Do you want to advertise your business without having to invest a fortune to do so? If you think this is not possible, you are wrong. A press release does exactly that. You can jumpstart your business with a press release. For this, you have to learn the basic tricks of writing a press release that is effective in launching your business on the fast track.
About a century ago, when the press release came into being as a news-story tool for the first time, nobody thought that the same tool could also serve the purpose of an ad. You may now write a brief but riveting story about your business with all its main features, some of which may be unique or novel, and send it in an established format to the media. If, and only if, the piece is written well enough, the media will allot space or time for letting your story reach their target readers or viewers. A press release is your free tool by means of which you can get plenty of exposure for your business. But remember that your press release must first interest the persons concerned in the media. It should demonstrate its newsworthiness to them. Without it, you might as well forget about the whole effort.
Formatting your press release
A press release always has some common format elements. Its headline is the most important of them, for it has to hook the journalists' attention. Next comes the dateline that tells the when and the where your press release originated. Give an introduction in the first paragraph, say what it is all about. Inform the readers when and where your product is on display. How you are launching the goods or services can also be specified. Summarize what makes your business newsworthy. In the body, mention the need your product or service will fill or what benefits your prospective business customers will receive. Give the necessary statistics and explanation as to how your business will provide help in meeting some physical, economic or emotional needs of the people that it will serve. Include a short background of yourself and your partners, if there are any. In the end, give the name, address, phone number, email address and any other information of the contact person. To mark the closing of the press release, "XXX" was used traditionally, but ### is used nowadays as a common closure signal.
After deciding when you would like to send the press release, consider all the available media outlets like radio, television, newspapers and magazines to select your target medium through which you wish your press release to reach your target audience in your primary market. Ways of reaching a wider secondary market also can be explored.
Besides, you can distribute your press release utilizing some of the several free online resources available for the purpose. For doing this effectively, use keywords properly in order to achieve search engine optimization. News search websites get their feed from 'press release wire and distribution systems' like PRweb.com. When media professionals like journalists, reporters and editors and others, among whom you may include your potential customers, search for news on the news websites using keywords, their searches are likely to land on your online press release.
It is indeed a very good strategy to jumpstart your business with an effective press release. 'Effective' is the key to success in your endeavor.
