How To Get Results From a News Release	Visited: 2750 Not rated Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Jonathan Gray September 23, 2003

A powerful news release can get you enormous publicity at no cost.

But you need to:

(1) Select the correct audience.

(2) Give news, not sales language.

Suppose you're a CPA and it's tax season. You offer a free report called "How To Reduce Your Taxes Under The New Laws". That's newsworthy, benefiting the media's audience.

Here are the steps:

The headline. This declares a benefit to the audience.

First paragraph: Start with what's important - who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Further down: talk about the service your product provides through the viewpoint of your news angle. Your expertise can be mentioned here.

Then one tight paragraph of good information about your business, product, or service and how you've helped your customers or clients.

Finally, what action you want the readers to take.

ELEVEN TIPS FOR GETTING MAXIMUM RESULTS

· Cultivate key contacts. Concentrate on media sources that will have repeated value over the long haul. Get to know someone who can give you coverage.

· Become known as a quotable expert. Once you've received coverage, let your contact know that you're available for quotes any time. Inform them of any other areas you're an expert on.

· Send thankyou notes. Few do. Editors and producers appreciate courtesy.

· To create news, link in to events, holidays, and trends. Two-income families are a trend. Many products and services are being developed for them. Such products are naturals for generating news - for parenting magazines, lifestyle sections of newspapers, and productivity sections of executive-oriented publications.

· Trade journals publish news of conferences, conventions, seminars, and staff promotions. Use these to get free visibility for your company.

· Donate your product or services to a charitable event.Then tell about it. Charity events get coverage by the media. You can help people and get publicity too.

· Donate samples to prominent public figures. If you get a response - which is quite easy to do with members of Congress and the Senate - publicize it. The media loves news involving prominent people.

· Sponsor a contest. Restaurants can give dinner to the winner of a worst recipe contest. Travel agencies can sponsor a getaway. You can easily come up with your own unique contest ideas.

· Sponsor an award. This can be serious or frivolous.

Nearly any business can do it.

· Forecast a trend. Conduct an industry poll. Then send a news release reporting the results. This can help you generate sales and get you known as an expert.

· Offer something for FREE. Free reports or product samples. The media loves to give things away to their audience. You make them look good and increase your customer base in one effort.

Don't expect overnight miracles, and don't give up. Send out a newsworthy release every month until you get coverage.

Be prepared to handle the increased volume that can result from a few key mentions.

And finally, use good publicity results, to fuel your advertising campaigns.