Press Release 101 for Home Business
Extra, extra! You’ve got the coolest home business in town and you want people to know about. You write what you think is a glistening press release and send it off to the local paper.
And nothing happens.
Most newspaper and online editors are a surly, cynical sort, so you really have to make an effort to convince them that your home based business opportunity is worthy of space in their paper or on their Web site. The last thing they want to do is print something that looks like someone is trying to make a sale – that’s what ads are for.
PRWeb, an online news and press release distributor, suggests first making sure your release is newsworthy. To do this, answer the six w’s – who, what, when, where, why – and my favorite – who cares.
Next decide what the hook, or the most interesting thing, about your business is. Do you help people? Do you offer one-of-a-kind service? Use a unique, real-life example of how your company overcame a hurdle or offers a beneficial service, but don’t overdo it. Your release will be the next thing in the trash bin if you’re too eager to sell a product or over-hype a service.
Once you’ve got what you want to say down on paper, dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Take it from me, a former newspaper editor - a poorly written press release laden with errors makes a newsroom joke.
To keep your release off the ‘Wall of Shame,’ format it using this template as a guide. Next check for errors. Do you use superfluous exclamation points? Have you used all caps somewhere? Most importantly, check for grammatical and spelling errors.
Finish your press release off with a brief paragraph about that describes your home based business’s products, services and gives a brief history.
Editors will often run a release without modification if it’s in good enough shape. That means if you do a good job, your release could be printed just the way you wrote it – talk about great exposure!