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Guest post by: Catriona Pollard Become an Author

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Developing and distributing a media release is one of the most effective ones of telling your story to the media.

A media release can contain information such as the work your business is doing, a new product release, the signing of a new contract or commenting on industry issues and trends.

The main rule is that all releases have to be newsworthy. If a release isn’t newsworthy, then it simply won’t get picked up. What makes items newsworthy differs greatly from one publication to the next or even from one section to the next. News is something new, up-to-the minute and of interest to the readers.

Following are some guidelines for good press releases:

• The lead paragraph is the most important and should provide a ‘hook’ for the journalist. It should contain who, what, when, where, why, and how.

• Write in the inverted pyramid style. After the lead paragraph, each remaining paragraph should be less important that the one preceding it. That way the editor can trim your release from the bottom.

• Write in short sentences, short paragraphs and use keep the information simple and to the point. Try to keep the release to one page.

• If you read an article in the paper, you will see they always include quotes. So you should give them the quotes to use. Attribute them to a particular person in the organisation and ensure they are newsworthy.

• A good press release has no typographical or grammatical errors.

• Head the release with “Media Release” and date it clearly.

• Use a catchy headline. Editors receive hundreds of releases a day and a good headline catches their eye and ensures they realise the contents quickly.

• At the end of the release add “For further information, contact. . . ” The contact details should include name, telephone number including an after hours number. The editor must have somebody to call to answer questions or to be interviewed.

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