How To Write Influential Press Release

Writen by Lassaad Gasmi

The writing and distribution of a press release is the key of the public relations techniques.

A press release is a news story that places your web site in the best light possible, earning exposure for you as an expert or your web site in a mixture of media. Because of this, it is very important that a press release be organized and well written so that it is well received.

There are three factors should be considered when you write a press release: Short, Sweet and To the Point

It may announce a new product, new web site, newly re-designed web site, software, courses, or service. The goal is better website exposure.

A press release can have one or any number of objectives:
* Growing website traffic,
* iron-clad credibility,
* sprouting of links to their website,
* floods of more opt-ins.

No matter what the objective, a press release garners publicity  which means attracting attention and interest -- for your web site, products and services.

Press release writing should be a simple and straightforward method for communicating a message to your selected audience to grab and hold their attention.

The first thing to consider is the target audience for the message, your job is to communicate a message to a particular group of people. The audience size will vary based on your needs. Knowing who these people are will guide you in how the press release should be written and language that you should use.

Write to your audience, and write for your audience. Consider the media they read and tailor your press release to their requirements

Which reporters to target and how to effectively reach them?

The mass blast techniques of paid newswires or faxing to huge office-spun lists produce limited results. How many times has your phone rung off the hook after distributing a release? How many times has it even rung once?

More thoughtful distribution methods would undoubtedly garner better feedback. Targeting relevant reporters at the major wire services like The Associated Press or Reuters, and a personal follow-up call, is a good way to get more mileage on a single potential placement.

If you build custom media lists in-house, be vigilant in updating relevant contact information. Try not to hand-off such duties to an administrative assistant. It usually takes a critical eye and good knowledge of the client/news to tailor-build an effective list.

Too often, publicists focus solely on the release content rather than maintaining accurate databases. In the process, significant media targets go unreached because the news was sent to the inappropriate reporter or one who left the publication.

Press releases should be written in a direct, straightforward manner. Short and brief is good. Long, extensive, excessive is not. One to three short paragraph is probably an ideal length unless you must convey a large amount of information.

Dont overstate your case. Just convey the key, basic information to the media -- and ultimately to your audience.

Cover all the bases and provide them with essentials, but remember it is not necessary to provide every little detail. You are trying to generate attention and interest for your client. If this means follow up questions from a reporter or editor, so much the better. It will give you a chance to develop more media opportunities for your client.

1- The headline is your first opportunity to grab an editors attention. It should transmit the core news/message so that the editor immediately knows what the story is about.

It should be informative, but not necessarily sensationalized. Depending upon the nature of the news, some headlines attract more notice than others.

2- The most important part of any press release is the lead paragraph. Remember, a press release is a journalistic document. Your primary target audience is the press. Therefore, make sure you stringently adhere to basic journalistic tenets as you compose the story. The lead should answer the basic questions of Journalism:
1. Who did?
2. Is doing or will do What to whom?
3. Where and When did they do it?
4. How did they do it?
5. Why did they do it?
3-Write a simple, opening sentence answering these questions and your press release is virtually written.

The body copy of the release should bolster and explain the points made in the lead.

Since a press release represents a corporate or an individuals image everything counts -- especially the details.

Dont assume anything except that your audience knows nothing. You must explain everything to them and make it as simple as possible for them to understand your message.

If you use acronyms, make sure to first completely spell out the word or phrase, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Then, you can freely use the acronym throughout the remainder of the release.

If the body copy of the release runs long, it is a good idea to break it up with subheads. These short, bold-faced phrases are a good way to introduce specific areas of information within the narrative while providing it with a logical progression of ideas.

Make sure you include contact information of a company representative and/or PR representative  name, company, phone number, e-mail address  either at the top of the first page or at the end of the release so that readers can get any additional information they may need.

Begin the body of the release with a dateline that includes the city, state and country of origin (if necessary), followed by the actual date of the announcement. The dateline is important because it indicates the official, effective date of the news being announced.

Make sure press release pages are numbered. Include the line-centered word more at the bottom of each page so that the editor knows the story is continued. Let the editors know that theyve reached the end of the release by including the word END or the number -30- or ### (pound/number signs).

If your press release requires any sort of disclaimer or mandated forward thinking statement, make sure that you include it at the end of the release. Sometimes these legal necessities are set off in a different, or italicized, type face. Sometimes they are printed in a smaller type size.

