Press Release Missteps

What You Don’t Know Can Make All The Difference

Michelle’s Note: My friend and colleague Patrysha wrote this article to help you understand why your press release submissions aren’t working. She is a public relations superstar who has many years experience and has now started a home-based business to help small, women-owned companies profit from publicity. I read the free special report that Patrysha offers at the end of her post and it’s full of excellent advice!

By Patrysha Korchinski

As a publicist, my job is to help my clients get media coverage. The tool I use most often on their behalf is the simple, but highly effective, press release. What I do isn’t rocket science; seeking publicity can be an in-house job for most small business owners.

Press releases can seem like a panacea for small business owners. The prospect of getting free publicity in exchange for a couple of hours of writing and submitting a 400 word release seems like a great deal. And on the surface – it is a great deal.

The publicity generated from one release picked up by a major media outlet can increase awareness and sales with a far greater impact than buying advertising in the same outlet.

Under the surface though, lurk thousand of disappointed publicity seekers who for one reason or another did not get the coverage they desired.

I used to believe that the reasons for the failed attempts lay mostly, if not entirely, on the message within the release.

• The headline wasn’t strong enough
• It read like a sales pitch rather than news
• The subject wasn’t newsworthy

While those are definitely factors that will get your press release a one-way ticket to the circular file, most serious business owners I’ve met don’t fall victim to these mistakes. They took the time to craft newsworthy releases that were topical, relevant and well-written. They had the initiative to create a targeted media list to submit to – and yet still they struggled to get coverage.

What was going on?

It was only when I dug deeper and examined other aspects of their failed efforts that a few trends began to emerge. There are factors in press release pick up that the professional publicist innately utilizes for the benefit of their clients that most small business owners just aren’t aware of.

The timing of your submission is one component that is often to blame for poor results. You see, each media outlet has what is called a lead time. This is how far in advance they need to start working on stories that will eventually appear. Magazines with a large circulation tend to have the longest lead times, often 9 months or longer. If you send out a release geared towards Christmas to a major magazine in November, you’ve missed your window of opportunity by eight months!

You don’t necessarily need a publicist to get over these hurdles, you just need to be aware of what hurdles exist. Overcoming them is usually a fairly simple matter. As I said before, getting media coverage is not rocket science. You can improve your odds significantly with a little fine tuning.

For more tips on turning the odds in your favor, you’ll want to grab the free special report You can’t write just one – A long range approach to getting the media attention you crave.

Want A Simple Solution To Your Press Release Campaign?

As I’ve mentioned before, submitting the right press release to the right source can lead to sudden success. For example, one of my Shop Kit Plus clients submitted a press release to a local TV station. The next thing she knew, a reporter was on her doorstep wanting to do a story.

Since then, her products have appeared on CBS’ The Early Show and HGTV, both national TV networks. Wow! Talk about getting your name out there.

Some people might say she was lucky — but we know better. She did her homework, which included sending out press releases. I know my client’s case, she had someone else write a press release. Which is fine — except for new business owners or those who are still paying off the cost of the initial inventory investment, paying $75 or more for a writer to write one good press release just isn’t realistic.

And writing a press release yourself isn’t such a hot idea either, even if you’re a writer, because press releases require a certain style. As a busy mom and jack-of-all-trades in your business, you don’t have time learn how to write press releases.

My friends, Alice Seba, Mila Sidman and Shannon Cherry understand this. So they put together several very inexpensive press release packs that you can download, customize and send out to your media list. Not only have they made it very easy to edit the press releases, they’ve included written instructions — and recommendations on where to submit the releases.

I just downloaded six packs tonight and they are awesome! Trust me — I used to be a reporter and editor. I had control over which releases went into the trash can. These press releases are attention getters.

So, if you want to save money while still taking advantage of your very own publicity campaign, head over to All Press Content.

Update: Alice just contacted me to let me know that she is offering a 40% discount for you! Just enter this coupon code when you order: A40CE

Thank you, Alice!

What Most Online Marketers Forget

It seems like almost every online marketer is completely focused on search engine rankings, distributing articles and working their rear ends off for traffic. One thing they forget about is what so many traditional brick-and-mortar businesses already know and practice because it’s very effective.

You can buy all the ads you want for your business and you can experience some great results, but if you’d like some more almost no-cost promotion that helps you build word-of-mouth and great reputation for your online business…you really should be developing your own publicity campaign through press releases.

When a media outlet talks about you, portrays you as an expert or mentions
your business…that is more priceless than any advertising. It’s like an actual endorsement of you and your business. Who wouldn’t want that?

Well, it’s easier to do than you might think.

You may already know that Alice Seba has a complete system that shows you exactly how to write and distribute a press release to get noticed by the media….potentially saving your hundreds or thousands of dollars in advertising costs.

She has just added a new and unique piece of software called Press Release Profits Builder. It allows you to choose from HTML or plain text formatted releases and takes you step-by-step through the whole press release writing process. When you’re done, the software will produce a perfectly formatted release for you.

Here’s a note from Alice about the software:

Now…let me be clear. This isn’t some magical software that allows you to click your mouse a few times and your release will be ready. Anybody who tries to sell you something like that is doing you an injustice. If you want the media’s attention, you’ve
got to be unique and have something they want to share with their readers and viewers. This software helps you put together a release designed to get noticed.

Alice has kindly added the software to her already complete Press Release Profits course at no extra charge, but only until May 8, 2007.

Learn more about the course and software - and start getting results.