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Writing A Professional Press Release

The who, what, where, when, why and how all need to appear right up in the first short paragraph. Each subsequent paragraph should provide information in a descending order of importance.

That isn't just a matter of expectations, though. There is a legitimate reason for it. Even though you should be writing for the media, you will occasionally run across a very lazy press employee who will run your press release almost verbatim.

In order to make that happy outcome possible, you need to write it like a journalist so they can make it an easy fit.

It's also practical. Journalists didn't randomly decide to write using the inverted pyramid. The practice developed over time because it is a logical, rational and efficient means of sharing information.

Not only must you write in the right way, you need to write about the right stuff. You need a good hook. Remember, it isn't worth a press release if it isn't worth a news story.

Announcing the hiring of a new salesman might actually warrant a few lines in your local paper's business section, but it certainly won't get the investigative reporter at Channel 8 worked into a frenzy. Make sure you are sending something interesting.

You need to supply contact information with your press release. If your business is strictly online, you might be tempted to sneak by with nothing more than your URL and an email address, but even in those situations, an actual phone number is a better idea.

The presence of real contact information (full name, a number, etc.) increases the credibility of your news release and provides media members with a quick way to get in touch with you if they need additional information.

Stylistically, you'll need to learn the basics of press releases. You will need to know how to indicate the date and story location. You'll need to understand why it is important to put "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" on top of the submission and why sometimes you might be able to get by specifying a date instead.

You'll want to know about putting those "pound signs" on the bottom of the page and how to write an effective headline.

That kind of information is readily available with just a little bit of Googling. However, all of the understanding in the world won't help you if you aren't a good writer. Those who didn't receive the gift of using words effectively might want to consider hiring a professional to write the release.

Professional content writers and copywriters can churn out fantastic press releases for reasonable prices if you shop in the right places. The good ones also seem to have a real knack for finding the kind of hook that makes a release newsworthy.