Archive for the ‘Press Release’ Category
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13
Jul
2010
Use Press Releases To Give You Visibility In Your Local Business News
To become more visible in your local business news, you must become consistent in releasing timely press releases. A press release is basically a news story striving to get media attention for a company. It focuses on such things as a specific event, product launch, or company update.
Your first press release (also known as a news release) should introduce your business locally (or to the world, depending on your product or service). Write a release as if you’re a reporter who’s doing an interview with a business owner.
A press release should not come off sounding like an advertisement. It should be more of a news-style story. This is what will make it appealing to the media.
If you’re not confident in your abilities to write a release there are services available that can do a professional job for you. They can also submit it for you.
Another challenge for some is trying to come up with ideas for continuing press releases. Here are a few tips that may help you with this thought process:
-It can be used to educate readers about something unusual or new about a product, service or technique in your local market. The more unique, the better your chances are of gaining wide distribution in your local business news.
-Relate your product or service to a time of celebration such as a holiday or famous birthday, etc. Local events taking place in your area are something you can become involved with.
-You can write it as a form of entertainment. If something humorous happens at your company, or a customer has a funny story to share, this can make for interesting reading. You can even offer discounts or gift certificates to people who participate in your “fun” contests.
-Similar to educating is “informing”. A release, for example, can be used to provide readers with news updates about technology or new procedures within your industry. Readers are always interested in electronics, software, or items of self improvement.
-Tie it into volunteerism. You can get involved with business volunteering in many ways. Once you gain insight, experience and information about whatever charity you assist, you can write about it in an informing way.
Write about what you’ve learned concerning the disease or cause. Use the voices of others for more perspective.
-Give away stuff! Draw people to either your place of business or your website by giving away promotional items (shirts, hats, knick-knacks), e-books with great information, or actual products. Denny’s annual super bowl promotion gives away a free breakfast each year which draws huge media coverage.
You can build a deep customer list this way by asking for email addresses in return for the free stuff. This allows you to now follow up with email advertising and information campaigns, giving you additional exposure to your customers.
Using press releases to become more visible in your local business news serves at least two great purposes. You not only take advantage of free advertising, but you are communicating valuable information to your customers.
If you enjoyed this article by Jeff Schuman about press releases for local business news please visit our Links local business website:
today. We help small business owners use the internet to grow their business in their local market. http://www.LocalBusinessGroup.com
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20
Jun
2010
Drive Traffic To Your Site: 9 Reasons Why You Should Use A Press Release Service
Here are 9 reasons why using a press release service will help drive targeted traffic to your site. Doing so can be very beneficial for your company’s website.
1) Not only will they identify who the targeted audience is, but they also understand what the goals of the PR should be. That enables them to be able to write a focused release and include the correct keywords.
2) The purpose of many search engine queries is done by people trying to solve a problem. A well-written PR will show an understanding of the issues of consumers and a clearly stated solution. This will increase the chances of the release to be found during searches.
3) They will consult the business for the best one or two keywords and phrases. Google AdWords Keyword Tool also assists in finding less competitive keywords that will still have a high search volume.
4) An effective press release service will understand where to strategically place the keywords. Not only in the heading, but also in the summary and the body. They will also place link text to maximize optimization. Using keywords in a quote by a company president or employee is also effective.
5) One common problem of many PR’s is to include the keywords too often. A PR service understands this and will work them into the release naturally without overdoing it. This will keep the release from being penalized by search engines.
6) Anchor text links, of various keywords, will be hyper-linked to other website pages. It’s not enough to just link back to the main page of the website.
By adding three to five anchor text links to other pages, you increase the important links for search engine ranking. These can be linked to pages that describe the company’s service, products, features, and promotions, etc.
7) A press release written and distributed professionally can also include a video and related images. Research shows that these can increase the click-through rate by up to 25 percent on standard and news services.
By adding a video you can also increase the time a viewer spends on the site. A press release service will make sure they have the targeted keyword phrase in the image’s file name when adding an image to the release.
It’s very common for press releases today being shared with social media through social bookmarking. A PR service will make it easy for readers to share the release in the many sites such as Digg, Twitter and Facebook. These are beginning to have a huge effect on traffic driven to company’s websites.
