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An engaging press release with an interesting ‘hook’ or angle is an excellent way to gain exposure for your product or service and can lead to media interviews with appearances on television and radio stations, and in newspapers or magazines. The objective of a release is to capture the attention of your audience, whether this is your home town, state, province, country or international market, and educate them about your product or service.

We cannot stress enough the importance of a well written press release. We constantly come across inaccurate, poorly written or unedited press releases that simply will not be read. They become a waste of time to journalists who are already bogged down with information overload. And some releases are just not publishable.

So our advice? Write a strong, well written press release and edit before submitting it.

The following links will help you with writing your press release:

Section 1: Press Release Format

Section 2: Newsworthiness: What May Seem Like News…

Section 3: Target the Media

Section 4: Content is Key: Start Strong and Sell the Benefits

Section 5: Language & Wording: Do Not Embellish or Exaggerate

Section 6: Quote Permissions & Attributions

Section 7: What Not to Include in Your Press Release

Section 8: Images in Your Press Release

Section 9: Edit Your Release before Submitting It

Section 10: How Often Should You Submit Your Press Release?

Section 11: Our Distribution Packages and Pricing

Section 12: Start Writing Your Release Now!

Section 1 – Press Release Format

There is a general format for writing all press releases. To format a release correctly and most effectively, you will need to include the following:

Date Instructions: “For Immediate Release”, “For Release Before (date)”, or “For Release After (date)”. Many online distribution services simply ask you to insert a date in the date line or select one from a calendar.

Contact information: Make it easy for the media to contact you about your story by including as much information as possible. It is important to include a phone number, fax number, email address and company address. Failing to leave this information suggests that your press release is either amateurish or illegitimate. Media contacts will ask: “Why don’t they want to be contacted? What do they have to hide?”

Headline: Your headline must ‘hook’ the reader into wanting to read your full release. You may have a fantastic press release. However, failing to write a strong headline will jeopardize your entire release. It will be overlooked and passed by in favor of a release with a more interesting or exciting or controversial headline. So make your headline an attention grabber.

Sell the benefits of your product or service within your headline:

Losing Weight Is Easy If You Follow These Simple Rules

Or ask a question:

Want to Lose Weight the Easy Way?

These headlines draw a reader into the story, simply because they want to know how to solve a particular problem or they want to know the answer to the question.

Summary: This is a sentence or short paragraph that follows your headline. Here is where you continue to draw the media into your story by summarizing the information in your press release with a strong statement or two to keep the reader interested. But don’t give them everything. You still want them to read the entire release.

Body: This is the main area of your press release. Keep it simple, to the point and brief, 175 – 300 words. Use bullets when appropriate and clear, crisp paragraphs for easy reading. Your press release is meant to entice the media to contact you for further information, so encourage the reader to contact you and visit your web site.

About Us/Boiler Plate: Not everyone uses a boiler plate. However, this is the perfect place to add some brief information about your company. (i.e., “XYZ Company is a leading distributor of widgets and has been in the business of building widgets since 1900.”)

End of Press Release: To end your press release, simply enter ### on a blank line at the end of the release. Any information after ### will not be published.

More Press Release Tips: Section 2-12 can be found at http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press_writing_tips.php

Note: This article was written and edited by Cheryl Kaye Tardif for 24-7PressRelease Newswire. It is submitted here with permission.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif has worked in the past as a motivational speaker, marketing consultant, website designer and book editor. Currently, she is a freelance journalist, book reviewer, press release writer and copywriter. She is best known as the author of three bestselling novels: The River, Divine Intervention and the her most recent Whale Song (http://www.whalesongbook.com).

Visit Cheryl’s main website at http://www.cherylktardif.com

As an editor by trade and a writer by passion, I know how hard it can be to get your thoughts on paper. Your inner editor constantly detours your writing flow by criticizing your grammar, word choice, and punctuation. You can stop your inner editor by putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and letting the words flow―even if you consciously know you should be more specific or know you’ve added extra words―forgive yourself and move on. Nobody ever writes a perfect first draft. Once your work is on the computer, run it through the grammar and spell check, and then use these 7 tips to help make your writing better.

1) Persuade and motivate your reader. It’s your #1 goal when writing. Provide your readers with smartly-expressed thoughts by choosing words that drive your sentences from one to the next and create a seamless reading experience. Think of the horse-before-the-cart analogy. That cart’s not going anywhere until the horse pulls it into action.

