If you own a business, or you are involved with a civic group, politics, head up an important website, etc. then you may have given some consideration to issuing a press release to let the news media know what is going on with your group, organization, or site. A compelling press release has been written, an on-line distributor has been carefully selected, and all you have to do now is wait. Is that it? No, not by a long shot. There are some additional steps which you can take to ensure that your press release is maximized to its fullest potential. Neglecting these additional steps will likely mean that you are not getting the most out of your news release.

Daily Newspapers

Most of my customers are individuals and small businesses without the budget to hire a public relations firm to help them get noticed. By turning to me, they know that they will get a well written press release with the option to have me distribute it via an on-line distributor such as PR Leap. If we go with PR Leap, then I typically urge them to select the $50 newswire service add-on to maximize on-line penetration.

Yes, an on-line distributor can get your important information in front of the right set of eyes. However, there is no one to check to make certain that the eyes you want to see the release will actually read it. Thus, it is important for you to take some action to help get your release read.

On company letterhead you can draft a simple letter and send it out along with a copy of your news release to the following contacts:

Your local newspaper — Your local daily newspaper could be very interested in what you have to say as could your weekly community paper. Chances are the latter is distributed for free to all homes in its service area (which is the area where your business is headquartered) and the likelihood that it will get noticed should be better than your chances with the daily paper. Regardless, find out the business or community editor contact information for the respective newspaper and send a mailing out to both. Note: These days many of the community newspapers are now owned by a local daily. However, separate mailings are necessary especially if the editors listed are different.

Your trade journal — Why would you send a news release to your business trade journal when your competitors are likely to be the ones to read it? Because, you want them to read it that’s why. You aren’t mentioning proprietary information in your press release, rather you are stating what is going on within your company. Hopefully, the editor of the publication will read your release and decide to do a separate story about your business. Now that is getting great mileage out of your press release!

Other media — Radio and television stations can be terrific opportunities for sharing newsworthy information. If you are introducing a new product, such as a special gift for Valentine’s Day, you could capture the attention of the airwaves media. Be prepared to bring and leave samples of your product to the station if asked. Even a thirty second blurb on a station could be enough to send scads of visitors to your website looking for more information.

Of course, you want the media to generate a separate story or blurb about your company instead of reprinting the press release verbatim. Still, any mention of your company whether through a complete reprint or a “mention” in their publication can be helpful. We won’t be beggars and we certainly won’t be too choosey either!

What Matt Keegan provides for his customers is the writing of the release and the on-line distribution, with the local distribution left to the client. Now for my soft pitch: if you hire me for your press release, I’ll include a sample cover letter to go out with the hard copy of your release to your local media. At this very moment I am running a special, so please click here for all of the details.