Write a provocative headline. Use keywords that will help others pick up what you’ve written – on the Internet. Keywords can be Texas, funeral directors, TFDA, and anything your release is about.
Hook the reader with your first sentence. You’ve only got a couple of seconds to get their attention. Make that first sentence relate to as many as possible. Make them think. Then, let the rest of the release provide the detail.
Proofread: Write your release, print it, and proofread. Rewrite and then proofread again. The more time you take to do it right, the more you invest in your company's first impression.
Identify Yourself: If your news release does not identify the source of the information and news within the first few paragraphs, you lose the promotional value your release can provide you. Readers want to know who is talking.
Don't Be Afraid to Toot Your Own Horn: If your company has reached a milestone, celebrated an anniversary, hired a new funeral director, experienced significant growth or received an award, tell the world what you did right. Or, write a tip sheet that offers readers "tips" or help in your field of expertise.
Write Professionally: No hype, slang, too many exclamation points. Additionally, on occasion, media outlets may pick up your release and run it in their publications with little or no modification. The more professional your release sounds, the greater the chances are that this will happen.
Stick to the Facts: Tell the truth. Avoid fluff, embellishments, hype and exaggerations. If you feel that your press release seems sensational, there's a good chance your readers will think so too. With so much information available to the consumer, readers are naturally skeptical. If your story sounds too good to be true, you are probably hurting your own credibility. Even if it is true, you may want to tone it down a bit.
Use Active Voice: Verbs in the active voice bring your press release to life. Rather than writing "entered into a partnership," use "partnered" instead. Do not be afraid to use strong verbs. For example, "The committee exhibited severe hostility over the incident" reads better if changed to "The committee was enraged over the incident." Writing in this manner helps give life and energy to your release, which may set it apart from the rest of the pack.
Economize Your Words: Wordiness is distracting, so be concise. Use only enough words as needed to announce your news and tell your story. In addition, we've found that the news search engines sometimes reject news releases with overly long headlines, excessive lists and high overall word counts. Avoid using unnecessary adjectives, flowery language or redundant expressions such as "added bonus" or "first time ever." Make each word count. If you can tell your story with fewer words, you'll have better results with your readers and the search engines.
Answer the Tough Questions: Not everything is news. Your excitement about something and its availability does not necessarily mean you have a newsworthy story. Think about your audience. Will someone else find your story interesting? .Answer the question, "Why should anyone care?" Make sure your announcement contains news values like timeliness, uniqueness or highlights something truly unusual.
Attach logos, head shots, product shots, photographs, audio files, video files, PDF documents or any other supplemental materials that build up your release. Use anchor text and hyperlinks to point readers back to your site while promoting important keywords at the same time.
Formatting Your Press Release
The correct formatting creates a professional, search engine friendly news release. How you present your news is just as important as your content.
It should look like this:
PRESS RELEASE
For additional information, contact: For Immediate Release:
Name, Email Address Date
HEADLINE
AUSTIN, TX – June 1, 2009---
Text: No more than 13-15 words per sentence. No more than three sentences per paragraph. Use good transitions between paragraphs.
Spacing: Leave one line break between each paragraph. It's not necessary to include dashes, asterisks or other symbols to separate sections in your release.
Grammar: Be sure your news release follows the accepted rules of grammar and style. Grammatical and punctuation errors affect your credibility.
Length: It is nearly impossible to announce your news in a few sentences. If you do not have more than a few sentences, you may not have a newsworthy item. Try for somewhere between 300 and 800 words in paragraph form.
E-mail Address: Rather than including your e-mail address in the body of your release, include it with the rest of your contact information at the top of the page. You also may want to add your physical address.
Once it’s written, send your release to:
All local newspapers, radio stations, TV stations and your FaceBook and LinkedIn sites.
American Funeral Director
Funeral Service Insider
Kates/Boylston Publications
3349 Route 138 Bldg. D, Suite D
Wall, NJ 07719
Telephone: 800-500-4585
Edward J. Defort, Publisher and Editorial Director
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Mortuary Management
Funeral Monitor
Abbott & Hast Publications
2361 Horseshoe Drive
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
800-453-1199
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
YB News
Nomis Publications
Peggy Rouzzo
P. O. Box 5159
Youngstown, Ohio 44514
1-800-321-7479
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NFDA – The Director
Chris Raymond, Editor
13625 Bishops Drive
Bloomfield, Wisconsin 53005
262-814-1548
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)