Comments on: The Basics of Press Releases

By: beyblade

beyblade — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:42:24 +0000

Was a great read, first time here i’ll be back though hehe

By: Busby SEO Challenge

Busby SEO Challenge — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:09:18 +0000

This is perfect just what i looking for for reference. thank you very much for this inspiration. Busby SEO Challenges last blog post..SEO Contest

By: John Hewitt

John Hewitt — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:21:19 +0000

@ Beth

I agree completely. The last thing I wanted as an editor was a cute press release. I wanted news.

By: Beth from Avenue Z

Beth from Avenue Z — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:17:01 +0000

I was trained as a journalist, and I refuse to write ridiculously lame press releases for my clients. “What’s the news here? Why would it matter to people?” I always ask that question and try to look for something timely, interesting, hot-topic centric… something. Just announcing that someone created a new division is not worth the time. Why is the new division important? Does it add jobs somewhere? What impact will it have on anyone else?

By: John

John — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:41:57 +0000

WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN WHY and the chronology, with pics (motion is best.)

Be concise and have the best information available on topic.

I’m done!

By: John Hewitt

John Hewitt — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:40:25 +0000

@ James

I would have just taken whe word “his” out. It isn’t needed. I understand the gender neutral dilemma though. I’ve been hit with it a few times.

Also, I think that you can try a little too hard to tell a story sometimes. As an editor, I hated having to fish through a press release for the information I needed. I wanted to see the facts first, then the story.

By: James -Men with Pens

James -Men with Pens — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:50:12 +0000

There’s a definite art to PRs. 80% of the ones we see these days are total crap, and people will pay nicely for a well-written *interesting* PR. If anyone goes into PR writing, do everything you can to learn the *art* of PR writing and don’t just slap up the who, what, why, when, where and how. Tell a story. Grip your audience.

On a side note, I want to say that we didn’t assume the PR officer was male. I do want to say that writing a long text with “he or she” peppering the content becomes bulky and that switching between genders as you write (“he” in one paragraph, “she” in the next) is disconcerting.

But we didn’t put in that little “for the sake of simplicity, we’re using he but please don’t think we’re sexist or gender biased” disclaimer”, so I apologize.

James -Men with Penss last blog post..Enter the Capturing Fantasy Launch Contest

By: John Hewitt

John Hewitt — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:30:05 +0000

I think that the basics of press releases will hodl true, but the details will continue to change. For example, there are several tipsI give that are based on print versions of press releases, but these days, email is more prevelant, so the tips no longer really apply.

By: ABB

ABB — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:48:16 +0000

Nice summary. I wonder how much this will change as technology allows ever increasing interactivity. I often hear colleagues debate the merits of including links to podcast-style quotes and information, or web trailers.