By Shelly Cone

I get lots of inquiries on a daily basis from potential clients looking for press release services. Of those I close a few deals but some decide to go elsewhere for various reasons. Sometimes it’s because of price, other times it’s because they aren’t sure what they want. But the reason that gets me the most is they want “another writitng style.”

I think this is funny because, though I have a very particular voice, my press releases generally follow the proper format and don’t have all the snark and snarl that my blog posts and other writing has. Then I finally figured out what they mean when they say they don’t like my writing style.

My press releases are pretty straightforward. However, some people want a whiz bang press release. Something that is splashy and sexy and jumps out at you and makes people want to read it. Those people are confused. I mean who are you trying to target? That’s the first question you’ve got to ask.

Let me back up a bit. There are two types of content and most people get them mixed up. There is the press release, which is targeted at reporters and announces something newsworthy. Reporters read the news you are giving them in this press release and they decide whether or not they are interested enough to do a story or investigate further into your news.

The other piece of writing is an article. Whether you write it, a publicist writes it, a blogger writes it or a reporter writes it, you are writing for readers or customers. An article should grab attention and should have a splashy and fun headline.

However, the two are not the same. Most of the time businesses hire me as a press release writer to write a press release announcing their news in the hopes that news reporters will get wind of the news and give them some publicity. However, when they see the press release they are disappointed that it isn’t splashy and shiny.

The reason you can’t do that with press releases is because of the intended audience. In the case of a press release the intended audience is reporters. They want easy access to the facts. They don’t want fluff. If they have to wade through fluff and splash trust me, they won’t. They will toss it aside or pass it on to the advertising department. That’s not to say your press release shouldn’t be intriguing or interesting, because it should be but it just shouldn’t be too over the top.

The other reason that a press release should be written in a toned down style is because many online press release submission sites will reject press releases that appear too promotional.

Whether you are writing your own press release or hiring a press release writer don’t worry too much about exciting writing. The main thing you should look for is that the press release writer has gotten the appropriate news in the press release, it’s an interesting read and it’s in the proper format. Keep it simple and you’ll do fine when it comes to grabbing a reporter’s attention.

Shelly Cone is a journalist, public relations professional, and press release writer. She is also the owner of Beach Betty Public Relations, a California lifestyle design company offering press release services, media relations and collaborative marketing events to help you design your life by growing your business.

Once upon a time, I took a break from my journalism career. I was burned out. My husband had a great job he was excited about and we had started a family so we wouldn’t be moving to another community any time soon. So that ruled out a change of scenery and new issues to report on, and after more than a decade in the news business I was tired. The deadlines were getting to me, the negative news was getting to me, but most of all the low pay was getting to me. I left journalism to become a real estate agent.

I had a good work ethic and I put it to use. I logged long hours, I hired a coach. My husband joined me part time as an agent and together we totally rocked. I used my marketing skills to take our outreach to the next level. It worked. We were soon winning awards for top sales agents.

Then one day we signed some difficult clients. They were simply horrible to deal with. We truly believed we were putting them in a better situation. In fact they thank us to this day for what we did. They were a devoutly Christian couple with a young son. Their neighborhood was deteriorating and they were afraid to leave their house. They were afraid to let their son walk to school. They were also on a severely tight budget.

They had been in their house for many, many years and were afraid to move. Afraid of the unknown. Housing prices had skyrocketed and even if they sold their home and bought a new one, they couldn’t afford the tax base. There were loopholes, however, and we found them. We dug in hard and made the impossible happen and they’ve never forgotten that. During the process, well, that was a different story. There were tears, there was shouting, and there was a lot of reassuring from my husband.

In the end it was all happy. When our clients were happily in their new home I bought them a gift, like I did with all my clients. Only, I liked to give gifts that weren’t standard fare. As with my marketing I liked to think out of the box. However, this was a conservative couple, so it would be a little difficult.

I was watching Food Network and saw a show on Fat Witch brownies. They looked wonderful. So I had them sent to my clients. Soon after I got a call from them and they were enraged.

What I hadn’t realized was I gave a devout Christian family brownies called Fat Witch. Yeah, it didn’t fly.

“Why did you give us those brownies,” the woman asked. “They were made by witches.”

“No there weren’t actually made by witches, it’s just their logo.”

“Yes, they were, it says so on the box. We didn’t even want to bring them into our house, but we tried them and they made us sick. They made us violently sick because they were made by witches. They are now sitting on our garbage can outside and we are afraid to look at them.”

Yes, this was our actual conversation. I remember it verbatim to this day. I was so embarrassed and felt so stupid.

Point is this: How well do you know your clients or customers? Do you think you know them well enough? If you log every detail about them, are you using that information in your dealings? I had spent so much time with these people. I knew they were fearful of everything. I knew they were conservative and religious. I still missed a major detail. One that was really glaring.

If you think you know your customers think again. Make sure you actually stop to think about what you know about them and how you can apply it to build a better business relationship.

Shelly Cone is a journalist, public relations professional, and press release writer. She is also the owner of Beach Betty Public Relations, a California lifestyle design company offering press release services, media relations and collaborative marketing events to help you design your life by growing your business.

Image: EA / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Where do you blog? The obvious answer is “on my blog,” right? That should only be one answer. The real answer should be, “wherever anyone will let me.” You should be posting your message everywhere like blog grafitti.You do this with a method called guest blogging.

When I suggest this I get one of two responses; “Why would someone let me write in their blog?” and “Why would I want to write for someone else for free?” These questions are often followed by a bunch of other little questions that simply support the idea that they just don’t see the point in guest posting. Guest posting is an easy and most awesome way to get in front of a new audience and possibly grow your own traffic.

So how do you get traffic by guest posting on blogs?

1. Identify blogs that jive with your style

What blogs do you currently read?  Identify what blogs you love the most. You probably read several that are related to your own niche, that’s where you want to get started. If you are part of the audience of that blog then you are also most likely similar to other readers of that blog, who in turn would likely enjoy your blog.

2. Peruse topics previously posted on said blog

Make sure you are super familiar with the blog’s tone, subject and previous topics covered. How can your expertise complement that blog? Is there something that would fit in but isn’t there? Take note of what’s missing or hasn’t been covered but relates to that blog’s niche.

3. Start writing and write well

If you have an idea for a good blog post, simply write it up. Write it for the target audience of a specific blog. Make sure it’s your best stuff however. Don’t be greedy and save it for your own blog. After all, more people will read it on the blog you are hoping to guest post for, right? Make sure you also include a photo to illustrate your topic.

4. Create a great tagline with a link to your site

Write a short summary bio of who you are and where people can find out more about you. This is a great way to get a quality backlink to your site.

5. Pitch the post

Email the owner of your intended blog and let them know you have a blog post written that you would like for them to consider running on their site. Attach the post (and include it in the body of the email in case they can’t open the attachment). Tell them it’s exclusively theirs to use as long as they let you know they are interested in using it within 3 weeks (or whatever time limit you want to set). Tell them that after that time you will assume they are not interested and therefore will pitch it to other bloggers.

6. Put great posts on your site

If your guest post is accepted make sure that you find out the approximate day it will run and post some really awesome stuff on your site that day. You should be posting awesome stuff on your site anyway, but this day put y0ur best effort forward.

7. Reply to comments about the guest post

Be all over your guest post on the day it runs. If anyone posts a comment, reply to them. This is a great chance to interact with potential readers.

8. Repeat often

Guest post anywhere someone will let you. Readers will start seeing you everywhere and the thinking will generally be that you must be somebody, that you are an authority on your subject. Soon you’ll have your own readership base and people will be asking you to guest post.

Shelly Cone is a journalist, public relations professional, and press release writer. She is also the owner of Beach Betty Public Relations, a California lifestyle design company offering press release services, media relations and collaborative marketing events to help you design your life by growing your business.

How great would it be, if instead of you having to hound reporters to get your name in the paper, they were calling you? This is not an impossible feat my friend. Although, like every other great thing, it takes work and dedication.

The secret is to become a super reliable repository of information. Say what?