9) Finally, a press release service knows how to write a release that engages readers without obviously promoting a company. They will keep the release relatively short (400 to 800 words maximum) which encourages the reader to finish the story.
Answering questions and solving problems of the consumer is the key. In the process, the release can subtly promote a product or service while providing valuable information.
If a company is unsure of the whole press release process, they would be wise to enlist a professional press release service. They will take all the necessary steps to ensure that targeted traffic is driven to the company’s website.
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If you enjoyed this article by Terry Schuman about press releases, please visit our website today. We provide SEO press release services to small local businesses in addition to offering many other local business marketing services. We help local businesses increase their online presence. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com
16
Jun
2010
Adhere To These Press Release Tips For Local Business Promotion
A well-written professional press release should be designed to gain excellent exposure for local businesses. A press release will announce a business, their products, and news-related information of interest to the media and consumers.
It must be written in a journalistic style rather than a marketing style, so as not to come across as an advertisement.
There are specific guidelines to follow when writing and placing press releases. By adhering to these press release tips, you increase your chances of being seen and picked up by more outlets. It can also improve search engine optimization.
The headline for a press release is very important. To encourage the readers, it must grab their attention quickly.
It needs to be short, but descriptive. It should be limited to 12 words or under. Send yourself an email with the headline as the subject. If you can’t read the entire headline in your in box without having to open it, it’s probably too long.
The headline should only summarize the main part of the story, so it doesn’t need lots of detail. Your main goal is to get the readers to open and read the rest of the press release.
It also needs to be accurate and relevant to what the article is about. Stay away from writing clever-type headlines. Those should be mainly used by newspapers; press releases should steer clear of them.
Finally, keep the font the same style as your text (Times New Roman is the most accepted and professional) but use a bigger font size. Your press release text should be a size 12 with the headline either a 14 or 16.
Your hook needs to be in the first paragraph. Summarizing the five W’s is a good guideline to follow. Who and What is it about? Why would the reader find this important? Where and When does it happen?
By answering these you will be able to hook the reader easier. Many readers will not proceed through the rest of the story if the hook isn’t sufficiently planted.
By placing the most important information at the top of the article, you take advantage of a journalistic tip and “trick”. This is a rule of journalism that is tried and true.
The reason? If the readers don’t take the time to read the entire press release, you want to make sure they at least read the necessary information. The most prominent or consequential material should not be held until the end of the article.
Readers like to see stories of local business promotion. It gives them a sense of pride. Local businesses need to be aware of that and should strive to distribute press releases often and whenever they have information that will appeal to local consumers. Hopefully these press release tips will encourage them to do so.
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If you enjoyed this article by Terry Schuman about press releases, please visit our website today. We help local businesses increase their online presence and provide press release writer services to small local businesses in addition to many other local business marketing services. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com
9
Jun
2010
A Press Release Service Can Connect Your Business To A HUGE Audience!
With such a big and varied audience out there, companies should be taking advantage of press releases. A press release service can direct the story writing to any number of potential types of readers.
- Press releases written mainly for search engines have become very prevalent, and even common-place. Many companies have realized that distributing press releases strictly for search engine optimization can have a positive effect on search page rankings.
A good press release service can write a professional release, with timely and interesting information, and then see that it gets proper distribution to the necessary search engines.
Back-links can be easily created by using several anchor text links, images, and videos in the release. This is a key to boosting a company’s presence with the leading search engines.
A word of caution: some press release writers are basically producing articles rather than a release. They are then distributed via free press release services. Although some of these services are better than others, a press release may have very little SEO effect going this route.
- Affiliates can be a great target to write a press release for. Who better to keep informed about product changes or releases than those who benefit greatly from them. Businesses who keep affiliates up-dated increase their chances of greater promotion of their products.
- Consumers should always be kept clearly in mind when planning and writing a press release. Loyal customers definitely like to be kept in the loop. Companies need to be fully aware of how consumers are searching for the products online (keywords searched) and work those into the release.
When stories are written that address customer’s issues, even more interest is raised. A press release can be effective by being informational and newsworthy, and should not become a blatant advertisement.