2) Paint a picture. Would you rather eat a chocolate dessert or a creamy, chocolate layer cake? A piece of fruit or a crisp, juicy apple? Drive a car or drive a luxury Jaguar with soft, leather seats and new-car aroma? Your readers won’t see what you’re talking about unless you paint a vivid picture.

3) Clear the clutter. Words like “that, so, very, and much.” Look at your sentences closely–how many times do you use these words in your writing? Are they necessary? If extra words are not adding to the sentence, leave them out.

4) Pick a style–and stick with it. Whether you prefer formal or informal writing, use the same tone throughout your piece to create fluidity and keep your readers focused. Formal writing is used in professional writing, technical writing, and most business writing. Informal writing creates a more casual tone and uses contractions liberally (i.e., you’re vs. you are; won’t vs. would not, and so on).

5) Walk away. Put your draft down and walk away for an hour, a day or a week. After a short break, you’ll view your draft in a different light and be able to pick up what you missed earlier. Sometimes all it takes is a new perspective.

6) Get another set of eyes. Don’t be embarrassed (or too proud) to let someone read your work. Step back from your writing and let an objective set of eyes view your work from a reader’s point of view. Remember: feedback is your friend.

7) Edit, edit, edit. Editing and proofreading will make the difference between mediocre and magnificent. It’s important to rework your writing, but it’s even better to hand your work over to a professional editor. An editor’s job is not to criticize, judge or take away your voice; their job is to make your writing better.

© 2007 Karen L. Reddick, MVA, author of The A-Z Guide: The Best Ways To Work With A Virtual Assistant has more than 30 years of administrative experience, with the last five as a successful virtual assistant. She owns V-And-E-Services and The Red Pen Editor providing virtual assistance and editorial services to authors, writers and small businesses.
Blog: http://karenreddick.wordpress.com
Websites: http://www.TheRedPenEditor.com * http://www.VandEServices.com

True Stories: Guides for Writing from Your Life Review

True Stories: Guides for Writing from Your Life Overview

We all have stories to tell about our lives and the lives of people we know. Rebecca Rule and Susan Wheeler help new and experienced writers commit those stories to paper.

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Using a press release is a fantastic way to drive traffic to your website in a short amount of time. It doesn’t have to be about a major news story; it is merely a way to let the public know about any new developments, or to let them know about the launch of a new website.

When you write a press release, it can get easily picked up by Yahoo or Google news. If it does get picked up by a big player, you can get an instant traffic explosion.

In order to get noticed by the top guns, it is going to have to be very well-written, and here are a few tips to help you do it the right way.

Press Release Writing Tip # 1: Keep It Short.

It is best to keep it short and to the point. Most are about 500 words, which gives you enough room to write everything necessary. A long and lengthy report will not be accepted by many news sources – it should be a brief clip that encourages the reader to search out more information by clicking on the link you provide.

Press Release Writing Tip # 2: Write It Yourself.

It is really not that hard to write your own PR if English is your first language and you feel comfortable writing. The best thing to do is to follow the formatting of other successful ones.

You can read about formatting and structure, but until you actually visually see one for yourself, you will not appreciate how easy it is to write it. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, then outsource the writing to a writer who is experienced with writing PRs.

Press Release Writing Tip # 3: Write A Captivating Headline.

The headline should be a grabber that makes the reader want more. It should be bolded and the font used should be bigger than the body. Remember to use the keywords that you want the search engines to pick up right in the title, while keeping the spark in it.

Press Release Writing Tip # 4: Get The Reader Hooked.

You have one or two sentences to get the reader hooked and reading the rest, or you will lose him. Without adding anything fancy, state exactly what it is about. Heavy use of adjectives and a sales tone will turn off any reader that is looking for newsworthy information about the topic.

Keep it simple at the beginning; let them know what you are going to talk about and why they need to read it.

If possible, insert your keywords strategically throughout the article; but don’t overdo it and do it in a way that does not affect the natural flow of the content.

Press Release Writing Tip # 5: Keep The Sales Out Of It.

Make sure that it doesn’t come across as a sales pitch. It must be written as a news story. It can contain a link to a site that has been set up to market a product, but the release itself cannot have a sales tone to it. Anything that has a sales tone will not be picked up by any major news sites, and will not spread as you want them to.

Press Release Writing Tip # 6: Use Factual Statements.

In order to retain credibility, you must include factual statements that can be verified. You do not want to beat around the bush with any innuendos or theories, but only present the facts in a crisp concise manner. A factual presentation is what is needed and wanted.

Press Release Writing Tip # 7: Make It Stand Out.

Writing a PR does not have to mean that it is completely boring. You need to find some kind of hook that makes the reader want more information.

Look at what you have to present, and then think about it from different angles. What can you add to this that will make it shine above the rest and be picked by major news sources?

Search engines love PRs and you can get a lot of traffic from them. If you write a good one and it starts to circulate around the web, you really have no idea how far it can go. It can appear on thousands of websites in the blink of an eye.

There are people that specialize in writing press releases for a living; and if you have a website that is taking off and have something to tell the world, you may want to find a specialist and get them to write it for you.

A PR is a powerful advertising tool and should not be underestimated. Use it for all it is worth, and watch your traffic and profits build. Many of the Internet marketing pros use this strategy, and anybody that is just starting a new business on the Internet can use them as well.

You don’t need to feel intimidated – anybody can issue a press release. You do not have to be a major company, just somebody that has something important to announce and make known.

Want to launch, reinvent & grow your online biz dramatically? Discover a breakthrough membership site considered as the #1 source of supply for most hot-selling digital information products on the web. Go to http://www.surefirewealth.com and skyrocket your profits now!

The Best American Science Writing 2008 Review

As usual, this year’s editor has put together an excellent collection of Science Writing. But the thing I tend to like about the series is that it contains a little bit on a lot of subjects. Not so this time. The stories generally fall into four categories: genetics, ethics/exposé, the brain, and the environment.

Genetics: The first, Facing Life with a Lethal Gene is, unforgettably, about a girl who chooses to learn her genetic fate. The second, An Error in the Code, concerns a genetic defect that causes persons to tear themselves apart, while the third explains the benefits and limitations of the work done by genetic testing companies. In the ethics/exposé category falls six stories: How NIH Misread Hormone Study in 2002; Psychiatrists, Children, and Drug Industry’s Role; What’s Normal ["the controversy in diagnosing bipolar disorder in the very young"]; After Sanctions, Doctors Get Drug Company Pay; Dr. Drug Rep; When Is a Pain Doctor a Drug Pusher?; and Supply, Demand, and Kidney Transplants. Those involving the brain include: The Abyss [a man whose brain can not lay down memories], Duped [lie detection], and The Older-and-Wiser Hypothesis [Does wisdom increase with age?]. In the final, environment, category are four essays: a five pager by Al Gore on (what else) Global Warming, two about China (1 – the country is running out of water, 2 – a whistle-blower tried to sound the alarm on chemical factories’ poisoning of a lake and suffered the consequences), and, finally, Sowing for Apocalypse, which I’d read elsewhere, about a Noah’s Arkian collection of seeds from all over the world, kept safe in case of a cataclysmic event on earth. You see, only one piece, about the loss of effectiveness of the human body’s evolution-related defenses against cancer, entitled Evolved for Cancer?, doesn’t fit my categories. In summary, I’d like to say to next year’s editor, more variety, please! Also good: A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar, The Best American Science and Nature Writing Series, and Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.

The Best American Science Writing 2008 Overview

Edited by Sylvia Nasar, bestselling author of A Beautiful Mind and former economics correspondent for the New York Times, The Best American Science Writing 2008 brings together the premiere science writing of the year. Distinguished by the foremost voices and publications—among them Pulitzer Prize-winner Amy Harmon, Nobel Prize–winner Al Gore, and award-winning and bestselling author Oliver Sacks—this anthology is a comprehensive overview of our most advanced and most relevant scientific inquiries.

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Here are some tips that you can make use of if you want to take your article writing to the next level:

1. Always use killer titles. Your main goal in writing your articles is to capture the attention of your target audience. This will happen if you use eye-catching titles. Make your audience want to read your articles by making your titles very enticing. Use them to communicate the gist of your content and the benefits that await your readers.

2. Plan your content. Don’t start writing unless you have a solid idea on the things that you would like to cover on your content. Decide on the angles that you’re going to target and list down the issues that you would like to discuss. Then, find ways on how you can set your articles apart from the rest.

3. Keep your readers interested. You want your audience to read your articles until the end. You can make this happen if you offer the most essential information upfront and if you make each of your paragraphs worth your readers’ while. It will also help if you write your articles using conversational tone.

