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More on Press Releases – the More Technical Stuff

Jason Katzenback — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:19:29 +0000

OK, so now you know that you have to write press releases in order to become a Trusted Expert. You know that they’re good for business, your blog, or whatever it is that you’re trying to accomplish. But how exactly do you go about it? And in this post, I’m not talking about the content, since I covered that in the last post. Here’s the things you need to figure out to get your post seen by the right people:

1. How you’re going to distribute the press release. There are many options out there. First off, you need to decide your main distribution. There are many press release distribution services out there, both paid and free. While you have to pay money for the paid service (duh), the top paid services have a much wider and larger distribution. (It’s really a case of getting what you pay for.) If you’re really strapped for money, stick with the free one, getting your message out to some people is better than none. Here are some PR distribution services:

You should also make sure to always simultaneously publish your press releases to your online press room/ latest news area of your site, which I’m sure you all built after my last post, right?

2. What keywords you’re going to target. You need to treat your press release just like any other kind of content that you put on your site. And all of your content needs to keep in mind those keywords that will resonate with your buyer personas.

3. What links you’re going to include. At the very least you need to include a link to the area of your site that the release is talking about. Ideally, any time you mention something about your company, you should be including a link. Talking about the company history, or if you’re the company, information about you? Then link to the About Us/Bio page. Remember, you want to make it easy for your buyers/readers to find you.

4. The social media you’re going to utilize. Using social media tags will make your press releases easier to find, and they also give you the opportunity to reach new buyers/readers in the specific niche that you’re looking to target. The big ones are Technorati, del.icio.us, and DIGG, but there are many more. If you’re not sure how to go about using social media tags, Todd Defren at SHIFT Communications has a social media press release template that they have made available for free; you can find it at http://www.pr-squared.com.

And don’t forget to mention your news on your Twitter and Facebook as well, but those Social Media tools and how to use them to become a Trusted Expert deserve a post all their own.

Using Press Releases to be a Trusted Expert

Jason Katzenback — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:33:32 +0000

In my previous posts in the Trusted Expert series (Starts Here), I’ve mentioned the importance of press releases and how they can help you become a Trusted Expert. Well, today I’m going to talk about them some more. That’s how important press releases are to you and your business. If you haven’t been taking advantage of them yet, you need to start. Now.

Press releases have a two-fold purpose: they give you the opportunity to reach your buyers directly with news about you and your business, and they are fantastic for improving your standing wit h the search engines.

The first thing you need to do is add a press release/latest news page to your website. This will be where you put all the press releases after you send them out. Not only does it give your customers a chance to find all the latest information about your company, but it also indexes like mad and the search engines love it. Just make sure that you keep updating it regularly – it won’t look good if the ‘latest news’ on your website is more than six months old.

A lot of people don’t send out press releases because they don’t think they have anything to write about. Here are some easy ideas that anyone can use to base their press releases on:

You’ve added a new product to your site
You’re speaking at an industry related conference
You’re sponsoring something or donating something
You’ve written some Trusted Expert content
You’ve found a new use for your product
You’re targeting a new segment.

Once you know what to write about, you need to start thinking about how you’re going to write your press release. When press releases were only written for the traditional press, all you had to worry about was making it interesting enough to be featured. Now you still have to try to please the news outlets, but you also need to make sure that your press release resonates with your buyer personas. One of the best ways to do this by including a special offer that appeals specifically to your personas and will compel them to take action, whether that’s going to your site, signing up for a newsletter, or buying a product.

So, to recap, here’s what you need to do to get started using press releases to make you a Trusted Expert:

Add a press release/latest news page to your website.
Come up with a list of reasons to write a press release.
Figure out what offer you’re going to use to compel your buyers to take action.

In the next post in the series, we’ll go over the more technical details of an online press release, like keyword targeting and density, optimizing the press release for search, and the social media release.

How to Use Press Releases to Establish Yourself as a Trusted Expert

Jason Katzenback — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:28:25 +0000

You may not think that press releases are something that would be useful to your business. They’re something that big corporations use when they buy out another company or some other fancy thing like that. The reality is, using press releases (properly) online are a great way to establish your credibility in your niche, garner attention to yourself and your business, improve your SEO, and of course, help to make you a Trusted Expert.

Press releases have changed radically with the introduction of the internet. While once you were required to court and try to win favor with the media outlets in order for them to feature your information. Press releases needed to be formatted in a very specific way that journalists expected, and many times you would have to employ a PR expert who had spent years cultivating relationships with these journalists and pay to be able to utilize their connections and up the chances of your story being run.

Now, with the capabilities that the internet has to potentially reach millions of people directly, we need to look at press releases differently as well. You don’t have to go through traditional media channels anymore. And so, you need to change the way you write press releases; you’re not writing for journalists anymore – you’re writing for your audience (meaning your buyer personas).

One of the main differences between traditional PR and the way PR works on the web is you are able to put out much more press releases than you used to be. In the past, if you sent out too many press releases, you ran the chance of annoying the press you were trying to reach – and many media outlets had a system where they tracked how much coverage they gave you, and you would need to save up the press release for something you really wanted them to cover.

Now, the opposite is true. It is beneficial for you to send out lots of press releases. Don’t just send them out when there’s big news is happening; you need to find reasons to send them out all the time. Just make sure that you’re saying something useful. Highlight any of the white papers or research that you have available on your site, promote any new products, services or tools that you have to offer. Any time you think that you have something useful to say to your potential buyers, put out a press release.

Make sure that your press releases are targeted towards your buyer personas – remember to write in a way that they want to hear. Also make sure to include the relevant keywords and phrases in your press release; it will help people to find the appropriate press release when conducting a search. Don’t the let the keywords dominate how you write, but try to be aware of them while you are writing and so you can insert them as organically as possible in the body of the press release.

Another way to make the press release relevant to your target audience is to include an offer that will compel them to respond to the release in some way. Place links in the press release; that way it has the potential to deliver your target audience right to your website, and ready to purchase – exactly where you want them.

If you do it right, you will drive buyers straight to your company’s products and services at precisely the time they are ready to buy. Make sure to include product information in the end-user-focused press release. Think about what’s important to your audience, and give it to them.

Another way to utilize press releases is to pay attention to what’s going on the in the news, and capitalize on that. If you’re a manufacturer of surgical masks or antibacterial hand sanitizer, then the swine flu panic was a perfect time to send out a press release about your product.

While I’m advocating sending out lots of press releases, make sure to practice some discretion; make sure you actually have something useful to say.

The key to true success with press releases on the web is to find a balance between what will work for journalists and what speaks to your buyer personas. You need to make it interesting enough for the journalists, but you also need to use the language that will resonate with your buyers. While getting press coverage is great, remember that you are writing to inform your buyers, not to sell your product.

Another aspect of press releases not often discussed is how they can improve the credibility of your website. Having an online press room or other dedicated page for your press releases will instantly lend your site some credibility and authority.

Just make sure to keep them updated – this can backfire if the only press releases you have on the page are from a year ago. That makes it look like you aren’t doing much business right now, or, if you are, you haven’t changed or improved anything in over a year. Not a good way to make yourself a Trusted Expert.

Here is a list of Free sites you can submit your press releases too….

Traditional Media Release or Social Media Release?

Jason Katzenback — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:23:22 +0000

You may have heard about the Social Media Release and are wondering whether you should be using that instead of a traditional press release?

No, you shouldn’t replace your press release with a Social Media Release; you should be doing BOTH!

First, some background on what a Social Media Release is.

It takes the essence of an old-fashioned press release (providing and distributing information about your company to garner publicity) and reorganizes it in a way that makes it compatible with Social Media.

Essentially, it takes a plain-text press release and turns it into a blog post, with all of the capabilities that a bog has, including the ability to comment, and aggregate inbound links.

