Basics Of A Successful Press Release

I know what a press release is. But thanks for looking out for me either way. (I assure you I had no intention of altering my PR for 'SEO' purposes, nor was my headline short by any means.)

Thanks to those who have critiqued the article and provided insight on this issue.

Now realizing PRWeb is not an altogether ideal option, my next press release will be more targeted and well executed.

Okay, here we go...

A press release, as an above poster mentioned, is NOT about SEO. It's about (shockingly) getting your story used by the press to generate publicity and leads.

So the whole article is basically off the mark on that perspective. But just to make my point, here's some other completely silly points...

Really? Got any data to back that up, or is this just you spouting out garbage trying to sound authoritative? I've seen press releases with 15+ words absolutely kill it, especially online where we aren't bound by physical/printing space constraints.

It also doesn't need the keyword you're targeting.

Again, bullcrap. That tool is a piece of... well, you know. If I ran my headlines through them it would say they're no good, yet those same headlines are crushing it in various niches. A headline I recently wrote that (along with the copy, obviously) is doing 4 times an "expected acceptable" EPC got reamed with that tool. So I'd say it's officially "busted".

Again, if you want SEO rankings, there are better ways to do it. The whole point of a press release is it gets SYNDICATED in other publications (online or off). 300 words? Most press releases are substantially bigger than that. Plus many of my contacts say keyword density is a dead idea. Admittedly I'm taking their word for this, but these are guys with page one rankings for competitive phrases in the SEO industry (such as "improve SEO rankings"), so I feel pretty justified trusting them.

These services aren't exactly brilliant for PR distrubution. What you need is someone who has connections in the industry you're looking to push a press release in who knows and can follow up with the right people - not a service that's basically become known as an SEO spam mill (and gee, with posts like yours, I wonder why?)

There's a lot of other inconsistencies (find 'em all, kids!), and the article is poorly written to boot.

On top of all that not really sure what it's doing in the copywriting section instead of the SEO section, but that's a side issue.

I'd probably let the OP's shameless self-promotion slide if he knew what he was talking about, but he doesn't. And call me crazy, but I think in a public forum someone has to step up to the plate and call out the pretenders.

-Daniel

Clint - excellent question!

In terms of an affiliate marketer - they are very hard to market using my method. Some people are just not press material, and should put their money elsewhere. I'll admit that, even though of course I'd like them to use my services! I'd rather remain honest though...

There is scope though if they have done very well, and we can hit the press with their success story. I did one recently for a guy who worked from home. Three years ago he was literally living in a derolict trailor home, and now makes just over a million dollars reach year through affiliate marketing. With this guy, we took the personal story. Of course, during the news piece that went out on TV they interviewed him about a number of the products he sells, and plugged his personal site. That then got hits, and product sales as a result.

For the network marketer it is the same. Whatever a media relations guy tells you - if the product isn't yours, the media won't be interested. On that note - any media relations guy who tries to get you to hand money over for this kind of thing is just trying to make quick cash. Stay away.

Again, should you have a strong personal story to tell, or have your own product (We could even spin a good WSO as news content, seriously) - it could very possibly work, as long as you're willing to accept that YOUR story comes first, and the product plugs and sales are secondary.

Here's the analogy I give -

Imagine your press release is lying in the fax tray of XYZ news outlet. The Editor reads the first few lines, likes it and just as he goes to hand the story to a reporter...the phone rings.

Turns out, the local old folks home burned down overnight and eighty five elderley people burned away like logs on a fire. So, naturally, the reporter sends 95% of his guys off to cover it. Some will cover for his outlet, but as they're the only local news outlet most will cover the story for other national outlets are part of their reporter-sharing agreements.

Now - ten hours later, when everyone has come back and the hype from the fire story has gone....your story should be so strong and exciting that it's the first thing the Editor hands off to be covered, as it's been on his mind all day.

If you don't think your story could realistically be that first story - don't bother trying to write a press release about it. The other alternative is to speak with a PR professional and get them to spin it for you! Man, I can tell you - today I managed to get press coverage for a guy who has invented a cup holder.....it just takes the right kind of spin to make the story seem like gold dust to the media. That ability only comes with experience.

Most outlets, or certainly my old news station, used to get around 300 press releases a day, and we'd choose 2 or 3 to run on that night's news show, and a few more as features for later in the week.

In reality....each media outlet should only get about 10 a day, but people insist on sending boring self-promotion and product ads with absolutely no news content whatsoever.

Either way - and back to my original point - flogging it on an online distribution site for $200 is a waste of money that you could be using for PPC!