- Targeting online influencers such as bloggers, podcasters, and social networking gurus can also be a great way to spread a message and garner additional customers. This is known as capitalizing on the new media.
Once it’s determined which of these is interested in a particular company’s niche, and a relationship has been established, the domino effect of this utilization can be huge. A loyal and large following can be gained when using an interesting and helpful press release sent through this form of media.
- During this era of the internet, it’s easy to overlook distributing press releases to the traditional media. However, there is still great potential with these if a company’s story is picked up by local and national newspapers, television and radio. They are always seeking human-interest stories or information about a product that takes care of problems.
It’s important for companies seeking a press release service to completely understand the purpose of their press release. If increasing SEO potential is the main goal, they should go one direction. But if they’re looking to get the word out to the masses, then their distribution considerations should be wider and their budgets expanded.
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If you enjoyed this article by Terry Schuman about press releases, please visit our website today. We help local businesses increase their online presence, and provide a press release service in addition to many other local business marketing services. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com
6
Jun
2010
Press Release Service: 5 Reasons Your Business Should Use One
A press release service can play a huge role in getting company news out to those who will publicize it to the interested masses. It’s important for all businesses to realize that they do have newsworthy information to share with the public.
News services are constantly seeking interesting or timely information and stories from companies. In fact, they’re actually in demand by news services. Editors of newspapers, radio and TV stations, and the many online news services are always looking for stories to fill space. This makes the press release still a very viable form of news reporting today.
However, without the ability to properly publicize them, a company’s various achievements and interesting story angles may fall short. Knowing how to do this properly is crucial to the success of the story “getting out there.”
The better the story is told, the better the chances are that it will be picked up by numerous sources. And it might even possibly lead to more in-depth follow-up coverage. That is the equivalent of hitting a grand slam in baseball!
What most companies do is either hire a professional press release writing service or utilize an in-house department to handle the duty. For most businesses it makes sense to hire a service. They know how to create a story of interest and how to properly submit it for distribution.
Here are 5 key reasons for a company to utilize a press release service:
1- It’s a great way to improve the company’s visibility. Trying to get recognized today can be difficult, especially for smaller local businesses. Valuable exposure can be gained by utilizing a long-term press release distribution plan.
First, it puts you in front of potential customers, giving you the opportunity to tell a unique story about your company. Secondly, if the press releases are well written, the media picking up your stories will give you more coverage over time.
2- You can become known as an industry leader and expert through press releases. Most people tend to trust what they read and hear through reputable news sources. The press release will help you gain consumer trust and eventual business.
Also, the media is always looking for industry experts to comment on related news stories. Constant exposure can place you in that expert position. This is another grand slam!
3- A well-written press release can give you far reaching exposure. Media outlets share stories and most of them come from local news items. Due to the internet, these can quickly spread. It only takes one reporter to show an interest in your local story for that story to quickly become national or even international. Think of the business potential!
4- They provide SEO (search engine optimization) benefits. Press releases using beneficial keywords can gain great exposure for your website. This is a great way for small business to increase their website page ranking with the various search engines.
5- For the exposure you can get, a press release is relatively inexpensive. This is especially true when you compare it to other various forms of paid advertising, and the quantity of exposure that can be gained through a release.
If you haven’t considered utilizing a press release service to greatly expose your business, it’s time to do so. Even in this day of high tech and new media, they are still very much alive and very beneficial to businesses.
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You can read more about press release by Terry Schuman on our website. We help local businesses increase their online presence by providing press release services in addition to many other small local business marketing services. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com
8
May
2010
6 Small Business Press Release Tips To Improve Your Results
You can receive quality attention from a small business press release. However this will only happen if you do it correctly.
Let’s look closer at six useful tips to improve your press release writing and get the attention you need for your business.
1. Capture your readers attention by writing a good headline. Writing an attention grabbing headlines is the best way to get more people to read on.
Your headline should be written thinking about the benefits to the reader. Keep it concise using the fewest number of words to get your point across.
2. Include your most important information in your first paragraph. Initially people only glance at the first couple of sentences.
To get them to continue on down to the bottom you want it to provide that important information right up front so it increases their interest level to read more.
