story published

Written by: Joe Gagliano

Article Overview: How does writing a press release help you get a story published? A brief look at the process of using a press release in the context of a PR program.

You wrote the release - now to get the story published

It’s no coincidence that PR stands for both Press Release and Public Relations; the two are inexorably connected. Writing a press release is something you have to do to get your thinking straight. It helps you define your message, it focuses you on what it is that you’re trying to convey to the world, it places the details in order. Reasonable people can read your release and get a sense of what it is you’re promoting. But it’s only one step in getting your message before the public, and usually not even the first step. Before you commit pen to paper (well, today’s equivalent) you will have worked on a business plan, on the competition’s message, and on your own marketing strategy. In all probability you will have created some presentation material and will have lined-up your spokespeople. Not only lined-up, but also coached and briefed. If you’re launching a technical product you will have an engineer ready to explain, someone who’s prepared to tailor his or her lexicon to varying audiences. The Wall Street Journal may be interested in your encryption algorithm as a safeguard for financial institutions, but the elegance of your formula is not likely to be fully appreciated.
So now you have everything in place and you’re ready to tell the world about your product or service. But wait – what are you going to do? Unless you’re part of a large, well known corporate institution (in which case you hopefully know what needs to be done) you need to take certain steps before you release your information. Let’s back-up for a moment. Have you pinpointed the media you want to go after? Do you have a short list? Does anyone on your short list expect an exclusive? What kind of exclusive? Have you made a note of the media that requires a prior briefing, and have you forwarded the relevant material, duly embargoed, to specific reporters and editors? We will not go into the requirements for releasing a story if you’re acting on behalf of a public company, but just in case, beware – you certainly cannot release financial information to anyone before you release it to everyone. Anything else could be construed as insider trading.
Okay, we’re getting there. You’ve briefed publications A, B, and C. You have forwarded presentation material, photos, videos, etc., to X, Y, and Z. “Draft” copies of your release have circulated here and there. Everyone you contacted is aware of zero hour. At precisely the right time your story goes out over the wire service and you get ready to deal with whoever gets in touch. The icing on the cake. Maybe. The truth is that releasing a story over the wire service may get you some coverage, and links will direct some traffic your way. But if you want your press release to work for you, you have to engage in public relations work. There’s no other way.

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Article Tags: getting published, pr program, writing a press release



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Re: New site promotion - how to begin? - Since you are targeting English speaking area, you will need to do a press release. Write press release and submit them to free press release sites or paid sites.
Tyler Perry - another great profile story! - Here is another interesting profile for you to do. A great rags to riches story... - physically abused as a child - tried to commit suicide - homeless I think Now... -started acting - went on to create his own movies - script writer - just wrote a best selling book -owner of a the Tyler Perry studio producing movies and TV shows Very instersting story - just profiled on Oprah.
Insane Clients - My worst so far was a client that I was ghostwriting a book for and he got really strange. Things went well for the first 1/3 of 1/2 of the project. But, when the book was released, my pen name was supposed to be on the cover. The way I see it, anything this person did that was related to the book would reflect directly on me and my work. He is the type to fly off the handle with someone and saw nothing wrong with his erratic and volatile behavior. His emails began to sound like 2 or 3 different people were responding to me and two of the people were become more unstable all the time. It got to a point where I was worried about my saftey and was thankful we live about 1000+ miles from each other. I offered to finish writing the book and even help him get it published, but I did not want my name on the cover. He went totally balastic. The emails that followed were insulting, offensive, volatile and my concern for my safety skyrocketed. Our contract said that each of us had the right to get out of the arrangement if we weren't satisfied. I was way past not satisfied at that point. He threatened to sue me, threatened me with a story on a NY TV station about me (bashing me of course) and assorted other threats. He had overpaid me and I had no problem sending a refund, but I sent him a release. I figured once he had a refund, I had no recourse. He signed it and about a month later, he filed a complaint in the state consumer bureau. He begged them to make me refund his money. I responded to them in a more concise manner than his comments. His complaint was 7 or 8 pages, my response was 2. I told the representative that I have emails to dispute his allegations and to substantiate my comments. Still waiting to hear from them. He even included a comment in his complaint that he signed the release with no intention of honoring it. That sounds like an attempt to fraud to me. We'll see how it ends up. Shri
Facebook and Beacon - What Do You Think - This landed in my inbox. Any thoughts???? Personally, I think they really overstepped the bounds of maintaining personal privacy with this one. Facebook Signals Changes With Beacon David A. Utter | Staff Writer The ringing outcry against Facebook Beacon, which posted people's online purchases to their friends' News Feeds, led to Facebook altering the program. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive move into referral advertising through the Beacon technology ran into a brick wall of user discontent. After days of complaints that spread throughout the media world, Facebook has changed their Beacon policies. "Users now have more control over the stories that get published to their Mini-Feed and potentially to their friends' News Feeds," the company said. Other details of the changes have been published in the Beacon FAQ available to Facebook members: "If you are logged in to Facebook and visit a Beacon Affiliate, an action you take (like writing a review or purchasing an item), may trigger that website to want to publish a story to Facebook. Before that happens, a notification will display in the lower right corner of your screen. If you click "No Thanks"...no stories or information will be published anywhere on Facebook. If you click "Close" or ignore the story, the story will be sent to Facebook, but not yet published." The previous version of Beacon would go ahead and publish details of a purchase or other conversion activity on a participating website directly to the Facebook user's Mini-Feed, which would then appear on the News Feeds of friends tracking that Mini-Feed. Some people complained that the notification appearing on a Beacon partner site of the pending publication did not appear. Facebook said people were leaving pages before the notification dialogue could be fully displayed, and they have changed the process to confirm the full notification has been shown to the person. Chris
Re: Calling All Entrepreneurs - Thanks Ryann, those are defintely some great ideas. I think another good strategy for attracting customers is publicity through press releases or human interest stories. It goes back to another forum that I believe Evan wrote about different PR tactics. If its a compelling story say about exceptional service then hopefully that will peak the readers interest and give us a visit. If you were to read a positive review/story on any business, would you try to visit it?


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