When is the right time to distribute your news?

That depends upon the nature of your announcement and the kind of coverage and exposure you hope to achieve. If there is a seasonal aspect to the news, you must consider the time of year for the release to be distributed. An announcement about new Christmas tree products would probably be ill-served if it were made in early April.

Reference the editorial calendars of your target publications to see if you can schedule your announcement to coincide with particularly relevant coverage in these key media. This way you can achieve the greatest coverage. Other things to consider are the proximity of industry trade shows, and other events, where you can obtain additional media attention.

Selection of the day of the week for the release is important. Mondays are extremely busy days for press releases. With all that activity, an announcement could get lost in the crowd. Fridays lead into the weekend when media coverage is slow and at its nadir. Even if press picks up the announcement, there is a good chance very few people will see it because of the slow news day aspects of the weekend.

For more search engine optimization and online affiliate marketing tools visit: Press release and Op-ed writing

Lassaad Gasmi is an affiliate marketing and the owner of the website Future Affiliate Marketing

Media Training Three Reasons To Almost Always Stay Ontherecord

Writen by Brad Phillips

The words are pop culture heroes.

Movies such as "The Insider," books like "All The President's Men" and television series including "The West Wing" have immortalized them.

"On-the-record," "on background," "on deep background" and "off-the-record" are celebrity phrases, used regularly as shorthand to represent the mysteries of the journalism underworld.

In reality, these words aren't used all that frequently in newsrooms; moreover, they're not particularly helpful. Unless you're a whistleblower or working on sensitive issues at the highest levels of government, it is almost always better to remain "on-the-record," meaning that everything you say can be published and attributed to you.

As simple as this basic rule may seem, spokespeople regularly get coaxed into saying more than they intended. They may become comfortable with a reporter, decide to trust the wrong journalist, or develop the mistaken belief that a member of the press has agreed to their terms. It often backfires, with the interviewee facing an unwelcome dose of public scorn when the story hits.

Here are three reasons you should (almost) always stay on-the-record:

1) Definitions Vary – Different news organizations – and different reporters within those news organizations – define terms such as, "on background" and "off-the-record" differently. A simple Internet search reveals the problem – to some news organizations, off-the-record means the reporter can't mention your interview to even her mother, and to others, it means that your comments can be printed anonymously with the corroboration of just one other source. Without shared agreement on what the terms even mean, agreeing to an interview as anything other than on-the-record is a crapshoot.

2) Agreement Breeds Confusion – In 2002, Washington Post reporter Sally Squires interviewed Gary Taubes, an author who had written a controversial article for The New York Times Magazine challenging the accepted wisdom about the role of dietary fat in weight gain. Before agreeing to the interview, Taubes insisted that he have final approval of his quotes before they were allowed to run – in other words, that his comments were off-the-record until further notice. Ms. Squires agreed – or so he thought – so he was shocked and embarrassed when his overly candid remarks were printed. Far from being unusual, the ambiguity of agreements between reporter and source often leads to mismatched expectations.

3) "Official" Interviews Don't Exist – Many interviewees think they are on-the-record during the "official" interview, but off-the-record before and after. In fact, anything said in the presence of a reporter is quotable, including the off-handed remarks made at last night's dinner party.

In August 1984, for example, President Ronald Reagan famously leaned into a microphone for a sound check just prior to his weekly radio address. Joking around with those gathered in the room, Reagan quipped "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

Even though the comments weren't broadcast live, the microphone was on and two news networks recorded them. They almost immediately broadcast the comments, which they clearly deemed newsworthy in the midst of the Cold War.

The incident sparked international outrage, with the West German government pouncing on Reagan's comments as a sign of his ill will.

White House Spokesman Larry Speakes claimed that the news organizations acted irresponsibly since any remark made before the official radio address was "off-the-record." However, since the journalists didn't agree to that condition in advance, they had every right to air it.

To be sure, there are occasionally good reasons to leave the safety of an on-the-record conversation. Instances of corruption or fraud, for example, can be leaked to a reporter in an attempt to hold public officials or executives accountable. But do yourself a favor. If you're unclear of the rules or unfamiliar with the reporter, get a professional opinion before proceeding. It might save your "off-the-record" comments from appearing on tomorrow's front page.

