Writing Press Releases

It's been almost four years since I've been blogging and I have been so grateful that because of this career, my writing skills has been developed. This has been my stepping stone or shall we call it my background of skills and expertise when I applied for an online job as an article writer. 

I'm so thankful that through blogging, I was promoted in another level which is quite different from just sharing your personal experiences, thoughts and opinions. I am now conquering the world of online marketing as well as writing press releases. This is all new to me since I'm not used in writing an informative and more formal type of writing. 

As of now my online work is focused on writing press releases. At first, I really find it hard to write, but slowly by slowly, I learned how to effectively write it. Here are some of the things that my employer taught me how to write Press Releases; 

Press releases are very popular and as such, everyday thousands of people are submitting them, trying to get noticed. The problem is a press release really should not be used whenever you just want to send out some general information but you want to make them always have a newsworthy angle. It is an effective marketing tool that really should only be used when you have something truly worthy to share, so focus on topics that are newsworthy. 

The purpose of a press release is to inform the world of your news item. Never use your press release to try and make a sale. Yes, there is no call to action in the end. Aside from that, press release also seem to get indexed better than articles in Google. You will see on the Google alters people come up with all sorts of things for press releases. 

A press release is a very popular way to get back links to your site, but you need to be careful that you are not just interested in getting links. Focus needs to be giving to getting people to actually read your press release and take action to visit your site. 

This is not as easy as it sounds though, a good press release answers who, what, where, when and why you are providing this information about your organization, product, service or event. 
The best way to start is to choose an angle that will grab the reader’s attention. You really need to think creatively on this. Once you have your “Angle” then you need to start putting words to paper or screen. 

The best and most proven method is to follow the A-I-D-A method. A-I-D-A stands for: 

Attention - you need to get the readers attention and your press release headline is responsible for this. Interest - You need to get your readers interest into what you are writing about so they keep reading. 

Desire- Once you have the reader’s interest then you need to spark a desire to want to take the last step. You need to be really careful and not make this a sales letter but you still want your reader to take action and visit your product or website. 

Action - Once you have sparked a desire, now you need to tell them how to take action to satisfy that desire. Give them your name, email and website.

Some things that you also need to remember when writing press releases are you need to stick to the facts, avoid the hype, be unique and no call to action at the end of the article. Press releases are for news not advertising and most press release publishing websites will not accept your submission if it contains a call to action.