Joan Stewart

Press Release Tip 24 Give free advice Anyone—a company, nonprofit, government agency, butcher, baker or candlestick maker—can write a press release offering free advice on how to solve a problem that ties into their product, service, cause or issue. Here are two big benefits, particularly if you optimize the press release for the search engines:… Read More

Press Release Tip 25 Explain how to use your product Now that we’re writing press releases for consumers, and not only journalists, how about writing a release that explains how consumers use your product? Dawn Swidorski of Time for Two, which develops romantic games for couples to help keep the spark alive in their relationships,… Read More

Press Release Tip 26 Take a survey Taking a survey, then writing about the results, is a fabulous way to generate publicity and attention for your product, service, cause or issue. Publicist Judy Kalvin, a former member of The Publicity Hound Mentor Program, wrote the release below for her client, Dragon Rouge, a brand design… Read More

Press Release Tip 27 Highlight the local angle to a national story When a national or international story breaks, and you’re the local angle, write a press release. Take Hurricane Katrina, for example. Three weeks after the hurricane hit, Steve Roberts, the owner of a Canadian rug-cleaning company, traveled to New Orleans to restore hundreds… Read More

Press Release Tip 28 Prompt the media to call you If you want a reporter to call you for an interview, sometimes all it takes is sending a press release. And it doesn’t have to be long. You want to tell them enough about your business to intrigue them so they call. That’s what Marie… Read More

Press Release Tip 29 No “mystery meat” headlines Welcome to Module 5 where you’ll learn to write compelling headlines. When I interviewed publicity expert Marcia Yudkin, she cautioned against using what she calls the “mystery meat” headline. It offers no clue as to what the release is about. It’s vague. And in an attempt to… Read More

Press Release Tip 30 Include sub-heads If you don’t use sub-heads, you’re missing opportunities to help your readers. There are two types of subheads. The first is a headline just under the main headline. It tells more about the story. The second type of sub-head appears within the body copy every several paragraphs or so.… Read More

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… Read More

Press Release Tip 32 Don’t use jargon, buzzwords, acronyms, abbreviations Try to guess what the following acronyms stand for: DMP and PICA GNI AA (Hint: It has nothing to do with alcohol) OSS Unless you work at the companies that issued these press releases, or you work in the industries they’re in, you probably wouldn’t… Read More