Brad Phillips is the founder and president of Phillips Media Relations (http://www.PhillipsMediaRelations.com). He was formerly a journalist for ABC News and CNN, and also headed the media relations department for the second largest environmental group in the world.

Get The Media To Use Your Photos And Press Release

Writen by Simon Apps

Is it easy to get a picture published in the media? This is a question I am often asked by companies with a news item they wish to send out as a press release. The quick answer is no it isn't. However, that isn't to say it is impossible.

We have pictures published in the national and regional media as well as the trade press on a regular basis and your chances dramatically increase if you follow a simple set of instructions. As a general rule of thumb, the nationals are the hardest in which to have a photo published while the regional dailies, weeklies and trade press offer a far easier target.

The first and foremost thing to consider is whether your 'news' is in fact newsworthy. The fact that you have a new director or a new product is probably very important to you, but will it be of interest to the readers of all the publications you send it to?

Look very carefully at the audience you think will be interested and the publications they are likely to read. Having established this, take a look at those publications and analyse the style of articles and pictures they use. The closer you can match their style, the increased likelihood of your article being used. Is is often worthwhile using the services of a professional copywriter to do this for you.

When analysing the style and type of pictures used, especially in trade publications, be aware they are only too often sent a boring head and shoulders shot and a bog standard product picture. Because that is all they are sent, that is what they end up having to use. If you can offer them a picture that breaks this mould and still meets their house style, they will probably be only too happy to receive it from you.

Now you know what type of picture you need, choose a photographer to shoot it for you. Just because you have always used a particular photographer to shoot your product shots for you, that does not mean he is necessarily the right photographer to take this picture for you. If he has a proven track record in having pictures published in the media, that's great. But if he hasn't, maybe it is time to look for someone who does media work on a regular basis. If he doesn't know what an IPTC field is then you should be looking elsewhere.

On the subject of IPTC fields, they are simply hidden fields embedded in an image which hold amongst other things, caption and image title information. Recent research, (source: Pixmedia Picturedesk report, Q1, 2005 - http://www.pixmedia.co.uk) has shown that 75% of images submitted to the media fail to have completed IPTC fields and are regularly rejected because they lack them.

These fields are easily completed using PhotoShop. The File/File information menu will take you to the required fields. If you do not have a copy of PhotoShop, simply ask your photographer to fill the fields for you.

The format of the photo is equally as important as the content of the photo itself. Send it in the incorrect format and it will rejected out of hand, or bounced by the server. (This probably doesn't need saying, but do not send prints or transparencies by snail mail.)

The 'print size' or dimensions of your photo should be large enough to allow the publication to use it at a decent size, but not so large it causes the file to crash the journalist's mailbox. (This guarantees your article will not be used!) I recommend the longest side of the image should be 8 inches at 300dpi or 2400 pixels.

Save your image in RGB JPEG format. This is a whole other topic which I will try to cover succinctly. The JPEG format is a lossy format. This means it discards image information to decrease the file size using a complicated algorithm. You do not want to throw away so much information, the image quality is degraded to such a degree it cannot be used. But if you leave it on the highest setting the file will probably be too large for the email address of the publication to accept. So you need to find a compromise. I recommend a high quality/low compression setting of 10 or 11.

As you can see there is more to preparing an image to send to the media than you might have originally thought. If you are briefing a photographer, say you want your 'final high res images to be 8" longest side x pro at 300dpi, RGB JPEGS saved at JPEG 11 compression with completed IPTC fields'.

You should always telephone the publications in which you want your article to appear before you email the release and photo. Give them the bare bones of your story and ask if they want more information. Tell them you have a photo/photos available. Ask what email address you should send it to. The address for the photos will usually be different for national newspapers, so it is especially important those IPTC fields are filled in! Without them your photo and copy will never meet again.

Given that your photo meets all the right technical criteria, all you have to worry about now is how important your story is compared to the others competing for the space on the day, in the view of the editorial staff. If your 'news' is not rated highly enough then no matter how good your photo is, it has little chance of being used.

Supposing your news angle is good enough and they want to use your copy, they will then look at the picture. It needs to run a separate gauntlet against all the other photos the publication has available for that page. They are extremely unlikely to run a photo for every story so you really want your photo to beat the competition in the creative photography stakes.

