In baseball, it's said that you know an umpire is top-notch when you never notice his presence.  If he's doing his job, he won't call attention to himself in any way. It's much the same for the
writer of a press release. When the recipient of a release focuses only on its content -- and not on its creation -- the writer has succeeded.  With that in mind, here's 5 Commandments of Press Releases:

1. Thou Shalt Be Professional. No goofy fonts, rainbow paper or silly gimmicks. Even lighthearted press releases represent a communication between one professional and another.

2. Thou Shalt Not Be Promotional. If you can't get enough objective distance from your company to write a press release that's not filled with hype and puffery, hire someone to write it
for you.

3. Thou Shalt Not Be Boring. Even the driest subject matter allows for some sparks of creativity. People like knowing that there's a human being communicating with them, not some corporate robot.

4. Thou Shalt Think Visually. A press release is more than words -- it's a visual document that will first be assessed by how it looks.

I'm referring to more than font size or letterhead. I'm talking about the actual layout of the words. Whether received by mail, fax or e-mail, a journalist -- often unconsciously -- will make
decisions about whether to read the release based on how the release is laid out. Big blocks of text and long paragraphs are daunting and uninviting. Short paragraphs and sentences make for a much more visually inviting look.

5. Thou Shalt Tell A Story. How to arrange the facts of a hard news release is pretty much cut and dried.  The old "who, what, when, where and how" concepts still hold.

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The influence of the Internet has not only changed the way both the media and your customers choose to receive their news and find information, it has opened the door for a whole new set of influencers, including bloggers. All of this means more visibility for your news and, ultimately, more results for your business, but only if you understand online Press Releases.

Make sure your group leverages ‘The New Rules of Press Releases’.

Authored by marketing strategist and online expert David Meerman Scott and updated for 2007, “The New Rules of PR” includes practical ‘newsmarketer’ tips from David McInnis, founder and CEO of PRWeb, the leader in maximizing distribution and optimization of your news online.

They include:

• Optimizing your news releases for search Utilizing online distribution services to reach thousands of web sites and blogs
• Leveraging advanced social media features including TrackBacks/PingBacks and Technorati tagging to extend the reach of your news
• Developing content that attracts your key audiences and drives traffic to your site

Use the power of the Internet to your advantage, learn the new rules of PR! Visit PRWeb and receive your free copy of “The New Rules of PR” today.

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The media thrives on press releases.  Over half of the news you read in business publications comes from press releases sent to them by businesses and organizations. Media is more competitive than ever.  TV stations, radio, newspapers, and networks have all had to scale back and tighten budgets.  This means they rely more than ever on the good stories YOU send them.  A newsworthy press release can pull in lots of FREE media coverage for your business.

Anytime your are starting a new program or, new ad campaign or have put up a new website think about submitting a news-worthy Press Release.Make sure your story is something the media audience will be interested in. Editors hate getting a release that is really an ad disguised as a release. 

Send your release to media via email.  Almost everyone in media uses email.  There are several very good email release services that have long lists of media contacts.  Xpresspress.com is well-known and does a nice job. Keep in mind most release services have the same media addresses. You can get even lower rates from automatedpr.com where a minimum order is just $50.  If you send out lots of releases, consider getting a list of media and sending them yourself. Gebbie.com has a terrific media guide for about $100.

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We have had quite a bit of discussion about how to write press releases and how important they are when you start a new business or campaign. Hopefully these tips will help you make your press release a success.

1. Make sure the information is newsworthy.
2. Tell the audience that the information is intended for them and why they should continue to read it.
3. Start with a brief description of the news, then distinguish who announced it, and not the other way around.
4. Ask yourself, "How are people going to relate to this and will they be able to connect?"
5. Make sure the first 10 words of your release are effective, as they are the most important.
6. Avoid excessive use of adjectives and fancy language.
7. Deal with the facts.
8. Provide as much Contact information as possible: Individual to Contact, address, phone, fax, email, Web site address.
9. Make sure you wait until you have something with enough substance to issue a release.
10. Make it as easy as possible for media representatives to do their jobs.

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In baseball, it's said that you know an umpire is top-notch when you never notice his presence. If he's doing his job, he won't call attention to himself in any way. It's much the same for the writer of a press release. When the recipient of a release focuses only on its content -- and not on its creation -- the writer has succeeded.

With that in mind, let's talk about how to avoid the dreaded
"stopper" - something that will stop a journalist in her tracks
and distract her attention. Once that happens, your release is
toast. The point of your press release: to present information in
the least obtrusive way possible.

Consider it this way: the journalist isn't dumb -- she knows full well that you've sent her the press release for purely commercial reasons, hoping to get publicity that will make you more money. She can live with that as long as:

A: There's something in it for her (a good story) and
B: She's not reminded of your commercial desires too often.

A "stopper" breaks the suspension of disbelief needed for this
little dance to be successful. It's the boom mike showing up in
the frame of a movie -- once you've seen it, it's hard to
convince yourself that you're really experiencing something that
happened during, say, the Middle Ages.

Here are some "stoppers" to avoid:

 Clunky language. Journalists keep their language pretty
simple. Long words, compound sentences and lofty, pretentious
phrases are no- no's. Keep your sentences short. Don't try to
present more than one idea in a paragraph. Avoid words you
wouldn't use in everyday circumstances.

 Hype and puffery. The ultimate "stopper". Confusing press
release copy with advertising copy is a pervasive problem with
businesspeople. Don't call yourself the greatest, the hottest,
the coolest, the most unique or anything of the sort. If you
must make a claim of superiority for your product, service or
company, attribute it. Acme President Joe Blow said the X100
"has the ability to revolutionize the industry" is much
better than "The revolutionary Acme X100 is the greatest
industrial advance since the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk."

Trademark Symbols. Including trademark or copyright or register
symbols screams "hey, look at me! I'm a press release! I come
from a business! The corporate attorneys made me include this
stuff!"

The bottom line: write like a journalist, avoid the stoppers and
answer the Five W's (who, what, where, when & why) and you'll
succeed!

Cindy McAsey | Phone:888.272.6701 Veretekk Automated Lead Generation Barefoot Marketing System

As you probably know, the "blog & ping" technique has been one of the best ways to get new web sites and pages indexed by the major search engines. In fact, "blog & ping" has been one of the hottest online marketing tactics in the past two years. BUT... It's now being *CRUSHED* by another technique...

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So it's not just a little "trick" to get you indexed quickly in the search engines (although it does that too) but it can bring you bursts of traffic each time you use it from REAL PEOPLE being exposed to news about your sites. This can bring you a rush of new sales and subscribers. I've seen this technique in action and it's VERY POWERFUL. The only problem was, up until now this technique only worked if you did it MANUALLY with a lot of time and effort...

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