You need to position yourself as someone reporters rely on for information–even if it isn’t necessarily in your industry. In other words: be their friend. When you go through journalism school you are taught to be unbiased. However, you are also taught that everyone is human and bias has a way of creeping in. Reporters are supposed to recognize that and be wary. Most good journalists do. Although, it’s human nature that if you can help a friend out you will.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that just because you are their friend that a reporter will give you news space. More likely the dynamic is that they will try a little harder to find a new angle in the story you are pitching. In essence you have a warm audience not the cold audience that you would have with that reporter if you weren’t already acquainted.

That still doesn’t explain how being friends will make reporters call you.

Here it is. You need to submit story ideas often. Not just about your specific business either. You know your industry inside and out. If you come across a change in the industry or something else newsworthy in your industry, you probably will know before your reporter friend. So give them a heads up, tell them why that piece of news is important for your industry and then offer to answer any questions or be available if they need to “localize” the story.

Do this often without expecting to get news coverage yourself and soon that reporter will see you as someone who is on top of things in that industry. You will become their “go to” person and whenever anyone in the newsroom needs a contact for something that pertains to your field, your reporter friend will gladly recommend they talk to you.

Now take it one step further. Keep your ear to the street. If you hear of anything else that might be newsworthy–but has nothing to do with your industry–give your reporter friend a heads up. You can’t abuse this or they will see right through it. It takes some finesse. But if you hear something newsworthy, interesting or exciting that isn’t common knowledge, send an email or make a quick call and just tell your reporter “I thought you might find this interesting.” Suddenly, you are not only a person in the know in your industry you are someone who knows people, has contacts and genuinely wants to help out.

You may not directly benefit from passing on information that has nothing to do with your business but it keeps you top of mind. And if you’re top of mind you will likely be called whenever the reporter has a story on the economy, the internet, business in general, marketing, or any other story that has something to do with business — and not just yours. It’s an easy way to get news coverage even when there is nothing particularly newsworthy going on in your own business.

No matter where you submit your press release, no one is going to publish what you say unless it is newsworthy. Before I explain what it means to be newsworthy or how you can become newsworthy, let me explain what is not newsworthy.

If your press release talks about a sale, that is not newsworthy. It is advertising. If your press release talks about how great your products or services are, that is not newsworthy. That is advertising. If your press release talks about the fact that you, your products or your services exist, that is not newsworthy either.

So what is newsworthy? The short answer is: Anything new to you or your business. The long answer is it depends on whose perspective you are considering. News editors and features editors will have a different view of what is newsworthy than a business editor will.

So how do you find the right angle to pitch in your press release? Well first consider your audience. If you are trying to get across how successful your company is by releasing your quarterly earnings report, then you are trying to reach maybe investors. You will likely submit your press release to business editors and so therefore, a press release announcing all the money you made in the last quarter is the right angle.

Your company isn’t limited to that angle however. Often times your company has more than one newsworthy angle. Now say that your company has made all of this money in the last quarter largely because of the popularity of a new product line that has moms everywhere clamouring to get their hands on one. Well now you’ve got a feature story about a hot new product trend.

So often the question becomes not really what is the right angle, but where to pitch that angle. Most businesses have several reasons why they are newsworthy. Write a press release for each angle you can think of and submit it to various outlets. Test your results.

There is one space on the Internet that every business owner covets–The top section of the first search engine results page. There is one easy way to get there and it doesn’t even require a website. Claim your Google Places Page.

You want to claim your Google Places Page to get killer results in local search engine listings. For example if someone is looking for a flower shop in San Luis Obispo Google will often show a listing of several local flower shops next to a map of where they are located. These listings appear usually below the sponsored listings but above organic search results. This is prime search engine results page real estate!

The best part of it is that you don’t even need to have a website.

How to claim your Google Places Page

Simply go to Google Places

Click on “List Your Business”

Enter your phone number to see if you business is already listed. If it isn’t you’ll be given the opportunity to list details, like your address, hours of operation, etc., But you’ll also get to enter up to 10 photos and up to five YouTube videos about your business. This is a great way to enhance the listing. Your can include pictures of your storefront, your products or videos demonstrating your product or just introducing your services.

