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I just wanted to share a few updates with you today, mostly related to site maintenance issues:

1. Please forgive the temporary mess here on ProBusinessWriter.com. Some pages still show formatting from the old site design, I have editing to finish up, and there are images and charts to be added. It looks a bit nekkid. I know. It will be all tidied up as soon as humanly possible.
2. If you follow my freelance writing blog, you’ll notice it’s going through a design change. