What date to put into press release and when to send it?

[ernest1a]

We are planning to write a press release about our portal launch. PR article will be sent to some specific blog editors. I have never seen in their blog that they publish an article about announcement but only about current day launches.

My questions:
1.
What date to write inside the article? Let's say the day when we will send PR article is July 18 and a portal launch day is July 25. Is ok to write dates like the following?

EMABARGOED UNTIL July 25, 2009
title
London, July 25...Today [portalname] launched...article continue

2.
How many days in advance is best to send article?

3.
Is ok to put pr article as attachement?

thank you

 

[wayney]

We are planning to write a press release about our portal launch. PR article will be sent to some specific blog editors. I have never seen in their blog that they publish an article about announcement but only about current day launches.

My questions:
1.
What date to write inside the article? Let's say the day when we will send PR article is July 18 and a portal launch day is July 25. Is ok to write dates like the following?

EMABARGOED UNTIL July 25, 2009
title
London, July 25...Today [portalname] launched...article continue

2.
How many days in advance is best to send article?

3.
Is ok to put pr article as attachement?

thank you

I found here a link which gives important tips regarding press release, hope it can help you out
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release

 

[Richard Glynn]

Hi Ernest,

1. People do embargo news, but more predominantly for big news. Launching a portal might not quite get News at 10 as giddy as you might hope. So I'd plan your distribution around avoiding using an embargo.

You could perhaps initially reveal a sneak exclusive preview to a small selection of bloggers? Make people feel special that way instead of blasting the info out.

Communicate to them initially in a brief plain English email as opposed to a formal news release. Maybe respond to their blog postings. People do business with people - let your personality come out when you speak to bloggers and tailor content to what they want to publish - not what you want to tell them.

And why not consider a soft (Beta?) launch so you can iron out any technical issues that may arise.

UK's First <what?> Portal Confirms Beta Launch
UK's First <what?> Portal Goes Live After Beta Launch Success

... and so on.

2. How many days in advance is best to send article?

After distribution, expect a release to be published never, within minutes (blogs and online) or days even months later. I wouldn't get too hung up about timing. You have very little control over when it is published. If youve got news (make sure it is news) then send it.

3. Is OK to put PR article as attachment?

Not really. Copy and paste into a plain text email or HTML email at a push.

Also, avoid just saying we've launched a new portal. Make sure you lead with what precisely is new or innovative about what you are doing. Biggest, best, most, first.

.. and check spelling

Good luck.

 

[LowcostPR]

If you really want it to be date specific, then find out when the deadline is and send it within the timescale. You can try to embargo it until then, but unless it is really big news then they will either run it then and ignore the dates or delete it due to the hassle.

There's no "best time" to send it. Some schools of logic say just before the closing date, but this can mean that they have everything they need and they will delete your release as they have nowhere to put it. To be honest if you have done a good job then it wont make any difference when it is sent.

Regarding sending as an attachment, only do this if you truly want all your hard work to be removed by the anti-virus. This is a golden rule; don't do it. Send the info in the body of an email and if they need/want pictures, they will make sure that they receive them as attachments.

Our blog can give you some more hints if you need them.

 

[likerain109886]

Launching a portal might not quite get News at 10 as giddy as you might hope.

 

[likerain109886]

You can try to embargo it until then

 

[wholesale_uk]

I've issued dozens of press releases over the years and found that it doesn't really matter that much...publishers understand those issues, and as long as the press release is newsworthy then there really won't be any problems.


If you really want to have a launch date then just date the release and send them all out on that date.

 

[CSRhopefulpro]

I was told to try not to send press releases out more than three days before when you want it to go out in case it gets flooded in. You could send a put a note in your diary to journo lists instead or alternatively and likely to get a bit more coverage do you research find out who would be most likely to carry your message to your TA and then send out your press release to everyone early that day...two birds with one stone....

 

[silver]

I've been told that embargos are usually ignored and that it is best to put 'for immediate release'.

Alison

 

[The Movie Booth]

From my limited experience of news release distribution I've found that unless you have a gem of a story, journalists will usually work to their own requirements as opposed to yours. Thus, putting a date for the release usually means little to the journalist receiving it.

And sending the release as an attachment is a big no-no - unless you know the journalist well or they've agreed to receive the release as an attachment, don't do it.