What the Heck is a Press Release for Anyways?
Diaper Decisions
In a word - publicity! In two words - free publicity!!
A press release is a short piece of work that highlights the goings on of your business. It is submitted to the papers in your local area in hopes that someone might find some interest in it, and get it ready for print! A press release is not an advertisement and does not focus on your products, but rather on your company’s place in your community.
What has amazed me is the cost of having a press release written for you. Upon searching around on the internet, I have found places charging $250 just to write it for you! If you check out the Diaper Decisions store, you will find our prices much more suited to the work at home mom! Have to plug something that good!!
So you already have a press release in hand, or are getting ready to write one! What are your options? As with anything, the more work YOU do, the less money you spend. There are services online that will submit your press release in massive quantities to be picked up all over the country (and globe) but it can be costly. If you are concentrating on your local community, however, this really isn’t a good option for the WAHM. You need to focus locally. The first thing you need to do is find all the newspapers in your area within a certain mile radius, say 50 miles. Many of these newspapers will have websites, making contact information very easy to find! If there is no email address, you can decide to snail mail your release, or fax it. The easiest and fastest way to deliver your press release is to find an email address of the person most likely to be interested in your type of information. You will want to find the editor of the section most suited to your business, such as “Lifestyle” “Family” or even “Business.” If you cannot find anything like this, find the main editor and use this contact information. It’s always a good idea to read a few issues of the newspaper you are submitting to, to see if there is a section you feel your release would fit best in with.
When submitting your press release via email, there are a few things you should know. You will email directly to the editor, using their email in the “To” line of your email, and the title of your press release will be the “Subject.” Do not write “press release from such and such” in the subject header! The body of your email will be the actual body of your release, with your contact information directly below the actual release. If you are using a press release submission service, it is recommended that you do NOT use your email address in the actual contact information, as you will be subject to having your email harvesting for a fresh round of SPAM! You can however, use your web address, and if you are emailing the editor directly, they can simply reply should they need to contact you via email. Always end your press release submission with “# # # #” so they know they have received the whole email as you sent it! Simple enough right??
A press release is a snap shot of your business. Sometimes you might peak the interest of a reporter who will want to get the whole story! This is when you need a media kit! We will talk about the importance of being ready with this in a coming “Tips from the Trenches!”
