by Janette on June 25, 2009
In part 1 of this post, we covered (1) how to craft your message, (2) figuring out your baseline online stature, and (3) deciding which press release service to use. Picking up where we left off:
4. How to format your one page press release:
- Headline – For an online release, give your tease, company name and location. For example: “Carat Diamond Ring Giveaway, Corrigan Jewelers, Minneapolis”
- City – note your city and state
- Date – it is no longer necessary to put your date in your release because the service will date it
- First paragraph – pack in the who, what, where, when, how and why, and end the last sentence with a tease
- Second paragraph – quote an actual customer’s thrilled reaction to your news
- Third paragraph – include a quote from the owner or manager
- Fourth paragraph – mention the other services your business provides, such as: “wholesale jewelry, estate appraisals, engagement rings, necklaces, gold, silver”
- Links – on the left side, list 3 or more links to distinct pages on your website; follow the release service guidelines
- Media contact – list someone who will answer the phone 24 hours a day, the person’s phone number, company phone, email and mailing address
- Embed video – follow the easy guidelines to embed a customer testimonial video that you have uploaded to YouTube and linked to your website
5. Results: It is unlikely that the New York Times will publish your story, but you will have greatly increased your SEO so that people searching for your type of business can find you. Over time, you may find that your company appears higher in Internet search results, just like it did for my colleague (the one who leaped from page 18 to the number 1 spot), but again you must be patient and not expect huge changes overnight. If your story related to a specific offer (as with our diamond ring giveaway example), you can measure results based on the response to your promotion.
6. Special offer: When new customers call or email, give them a special offer, like 25% off wedding rings and a stuffed animal bearing your now slightly-more-famous logo.
7. Follow through: Follow through on your giveaway and also contact media outlets and editors directly to reinforce your story. You may find that the old-fashioned method of taking an editor to lunch might get you in the local paper, but your online press release is like taking editors to lunch all across the country!
by Janette on June 18, 2009
In the old days, the best way to get press for your business was to take a news editor to lunch or run for public office (actually, those ways are still pretty good!). But now it’s all about expanding your Internet presence, and a press release distribution service can be a tremendous boon. Here’s how to harness the power:
1. Your press release must have the WOW factor: No one cares that your jewelry store is celebrating its 23rd year in business, so go big and bold. For example, instead of spending $2500 on advertising in the local magazine for one month, you could put $99 into a press release service (more about that below) and $2401 into the cost of a 1-carat diamond ring nationwide giveaway to the most deserving engaged couple.
2. Identify your baseline stats with a Google search: Do a Google search for the the description of your business and see what comes up. Ideally you will be on the first page of results, and your stretch goal is to appear in the top three listings. Be realistic. For example, if you are a regional jeweler, you should care about “jewelry Minneapolis,” or a similarly descriptive phrase for your business, but not a generic phrase such as “diamond jewelry” or “diamonds” unless you are De Beers or Blue Nile.
3. Which online press release service should you use? Comparing online press release services is as easy as comparing sand grains on the beach:
- Free services: There are free press release services, like PR.com, i-Newswire and My Free PR, but there is disagreement on whether these services will get your information out to the media that you would like to hit.
- Pay to play: If you’re willing to spend some money, you can go with Marketwire for distribution in one state such as Minnesota for $150-200, or around $300 for the entire Midwest (All prices are estimates to give you a feel.) Marketwire includes national media outlets such as the USA Today and Wall Street Journal in all packages. For maximal Internet marketing benefit, definitely pony up an additional $75 for the optional SEO Enhanced (search engine optimization) service, which allows you to embed live hyperlinks into your press release, targeting keywords (for example “jewelry Minneapolis”) that you care about. These links can not only drive traffic to your web site, but also raise your search ranking. There are lots of companies angling for your money, including some that go after niche markets, like Business Wire for business releases and PRWeb and PR Newswire for specific industries.
- The key: Look for a service that is used by lots of other companies, particularly ones in your industry, and that meets your desired budget. For example, over 30,000 companies have used PR Leap, which has a service starting at $49, going up to $149 for a Premium package that includes SEO and Social Media distribution and a generous 2,000 word allowance. PR Leap positions itself as more affordable than the top 3 wires, with an easier to use web interface. To be fair, PR Leap probably does not have the reach of Marketwire (download the list of media outlets reached in your state from Marketwire, and you will be impressed by how many local media sources are contacted). Their press releases can be found on Google News, Google Search, Yahoo! and MSN, and are submitted to UPI and AP news services. PR Leap may represent a happy medium between free but possibly ineffective services, and the established but more expensive leaders. One colleague of mine used PR Leap to, well, leap from page 18 in Google’s search results to the number 1 spot for a local search phrase (i.e. city name + type of business) for his business — in mere days! I should note that this is a highly unusual result, and I am certainly not suggesting that a single press release will consistently pull you from search engine obscurity to the top of the heap, but my colleague’s example shows what is possible!
Next time in Part 2: how to format your press release, following through, and tracking results.
