- Original Poster
- #1
Hello people.
One thing I do a lot of is press releases, this activity can result in a lot of free publicity and can really raise your profile within a certain market or geographical area.
Firstly what is a press release? My definition is that it is an article or piece of information that you want the public to read through the medium of the media. The subjects the press releases are on are only limited by your imagination. The more creative they are they more they will stand out. For example I offered to do Santa free business cards, that got a lot of local press coverage and turned into about 20 orders off the back of it!
Press released are often used as back ups for when another story falls through and the editor needs something to fill the gap. As a press release is practically a written article, it needs little work to fill sometimes half a page of a paper. To get an advert the size of half a page in a paper you are talking £100s of pounds, press releases are free 
So how do you structure a press release and where can you get them done? I structure mine slightly different to what other people may recommend but I find that they work very well. I send out a 3 page press release, page 1 is the content and story, page 2 is my biog and the history of my company explaining why I can give such information, page 3 is a list of questions that the editor can ask me if they wish to do so. The questions on page 3 I already have answers for and can answer at the drop of a hat.
For example I did a press release recently about how important the quality of your business cards are because this is how people perceive you company to be. I did some research in the area and published my findings, it is very true, low quality business cards make your company look cheap and gives off an impression of unreliability. The second page was my biog and it explains that I am in position to make such a press release as I run and own MK Printing and we do business cards. The third page was the questions and these included what evidence do you have to support your claims, why do you litho print instead of digital, why should someone pay £50 for business cards and not £2.99 and what cards do you recommend for new businesses. There were about 10 more questions but you get the idea.
You can always get a copywriter to do your press release, they cost about £25 an hour but will do a great job of it for you. My suggestion is to keep it topical, for example if you sell scented oils you could do a press release along the lines of A lavender oil would calm the big brother house down, if you see what I mean. The more current your press releases are the more likely they will get instant and larger exposure.
The best thing to do is start reading other peoples press releases to start to get an idea of how they are done. It is a great way to advertise and media people may even start to contact you regarding certain things. This has happened to me on a number of occasions, because I worked with bands for a long time radio station that have phone in shows regularly asked me to take part. I have done numerous interviews for radio stations and also interviews for magazines.
Good luck and start writing your press releases!
Matt, MK Printing
One thing I do a lot of is press releases, this activity can result in a lot of free publicity and can really raise your profile within a certain market or geographical area.
Firstly what is a press release? My definition is that it is an article or piece of information that you want the public to read through the medium of the media. The subjects the press releases are on are only limited by your imagination. The more creative they are they more they will stand out. For example I offered to do Santa free business cards, that got a lot of local press coverage and turned into about 20 orders off the back of it!
Press released are often used as back ups for when another story falls through and the editor needs something to fill the gap. As a press release is practically a written article, it needs little work to fill sometimes half a page of a paper. To get an advert the size of half a page in a paper you are talking £100s of pounds, press releases are free 
So how do you structure a press release and where can you get them done? I structure mine slightly different to what other people may recommend but I find that they work very well. I send out a 3 page press release, page 1 is the content and story, page 2 is my biog and the history of my company explaining why I can give such information, page 3 is a list of questions that the editor can ask me if they wish to do so. The questions on page 3 I already have answers for and can answer at the drop of a hat.
For example I did a press release recently about how important the quality of your business cards are because this is how people perceive you company to be. I did some research in the area and published my findings, it is very true, low quality business cards make your company look cheap and gives off an impression of unreliability. The second page was my biog and it explains that I am in position to make such a press release as I run and own MK Printing and we do business cards. The third page was the questions and these included what evidence do you have to support your claims, why do you litho print instead of digital, why should someone pay £50 for business cards and not £2.99 and what cards do you recommend for new businesses. There were about 10 more questions but you get the idea.
You can always get a copywriter to do your press release, they cost about £25 an hour but will do a great job of it for you. My suggestion is to keep it topical, for example if you sell scented oils you could do a press release along the lines of A lavender oil would calm the big brother house down, if you see what I mean. The more current your press releases are the more likely they will get instant and larger exposure.
The best thing to do is start reading other peoples press releases to start to get an idea of how they are done. It is a great way to advertise and media people may even start to contact you regarding certain things. This has happened to me on a number of occasions, because I worked with bands for a long time radio station that have phone in shows regularly asked me to take part. I have done numerous interviews for radio stations and also interviews for magazines.
Good luck and start writing your press releases!
Matt, MK Printing
