Press Release Writing Tips

A press release is an announcement of a newsworthy item that is issued to journalists and other media representatives. And it is a document that is generally formatted in a basic manner across the publishing industry for quick, efficient handing across the board of your news by media professionals.

With regards to the basics of press release writing, here are seven basic elements that every press release should contain:

* FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: These words should appear in the upper left-hand margin and you should capitalize every letter.

* Contact Information: Insert this after the release statement above and list the contact information of the company spokesperson.

* Headline: This should be written after the contact information.

* Dateline: List the city of origin for your press release.

* Lead Paragraph: The first paragraph needs to grab the reader’s attention and should contain the relevant information to your message such as the five W’s (who, what, when, where, why).

* Text: Next comes the main body of your press release where your message should develop fully.

* Last Paragraph: Make sure to alert the reading audience where to turn for more information; i.e. a postal address, phone number and website link. Plus offer something free for them; a report, newsletter or other gift.

To learn what’s hot and what’s not in your particular industry, check out PRWeb(r) at PRWeb.com for current press releases. No need to re-invent the wheel. See what’s working there and treat the information as a general guideline for your own news format and presentation.

You can also head to Content Propulsion Lab. It’s the place for “Do It Yourself” companies who would love the benefits of a high-end Public Relations firm but lack the budgets, online at http://www.ContentLabInfo.com, a Division of Content Desk, available at http://www.ContentDeskInfo.com

By Diana Barnum, president of Moving Ahead Communications. Get tons of freebies, tips and help at http://OhioHelpGroup.com or call: (614) 529-9459. Freebies section at http://presssuccess.com/bookstore

Click here to return to the index of Articles