This is where all the aspects of the photo have to come together. The publication will probably be looking for a main photo for the page and then one or more smaller supplementary ones for other stories. The lead story nearly always goes 'above the fold' or at the top of the page and that's where you want to be. It is entirely possible your story may qualify as the lead, but if the photo is lacking, your story will be knocked back to a lower, less desirable position or not make the page at all.

In conclusion, if your 'news' is good enough to be published you should always send an imaginative photo with the article which meets all the technical specifications.

Good luck!

Written by Simon Apps, ex-staff press photographer and founder of Professional Images, http://www.professional-images.com. Professional Images provide PR and editorial photography and a full photographic service to the business sector.

This article may be used freely provided a live URL link is provided to http://www.professional-images.com. Used without the link, you will be breaching copyright.

Simon Apps is an ex-staff press photographer and founder of Professional Images, http://www.professional-images.com

Professional Images provide PR and editorial photography and a full photographic service to the business sector.

Public Relations Primer Part Iii 10 Donts

Writen by Ned Steele

There are all kinds of smart moves professionals can make to raise their media visibility. Here are ten things not to do if you're aiming to heighten your public profile.

1. Don't make the story about you. The media care about, and want to use, your knowledge and expertise. Build your media pieces around the topics that the public, and the media, want to learn more about – not around announcements about the latest award you've won.

2. Don't misunderstand the process. The media will quote and feature you if you can deliver information their audiences need. They have no obligation to use you because you took out an ad, or because you play golf with the publisher.

3. Don't bite off too much at once. Keep it simple, and focused. Every media piece you send out should be about just one topic. Don't try to impress them with everything you know, or every possible angle. They can only do one story at a time, and they are deadline-pressured. Subtlety and complexity are usually your enemies.

4. Don't wander, or help reporters wander. In every interview, walk in knowing by heart your main point or message, and two or three key facts that support it. Make sure you say them, repeat them, and be sure the reporter gets them. Don't drift all over the topic's landscape.

5. Don't hold back. Don't withhold your "best stuff" for another day, or for paying clients. This is your spotlight, your moment – use it! Share the best of your knowledge with the media – they'll value you more.

6. Don't be leisurely. If a reporter calls, return the call promptly – within an hour or two, at most. They'll find someone else to use if you don't.

7. Don't overreach your knowledge. Talk to the media only about what you know best. If it's outside your core expertise, give it a pass – better yet, steer the reporter to a more appropriate resource. You'll score big points. Who wants to come across sounding ill-informed?

8. Don't send the reporter down an unproductive trail. Sure, you want to help a reporter do his or her job better. But that doesn't mean you have to coax them to interview a direct competitor, or someone else in the field who is likely to oppose or contradict you in print.

9. Don't try to fool a reporter or hide key facts. They usually find out anyway.

10. Finally, don't forget who gave you good coverage. Remember and reward reporters who feature you – not with gifts or anything inappropriate, but with kind thank-yous, and frequent suggestions and information for future stories, even if they may not involve you directly. Reporters value information and ease of access to it – deliver that, and you'll be a media favorite.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Public Relations For Copper Mines

Writen by Lance Winslow

Public relations for copper mines in the United States of America is extremely important. Too many copper mines have been closed in the United States and currently the price of copper is astronomical and that adds costs to almost all the electrical components that people buy. Since copper conducts electricity and is the preferred metal we need more of the. In the United States we have plenty of copper mines but they have all closed nearly all of them due to complaints from environmentalists.

Perhaps if they had better public relations programs this might not have happened. There are a few copper mines operating in the United States and they need to work hard and keep communication lines open with all the mass media so that they can educate the consumer, citizen and even the environmentalists as to the reason that copper mines are so vitally important to the flows of our civilization.

We have an abundance of natural resources in the United States of America and copper is one of them. We have enough copper in our country for all of our manufacturing needs and enough to export to solve all the copper market's problems. But if these copper mines cannot operate due to environmentalists claiming that copper dust flies around and gets all over everything turning it red, then you can see the issues.

Corporations that build products, which require copper will then have to import the material at a very high price plus shipping costs and that puts our manufacturing facilities and industries at a severe disadvantage to the rest of the world. That hurts American jobs and it is a bad policy. This is why public relations and copper mining is so important. Please consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/