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"89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases"
Publicity expert Marcia Yudkin says that when a newspaper editor or reporter reads your press release, they are looking for answers to three questions: 1. What is this? 2. Who is this for? 3. Where
is the news significance? In other words, how does this affect me or I think that's true, too, for anyone who reads it--including potential customers. If anyone has to read past the headline for the answer to one or more of those questions, you haven't done a very good job of pulling them into the release. Studies have shown that media people spend an average of five seconds reading a release before deciding whether to continue reading, or bail out. "To address editors' top three concerns, make sure you specify what you're promoting, who would care about it and what makes it newsworthy," Marcia says. There are several ways to do that, and one is the problem/solution headline I discussed in Lesson #31. I found the headlines below on Expertclick.com, the subscription-based service that maintains an experts database and allows members to post up to 52 press releases a year. All the headlines answer all three questions above. In every case, there's no doubt what the press release is about. Diet Foods That Can Make Your Child Sick Texas reports on terrorist immigration underscore need for American firearms ownership, says United States gun law expert Clothing Etiquette--Bad Wardrobe Decisions Are a Serious Career Mistake You are the message: 6 Things to empower your speech How to write your non-fiction book, by Dan Poynter (notice Dan put his name in the headline)
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Lesson #35: Three questions your
headline should