The Social Media Release (or SMR) was developed by Todd Defren at Shift Commuications in 2006. A template of the SMR can be found at http://www.pr-squared.com/. Todd gives lots of great tips on how to use it and lets you use it free of cost.

More advice that he give is to not use the SMR when you submit the release to the news wire services. Instead, put together a traditional press release and add a link to the corresponding SMR in it. This way, you get all the benefits of the SMR without having to pay the fees to the wire services for using one while still getting all the benefits of their wide distribution.

So what can the SMR do that a traditional press release can’t?

Well, when posted to a social media newsroom (check out Todd’s link above for more information about that) a SMR can allow you to use all sorts of multimedia options, like video, audio, and graphics.

So why should you bother to do both?

Well, we all know that press releases are great for improving SEO and your Google ranking (beyond the obvious benefit of getting your message out there, of course); a SMR is like a press release on crack.

With a traditional press release, you are submitting to the news wire services in the format that they are used to, and not paying any hefty fees, but with a SMR, you have interactive capabilities up the wazoo that will drive the SEO benefits through the roof.

Now, in order to maximize the SEO benefit that you get, you need to make sure that you’re writing with your site’s SEO considerations and keywords in mind. But make sure that you’re not trying to stuff in keywords that aren’t organic to the release – it will sound fake and undermine the publicity efforts of the release. You can also include rich media content (like images or videos or podcasts) that will raise the pick up for Google Images and Google video; again, just make sure everything is tagged with the right keywords.

Here are a couple great additional resources for learning more about Social Media Releases…

How To Construct A Press Release That Gets Attention

Jason Katzenback — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:52:52 +0000

Press releases have always been a great way to get not only visitors to your web properties but also backlinks. The problem is, most people have no idea how to write one. It’s not that difficult at all and I will give you an outline and some of the things you should do and shouldn’t do.

Firstly, ask yourself whether your news is actually newsworthy? If you think it’s not don’t worry, it doesn’t take much to make it look newsworthy. Here is the biggest no-no of a press release. Don’t use it simply to make a sale or sell something.

A press release needs to be toned down. It needs to answer the who, what, where, when and why of whatever it is you’re promoting.

Here are a list of DO NOTs:

Don’t make your press release sound like an advertisement. If it does then go back and tone it down and remember the four “Ws.”
Never write a press release just to mention an opening or a launch. They are a dime a dozen and these type of press releases will usually get turfed.
Always avoid hype and don’t fill it with fluff. It needs to be direct and straight to the point.
Avoid exaggerations and over the top claims. The Journalism profession is one of skepticism. I know because I’ve spent my career working in news rooms around the world.
Avoid too many exclamation marks. This is definitely a no-no…!!!!! I would not include them at all.

Here are a list of the DOs:

Get straight to the point. People should know what your press release is about simply by reading the headline and the first paragraph.
Lead with your main point. It’s the hook to attract enough attention to get the media to want to use your press release.
Your press release should only focus on the features but in a toned down manner. Never try to sell. Ask yourself “why anyone else would want to read my press release?” Put yourself in the Journalists or reader’s shoes and decide if your release is interesting enough to share with the world.
Always try and use real life points that will illustrate how you or your service solved a problem. You could identify a problem and then explain why your product or site can solve it. Never exaggerate.
Try and relate your story to something going on in the world right now. For example, it could relate to the current state of the economy. If you have a home business opportunity relate, it to the frail economy. Mention the problem and then why you have the solution. Mention benefits.
Your language should be plain. Avoid using unnatural language. There is certain language which may be appropriate in a particular niche but remember, you want your press release to touch the general population. That’s what a Journalist will be looking for. They want to appeal to a wider audience and not just a specific niche.
The press release should end with a short spiel about your company, site, product, history etc. This is like a resource box but keep it short.

Just remember not to write a salesletter. It’s a news oriented item and needs to grab a reader’s attention very early on. Avoid too much fluff and keep it a reasonable length…250-400 words. Here’s a resource I posted in The forum recently on constructing a press release. It’s basically a template and will be a good guideline to writing your press release:

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/IPR.htm