My #1 Tip for Creating Press Releases
Creating press releases can be a little tricky. On one hand, you have to maintain a business tone. Press releases cannot be muddled with opinion or accented with flowery vocabulary. In a lot of ways, press releases resemble news stories more than they do magazine articles.
On the other hand, press releases need to include more than just the news. A simple who, what, where, why, and when is only good for the first paragraph. The rest has to keep the reader interested and explain why they should bother reading 500-750 words about whatever it is your talking about. Not easy. When it comes to striking a balance, my #1 tip for you is this -
GATHER QUOTES EARLY AND OFTEN.
Quotes are the solution. In a quote, strong statements can be made, full of opinion. In quotes, writing can be elaborate and grand. In quotes, your not personally held responsible for any statement! Indeed, I find my press releases to be at least as much quote as it is my own writing. 50/50, if not more towards quotes. Learning how to weave a whole story out of quotes is a really interesting endeavor, and fantastic practice in creating segways.
Here’s a little more detail when it comes to drafting up a press release – use the first paragraph or two to lay the groundwork. Deliver the five W’s as any good news reporter would, and catch the reader’s attention with some explanation as to why they should care about your topic. After that, let the weaving begin.
I like to get quotes before I start writing because it helps me guide my press release around them. However, writing first can have certain advantages. If you know exactly what kind of quote you are looking for, you can ask specific questions to prompt a fitting response. Play around with both strategies and see which fits your style. One thing you shouldn’t try to do is trick your sources through loaded questions or vague wording in order to elicit a response that fits your theme. That’s a quick way to get a bad reputation.
One final pointer is remembering to present a balance of opinions. If you are covering a controversial topic, it’s often wise to give both sides a voice. You become a megaphone for the issue – not actually spouting any personal opinion, but making the action much more noticeable.
Here’s an example of a press release I created about a new blogger coming into our website at Classic Wines. Not controversial, but heavily quoted so that everyone looks good with minimal intervention on my part.