4. Keep it short and simple. Writing articles for the web means serving people with different levels of comprehension and attention span. So as not to create confusion, it will be best if you make your articles easy to understand. Write as if you’re talking to a 10th grader. Use simple terms and simple, short sentences. Then, don’t try to cover too many angles on your content. Focus on one angle and make your articles really, really tight and relatively short.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, “Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide”

Download it free here: Article Writing

The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing Review

“The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing” is an excellent book for those wanting to learn about how to be more efficient in their writing, communicating with clients and even on social media sites.

Writers Natalie Canavor/Claire Meirowitz (Founders of C&M Business Writing Services) write about “52 Truths” when it comes to writing and the chapters are broken down into the following:

PART I: The Truth About What Makes Writing Work

Examples: “Me” Focused Messages Fail, Forget Yesterday, Write for Today, Tone Makes – or breaks – your message, etc.

PART II: The Truth About Self-Editing

Examples: The best writers don’t write; they rewrite, Less can be a whole lot more, passive thinking and jargon undermine clarity

PART III: The truth about successful e-mail

Examples: Know your e-mail do’s and don’ts, use e-mail to communicate in the fast lane-powerfully, etc.

And then you get into the more important chapters such as..

PART IV: The Truth About Letters

PART V: The Truth About Reports and Proposals

PART VI: The Truth About Web Sites

PART VII: The Truth About New Media

PART VIII: The Truth About Writing to Self-Market

PART IX: The Truth About Tricks of the Trade

And also the ability to access more materials by registering your book online.

JUDGMENT CALL:

Personally, “The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing” could be a useful tool in college curriculum. In college, having taken writing classes that dealt with Associated Press writing, it was ingrained in our heads by our professors to write a certain way, to use words that most people don’t use in their vocabulary and to write intelligently.

But when I took a business class which emphasized “Chicago” writing style, it was what we learned to write memo’s, e-mails and business communication writing.

But as more and more people communicate via E-mail, chat, Twitter or utilizing social media, most people are in a hurry and don’t bother to rewrite. And how many times have you had people take a message you wrote out of context. Sometimes good writing requires repetition, good etiquette and for the most part, both Canavor and Meirowitz do a good job in showing people how to write effectively.

Overall, “The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing” is an excellent resource for business writing and communication and for those who know they are having problems with communicating via memo, e-mail, tweets, etc.

The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing Feature

• ISBN13: 9780137153152
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing Overview

“From everyday letters, e-mails, and reports to Web site content, proposals, and new media, you’ll discover what it takes to make every written word count.” –Jerry Allocca, President, CORE Interactive

Business writing that packs a punch: Make the most of your message to get what you want!

• The truth about supercharging your business writing
• The truth about writing directly, clearly, and convincingly
• The truth about writing in today’s varied business formats

Simply the best thinking

THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

This book reveals 52 proven, bite-size, easy-to-use business writing techniques that work.

Natalie Canavor launched four national magazines for business and professional audiences and directed communications for New York’s largest educational agency.

Claire Meirowitz, an award-winning author, has served as project manager and copy editor for leading business publications. Natalie and Claire own and run C&M Business Writing Services.

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Short Guide to Writing About Psychology (3rd Edition) (The Short Guide Series) Review

Short Guide to Writing About Psychology (3rd Edition) (The Short Guide Series) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780205752812
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Short Guide to Writing About Psychology (3rd Edition) (The Short Guide Series) Overview

Featuring the latest APA-style guidelines, this concise guide helps readers master the skills and conventions they need to write well in psychology.

This brief guide takes readers step-by-step through the writing process. In addition, it presents thorough discussions of researching psychological literature, focusing on online and database research, and presenting those findings in written and oral formats. Special attention is given to interpreting and reporting the results of statistical tests, as well as preparing data displays in tables and figures. Introducing readers to all elements of professional writing in APA style, this book is a perfect supplement for courses in the social science disciplines.

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The OTA’s Guide to Writing SOAP Notes Review

The OTA’s Guide to Writing SOAP Notes Overview

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Comedy Writing Workbook Review

This book has drastically impacted my comedy writing capabilities. Not necessarily because you learn anything different than you would in another book but because of the way it makes you WORK to practice every technique. Lots of room for you to fall flat but fantastic for learning to work a few hours everyday and continue to write even when not feeling like it. Doing an exercise or two a day after the first section is a great means of learning how to write regularly.

Comedy Writing Workbook Overview

The whole range of tricks for successful comedy writing is examined in this book. The author, one of Bob Hope’s top writers, analyzes what he does to produce one-liners, anecdotes, monologues, formular jokes, cartoon captions and teaches the reader how to master the skill.

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