3. Your press release is not an ad. This is not the time for you to be trying to sell products.
It should contain newsworthy information that you are delivering straight to your readers. You are not trying to sell anything in the body so avoid any words that sounds like you are.
You do want it to be interesting. It is o.k. to add humor when appropriate.
4. Be factual. Do not stretch the truth. Only provide information that a reader can verify.
If you are including any statements that you have researched information on add your sources to the press release to make it more credible.
5. Proof read to catch any errors. Look specifically for any spelling or grammar errors that need to be corrected.
Because your press release reflects directly on your business be professional in how you write it! When it contains spelling errors that is not professional.
The same is true if it does not read like it was written in English. If you outsource this a writer overseas be sure and make sure they are using proper gramamr.
6. Promote your press release. The Internet makes this easy to do.
Prweb.com has been around for many years and has a variety of packages you can purchase. There are also free websites you can start with to get your feet wet.
You can also use off line publishing sites to reach an even larger audience. PR News Wire reaches a large audience but you can narrow it down.
When done correctly a press release can be very beneficial to your local business. It is a great way to increase traffic to your website or helped make the phone ring.
You can improve your credibility with a well written one. There are various price ranges you can choose from, including a free press release for your small business!
If you enjoyed this article by Jeff Schuman on small business press release tips please visit our website. We help small business owners grow their business with useful small business information.
28
Dec
2009
Having an Effective Press Release Strategy
If I walked up to you and asked you what exactly is your press release strategy would you know what I was talking about or would you just give me a deer in the headlights look. Chances are you would do the latter. The reason for this is because many people are lost when it comes to having a press release strategy that is proven to work.
The harsh truth is that many companies big and small fail to use this in their marketing of the company. This can sometimes mean the difference between make or break. If you ask many business owners they have no idea what a press release is or how to use it in marketing, that is why I am here to help you through this sometimes difficult process and ease you into the world of press releases.
If someone were to ask you what your press release marketing strategy, would you even have a reply? Unfortunately, many businesses, both small and large, fail to use press releases as a part of their marketing strategy. Many business owners may not even be aware of what exactly a press release is, let alone, know how to use one to advertise their business. The following information will help you to figure out how you can use press releases as part of your marketing campaign.
The first thing that you need to know is what exactly is a press release. In short it is a written announcement of an event that is happening at your business, or to announce a product release. A press release does not have to written by a scholar, it just needs to give the basic information of who, what, when and where. Many companies will decide to have a press release written in house and will decide to do so as a cost effective method.
Now that you are familiar with a press release you will need to actually write the release itself. If you are not comfortable with writing the press release then you will have to hire a person to write it for you. If you hire a person to write your press release then you will also be able to get them to help in the distribution of the press releases. This will be an important aspect of getting the word about your business out to the masses.
Once you have the release written and everything a great idea is to take the press release and to post it to your website. This will help you in the fact that it will give you extra exposure to get the word about your business out and to make sure that you get an extra push in trying to promote your news or product. This has been designed as an overview of how the press release works and the many benefits that having an effective one will serve. If you really want to compete with the big boys then you will need an out of this world press release.
Are you ready to submit your Free Press Release visit this site today.
28
Dec
2009
Increase Sales With A Press Release
If you sit down and look at your local newspaper then chances are you will have or have already seen a press release that was put out by a big company. You sit there and think to yourself “I wish my business could do that.” The good news is that your business can be just like the big boys in that regard. Many companies never realize that they have a wonderful marketing tool at their disposal when it comes to the press release.
Yes the big companies have long since mastered the art of writing the press release. If you are willing to take a chance and try new things then you too can master this and compete on a whole new level of business.
The big advantage to this type of marketing is that it will get your company name out there and as a result will allow you to give people insight as to what all you can offer them as far as products is concerned. Now if you are sitting there saying that your a small business and don’t have anything to say then you are not looking at the bigger picture. You don’t have to announce a massive news event in order to put a press release out. It can be as big an event as you want it to be or as small as you want.
