Even though you may be sending your release to a magazine editor, the ironic truth is that that editor has no time to read. He or she is busy trying to get work done. If you send a four-or -five-page release, no matter how impeccable it looks or how perfect the grammar or form is - no one's going to want, or have the time, to read it.
It all comes down to your pitch, your hook: is it interesting, exciting? Will it meet the media's needs? If not, don't mail it, fax it, e-mail it or let it leave your office. Start again.
Do your homework. Put yourself in the media's place and come up with a hook or story idea that will grab their attention.
Remember, you're not trying to reinvent the wheel or come up with a completely unique idea or pitch. There are no completely unique ideas. You are trying to come up with useable, interesting story ideas. Some of them may be different or unique, others will be ordinary and prosaic. But an ordinary story can be a good one if presented the right way.
For example, let's say you own a hair salon, and it's getting near the end of the year. Write a “New Look For The New Year” release in which you outline how you can give clients a new, personalized look to start the New Year with a fresh start. You might even want to invite the media to follow a client through the before, during, and after process. The media always needs holiday stories. This way the media comes away with a visually interesting holiday story, and you come away with an effective piece which establishes you as an innovator in your field.
If you are announcing a new product, make sure that the information coincides with the
product's availability. Include a sample along with the press information that you send to the media, as well as information on how to order the product.
Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008
You Think Editors Have Time To Read? - To learn more about this author, visit Anthony Mora's Website.
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Anthony Mora
(Visit Anthony's Website)
Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. is a Los
Angeles-based public relations firm that
focuses in the areas of media relations,
image development and media training.
Anthony Mora Communications regularly
places clients in major media outlets,
including Time, Newsweek, Oprah, the New
York Times, CNN, the Today Show, the Wall
Street Journal and hundreds of other media
outlets. Through media placement, you are
not presented within the context of an ad
or commercial. You're not positioned as
an ad but as the news.
President and CEO, Anthony Mora, has been
featured in: USA Today, Newsweek, The New
York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The
Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, E!
Entertainment Television, Entrepreneur,
Fox News, MSNBC, and other media. He has
written three books, the most the most
recent, a how-to on PR called Spin to
Win.
For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMor
a.com
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