“I’m always sending press releases in to the newspaper but they never get back to me! It always seems to be the same people who get the attention.”
Sound familiar? It’s a common complaint from business owners when I first meet them and here are 5 simple reasons why this usually happens!
1. Your “story” simply isn’t a story. It’s not newsworthy. You need to have a reason to write a press release, a hook to hang your story on. You need to ask yourself why a reporter would want to write about you and your business today
2. It was written badly. If your press release isn’t written well, you haven’t got a chance of getting coverage. Don’t make it difficult for a journalist to grasp what you’re trying to tell them. Write simply and to the point.
3. Your headline was boring. Your headline is the first thing a journalist will read, so it needs to grab them from the start. If you haven’t sparked their interest after reading that and the first sentence, then you may as well forget about it. Journalists get hundreds of press releases in their inbox every day. Yours really does need to stand out.
4. You didn’t send it to the right person. You have a much better chance of success if you actually do a little research and find out who the best person to send your press release to is. There’s no point sending an education story to the arts correspondent or a lifestyle story to the business desk.
5. You didn’t bother to proofread it. Bad spelling and grammar are just too annoying for words. If your press release is littered with mistakes, you are making it harder to read. The harder a press release is to read, the quicker it will be deleted!
If you want to know how to do your own PR and get in the media for free, click here for more information.
Related articles: