Eight tips for stronger press releases

Awful sins are committed in writing press releases. Here are eight tips from a former editor who manages what may be the only all-journalist PR agency anywhere (www.journalistpr.com).

1. Headlines are OK although some people skip them on the premise that they want nothing to interfere with the editor’s getting right into the story. Headlines, like billboards, are ideally a maximum of 6 words long.

2. Short leads are next to Godliness. The ideal lead is a maximum one and a half lines in normal formatting. Gets your target – an editor or reporter – immediately into the story. Here are some examples from our clients:

• When even the CIA sends a recruiter, a college apparently has much to offer employers.
• Perhaps it’s a record: a single architectural firm is working on five separate churches.
• Good bugs apparently are recession-proof.
• What’s the most profitable sales channel for publishers?

3. Avoid editorial words. Nix such lines as “XYZ Corp. is proud to announce…” Good editors axe words like “proud.” And good editors, of good publications, are the only ones you care about.

4. Don’t describe your company as “the leading,” unless you can quote someone outside the company as saying so. “Leading” is an opinion, and good editors will chop opinions out of news stories. On the other hand, if you can rank your company as “one of the half-dozen largest in the industry,” or such, that’ll work.

5. Another kind of opinion to avoid is characterizing a client or subject as “important” or “esteemed.” Good editors will eliminate the adjective instantly. Why put ‘em through such work? Instead, get known as the writer whose news releases need little work.

6. Get the main point of the story into the lead. Don’t bury it. Ask yourself what is the main news, and make it your lead. (You didn’t ask, but here’s a personal opinion from an editor who was known as a curmudgeon: Don’t spell it “lede.”)

7. Give editors and reporters a contact source at the end, not the beginning. Let them get right into your story, so they can decide if it’s worth printing or broadcasting. Don’t confuse at the top.

8. Don’t send out a four-page release. One page to a page-and-a-half is almost always adequate. And who’s going to print four pages of blarney from you, anyway?
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Ronald T. Smith is managing member of JournalistPR LLC, which calls itself the only all-journalist public relations service. The firm’s associates come from The New York Times, The San Francisco Examiner, United Press International, The Ft. Myers News-Press, The Sarasota Herald Tribune, and other major media.