Press Release Tip 31

Use the problem/solution angle

Focusing on a problem and a solution in your press release headline is usually a lot more effective than focusing on how great your product, service, cause or issue is.

Why? Because people, including those who search online, want solutions to their problems. If the headline can give them the solution, or the promise of a solution, you’ll pull them into the release. Then, in the body of the release, you can explain more about your business or nonprofit.

But many press release writers simply focus on hyping something.  It’s so much more effective to concentrate on the problem and the solution.

Here’s a great example. It was written by Marcia Yudkin, one of the best press release writers I know. Notice, too, all the ordering and shipping information at the end.

Here’s the release:

For: A Little Lingerie Company, LLC, 42 Colonial Road, Suite 102, Fairfax, VT 05454.

Contact: Jennifer Michelle or 802-849-9868.

Last-Minute Shopping for a Romantic Holiday Gift Becomes Easier with the Guy’s Guide to Buying Lingerie

Fairfax, VT, December 12, 2005 – Men are the ultimate last-minute shoppers, and are notoriously inept at selecting gifts for their wives and girlfriends. Luckily, this year A Little Lingerie Company, LLC (www.ALittleLingerieCompany.com) offers advice.

“Let her grandmother give her flannel jammies or a new crockpot,” says Jennifer Michelle, president of A Little Lingerie Company, LLC. “A romantic gift like lingerie shows that you remember falling in love with her and still feel the same way.”

Michelle offers these tips for men unsure about buying lingerie for their sweetheart:

• Find her size by rummaging in the lingerie drawer while she is in the shower.

• If you’re worried about her feeling embarrassed to open a sexy gift in front of the kids or her parents, A Little Lingerie Company’s Gift-o-Gram is a good choice: luxurious items like bath salts, chocolate or flavored body syrup packed together with a lace boyshort in a cute vinyl purse. “By giving the lingerie as part of an assortment of other gifts, you are not implying that she should dress sexier. Instead, lingerie comes across as shared, romantic fun for the two of you,” Michelle says.

• Buy lingerie in the colors and fabrics she most likes. If she never wears pink, chances are she wouldn’t like lingerie in that color.

• Lingerie doesn’t have to mean a bra and panty set. A matching camisole and panty can make an equally suitable gift.

Additional lingerie-buying tips for guys can be found at http://www.alittlelingeriecompany.com. For most items, orders placed through December 18 can be delivered in time for Christmas or Hanukkah. For more information, contact Jennifer Michelle toll-free at 1-877-884-8593 or Jennifer@ALittleLingerieCompany.com. Gift-wrapping, gift certificates and express delivery are available.

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I marvel at what Marcia can do with a press release. Her manual “Marcia’s Makeovers: 24 Press Releases Transformed from So-So to Sizzling” includes not only fabulous makeovers, but killer headlines. One press release she wrote for a client got him an article in the business section of the New York Times.

Opportunity #31 to write a press release: Guest speaker you’re hosting

If you’re bringing in a guest speaker for a luncheon, dinner, convention, training session, class, special event, etc., send a press release.   

Next: Don’t use jargon, buzzwords, acronyms or abbreviations.