How to make your press release more effective.

by Kevin Nunley

Your press release can get you lots of free media coverage. Keep in mind that editors get many releases and only use the ones that provide news or interesting information. The key is to provide information or tips that the media audience will find useful. Put your useful information or news at the beginning of the release. Save your ad-type copy for the last few paragraphs of the release. Send your release along with a personal note (a line or two) to the media that are most important to you--like major publications in your industry. While we send your release to thousands of media across the nation, you can get extra impact by personally contacting a few of the most important media. Be sure to personally send your release to the newspapers and TV stations in your town. Local media often prefer to cover local stories and businesses. Also put your press release on your web site. The Internet is crawling with media editors and reporters looking for story ideas. One client was called by a reporter from Newsweek after a reporter saw her info on her web site.