Once you’ve entered your information Google will call you (or you can opt for a postcard, which takes a few days) to provide you with a pin number. Enter that pin number on the screen to validate that you are the business owner. Then in about a day your listing will appear in the Google Places map.

The very best part about this is that few business owners are taking advantage of this free way to draw attention to their business. Maybe you’ll be the first in your city. If you have questions about the best way to enhance your Google Places Page, give me a call or drop me a line at beachbettypr@verizon.net

In these days of online press release services, free press release submission services and online news aggregate sites the power of the press release is losing a bit of its oomph in the eyes of business owners. So increasingly I’m getting asked to supply press release services but these potential clients want me to guarantee they’ll get press. Hold on, can anyone do that?

I’m sure there is some public relations professional out there right now who is leaning back in their chair and snickering to themselves and thinking “Yeah, I can.” And maybe that’s so, but that’s not the norm, people. Let me take a minute and put on my reporter’s cap. I’ll say a thing or two about what gets press; subjects that are newsworthy. The bottom line is if your press release isn’t newsworthy it isn’t going to get press, no matter what connections your press release professional has. And again I say that knowing there is always that exception.

I’m talking generalities here. As a reporter, if a good friend came to me pitching their story, or their client’s story for that matter, I’d definitely give it a listen and try to find an angle but if I couldn’t justify a story, I wouldn’t run it.

If you want press in a magazine, television or newspaper, you’re best bet is a local mention in your local media’s business pages. It  is almost always a given that you’ll get publicity that way. Now here’s where the cream rises to the top. If you have a product or service that is really special or tied to a benevolent cause you’ll probably have good luck getting a mention in a niche publication or blog. Asking me to guarantee to get you a story in Time magazine, the New York Times or Vogue magazine–well, I’ll probably pass on that request. Not necessarily because I think I can’t do it, but because it tells me you likely have unrealistic expectations. That’s not a bad thing, because business owners need to have just that kind of passion and belief in their product or service, but I know from experience that that’s not something I can guarantee.

So what can you expect from most press release services?

Well if you aren’t hiring full public relations services–just press release services–you should expect a professional well written press release of about 300 to 800 words. You should expect the press release service to work with you to develop a truly newsworthy angle so that you aren’t submitting information that is a thinly disguised sales pitch. You should expect at least one draft, one round of corrections and a final version. You should expect online submission as well as submission to local media if that is applicable for your product or service. If the press release service submits your press release to niche bloggers and niche media then you should expect some submission there as well as a good effort to convince those outlets to provide coverage. Overall you should be satisfied with the experience.

And if you do find someone who can guarantee coverage in the New York Times and delivers, let me know their name. Maybe I’ll acquire their representation myself. 

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For the most part people think of marketing during the good times. You send out press releases when sales are good and quarter earnings are up, when your business expands or when you support a good cause. But what about when things are (gasp!) bad? When money is tight? Or even, when crisis strikes? What happens to your marketing campaign then?

When money is tight obviously you should seek affordable public relations strategies to keep your marketing efforts going. As for crisis, that’s actually the time to go full steam ahead with your public relations efforts. By crisis I am talking about those things that happen to a company resulting in the shaking of consumer confidence, like when a product gets recalled or when a CEO gets in trouble. That’s when you should go all out, hire the best crisis public relations professional and try to get through it with your reputation intact.

The first thing that should happen is you should send out a press release. It should be brief, to the point, and it should avoid going into too much detail about the original incident. Instead, concentrate more on what you are doing to fix or change things and what you will be doing to once again become the company that your consumers relied on.

After you get the press release out, your next steps would be to start a public relations campaign that will once again shine the halo over your corporate head. Co-brand with a cause. Start a movement to help offset your carbon footprint. Buy a big-eyed puppy and make it your mascot. Start making headlines in a positive way.

The best thing to do when negative publicity threatens your business is to face it head on and take charge. Start by issuing a press release.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Your website provides the world with all the necessary information about your business and your products. Yet everyone is telling you you need a business blog. You ask ‘Why?’