What kind of event would you want to put a press release out for, here are some examples. Announce something that is happening at your company. Maybe you are celebrating the hire of a new HR person. Maybe you want to celebrate an anniversary or a new product line. These are just a few examples of events you would put a press release out for. No matter how small you may think something is you can always make a event out of it and use it in your company’s marketing.
A good idea to see just how effective your release truly is. Have a contest, offer a free product to the winner, you will be shocked at the large number of entries that you will receive. In the long run just make it a point to follow up with any and all leads that you get.
Maybe you are offering a class at your company then this is the right time for a press release. This will show people that you are excited about your business and are wanting to get other people to share in your excitement as well. Maybe you are having an annual sale that you want the entire world to know about then you will issue a press release. The best part of a press release is it is practically free marketing for your business. This will be a tool that if you use it wisely will pay off for a long time to come in the future. Just make sure that you harness the raw power that a good press release has and use it to your full advantage to get effective marketing.
Are you ready to submit your Free Press Release visit this site today.
28
Dec
2009
Using A Press Release To Effectively Market Your Business- Basic Essentials You Need
Okay you are ready to announce your fall line or announce a new president in your company. The question you need to ask yourself is how do I get the message out to the general public? To this question I offer this advice use a press release to get your message across. Unlike an article a press release focuses on a single topic. An article gives the reader information and most times offers a reader an opinion. This is very important to remember when you are in the process of writing a press release.
Many people underestimate the power that a press release can have on a persons business Often times these people are shocked to realize that they have a powerful marketing tool right under their nose and never realize it. They fail to see that a press release is one of the more powerful tools that they can use. When they sit down and start to research the power of a press release they tend to discover that they are in possession of a tool that will bring people to their business by the droves.
So what all makes up an effective press release? First is the fact that you will need to decide on your topic. What is it that you want to announce to the entire world? This will be the main idea that you are wanting your audience to know about. The thing that you need to remember when it comes to press releases is that each release needs to be for a specific news event or product release. You will need to use a press release for each individual event, instead of lumping a bunch of news items in one press release.
Now that you have a working idea as to the idea behind the press release you will now need to know the vital information that will make your release stand out from others.
So what are items that get the most amount of attention when it comes to a press release? The kind of press release that will get the most people to your site is a launching of a new business. If you are looking to announce that there is a new business in town then you will have a large audience upon which to spread your message to. The next best thing that gets a press release noticed is the launching of a new website, this again will get plenty of exposure to the general public. Now these two are followed closely by the naming of a new member of management, with the announcement of a new product being the last item on the top exposure list.
Now that I have given you the basic information as to what all you need for a basic press release you can visit the site to learn more on how to have the best press release on the internet today.
Are you ready to submit your Free Press Release visit this site today.
28
Dec
2009
Ideas For Press Releases
Have you heard all of the buzz going around about press releases but are not exactly sure how this can benefit you and your company? Then you need to read this article and discover some of the ideas that people will write a press release about. Many people are lost when it comes time to write their press release and don’t have a clue about what to make as their topic for a press release.
Back when it was hoped that a press release would be picked up by a member of the press and published so that thousands of people would be able to see this and decide to go and visit your business. This basic concept is still in place, but these days it is a more effective tool that is used in the world of marketing your business. These days anybody can put out a press release about anything that is going on at their company.
If you are sitting there and saying that you have nothing to write about in your press release then you are mistaken and taking the wrong approach to the whole thing completely. Stop putting your press release into a pre-fit box and instead let it be more of a news article, this approach will allow you to have a better perspective as to what to put in your press release. The following are just a couple of ideas that you will be able to use in your press releases.
1. Maybe you are announcing a new venture in your company. This would be the ideal place and method upon which to announce this.
2. Are you ready to launch a new product line? The a press release is ideal for such an announcement. Making the announcement of a new partnership between two individuals and or companies.
3. If your company has received an award in the recent weeks or months.
4. maybe you and you company are offering a series of articles for publishing and are wanting to announce this.
These are just a few of the things that you will want to publish a press release for as these are milestones in your company and you will want to share all of these with the rest of the world.
Press releases are a wonderful way to get the message that you have out to the public and to let them know that an event in your company has recently occurred and therefore you are making an announcement as such.
Are you ready to submit your Free Press Release visit this site today.