As a business owner, you want to drive traffic to your website, make more sales, bring in more leads, and build relationships. Press releases are an effective way to hit all of these goals, and garner media attention for you in the process.

Comprised of a page or two of written words, press releases are inexpensive to produce and fairly easy to distribute. There are both free and paid services that will take your press releases and send them out to thousands of media outlets.

If you’re not a writer, enlist professional help with the initial drafting of your release. The last thing you want to do is send out a poorly written press release to a dozen media outlets. It will label you as amateurish, and leave a lasting impression.

Here are the elements to include in your release:

Release time: Put this at the top of every news release, either indicating when the document can be made public or “For Immediate Release” to show that it’s ready now.

Headline: Summarize your story in just a few words. (See the section later in this chapter on how to make up a great headline.)

Subhead: This expands on the headline and gives readers a bit more information about what’s to come.

Dateline: Include the day that the document was released, and the place of origin (your city and state).

Introduction: In a single paragraph, cover the basic elements that you’d find at the beginning of an article: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Body: Expound on the introduction and go into your story. Use details, statistics, and trend information to back up your assertions and get your points across.

Make Your Headline Pop

Your PR headline has to grab the reader’s attention. Put some thought into it, look at what other companies are using, and come up with a punchy, relevant headline. Remember that your goal is to attract editors and journalists, while at the same time creating an online presence that customers will respond to and interact with.

How Often Should You Submit Your Press Release?

We have had this question asked to us many times and now have decided to finally include this bit of information within our Press Release Writing Tips section.

So how often should you submit your press release? The rule of thumb is once to twice a month. However, if you do not have any news worth mentioning, then once a month is a good rule of thumb.

Many Companies go through changes. Management changes, product changes, service changes, or other changes. To not have something to write about, in most companies would be rare. Do you have a hot new service you are now providing? Do you have a great new service you plan to offer coming up in the future that you would like to inform the public of? Do you have some new widgets that you are importing that no one else has? Are you hiring some new executive from a Fortune 500 Company that will add an asset to your Company? These are just a few ideas to keep in mind

• Position your company in the media’s eyes

• Attract new customers

• Let existing customers know that you’re working hard for them

• Provide a link to your website and contact information