I say, because you need a ‘voice.’ Not necessarily you but your business and no one can get a sense of that voice by just looking at your website. Because here’s the thing, your website is boring. Yeah, I know you spent extra for the flash/splash page animated whatever but it’s still a business website to me, the web surfer/potential customer. Your website is not going to give me a feeling that I know you. But your blog will.

Take a look around my blog. The writing you see, the advice I give, that’s pretty much what you get if you talk to me in person. Conversely, if you just look at a page that lists my services, maybe my prices and contact information, it doesn’t give you a feel for who I am.

That’s where a blog comes in. Your company blog shouldn’t be a vehicle to pitch sales. It should give customers a peek inside your inner thoughts. What are you about? How do your processes take place? Who’s behind the company? Those are the things a blog should cover. Web customers are different than other types of customers because they want to know that stuff.

It’s easy for anyone to put up a website, but you never know who’s behind it. That makes it easy for scam artists, or anyone else for that matter, to have a presence on the web. To gain trust of a web customer you need to make them feel like they know you. Accomplish this with a business blog.

So what information should your blog contain?

• Introduce not so visible employees
• Employ YouTube to give your customers a walking tour of your facility or processes
• Show them how something is made.
• Talk about current topics in the news that relate to your industry and talk about how your company feels about them.

Don’t be afraid to let your guard down a bit. Embrace a friendly personal tone with your blog. Your business blog doesn’t have to be a chore either. Hire someone like me who offers affordable public relations including blog maintenance or find an employee who embodies what your company is about and have them maintain it. Either way it’s an important part of your public relations plan.

Your customers want to know you. What are you going to tell them?

Is the press release dead? You know what I’m going to say. However, there was actually a declaration made by Simon Dumenco at AdvertisingAge yesterday that the press release is officially dead.

And why? Because celebrity reporters have turned to Twitter to get real time news. Also JetBlue skipped an official press release about its flight attendant melt-down situation and instead posted to Twitter. The article also points out how BP issued a formal press release apology but didn’t go to Twitter therefore leaving themselves wide open.

I’m thinking this guy has never been a real reporter. Reporters–even the millennial type–rely on press releases. Twitter is fine and I’m all over social media for my Beach Betty PR clients. But for my job as a reporter I still rely on press releases. Twitter and other forms of social media are wonderful for quick consumable soundbites and celebrity real-time news that quickly reports on the fact that Lindsey Lohan picked her nose, then moves to what she’s eating at lunch.

Social media is also great for networking with reporters and pitching them a story. However, unless you are feeding them a groundbreaking, juicy tidbit, most reporters are going to want the long version. I get inundated all day long with emails pitching a story. Usually they are one or two lines asking “Would you be interested in a story about …” To which I reply, “Send me a press release.” Why? Because no matter how poorly they are written, I don’t want to waste my time tracking down every possible story idea that more times than not is going to be about someone’s enchilada bake sale. I want the details. I want to know why it’s important that I stop working on the story I’m writing and talk to someone about their story idea.

Again, this goes for most story pitches and announcements. Not all of them. The really groundbreaking news never comes in the form of a press release. Then again, the really groundbreaking news doesn’t happen with great frequency.

Here are few reasons why the press release is still relevant:

1. It gives reporters easy access to the facts, the who, what, where, when and why
2. Reporters are too busy to track down every vague lead. A press release gives us something more to go on.
3. It lets us decide how newsworthy the story idea or pitch is. Sometimes stories are turned away because the person pitching the story emphasized something that the reporter didn’t think was important while neglecting to mention the item the reporter thinks is the true story. Having all the facts lets us decide.
4. Having contact information available lets us know that it’s probably credible, especially after we verify it. A social media post is too easily manipulated by anonymous sources.
5. A press release is a means for the little announcements to get noticed. You may not be a high-profile celebrity, let’s face it you probably aren’t, but you still want some attention for your newsworthy item. Do you think some big-time reporter is going to jump on it because you tweeted about it? No. Because he is watching Lindsey pick her nose. A press release across his desk is a tangible, physical thing, that in a world of social media stands out because it’s different. Different but definitely not dead.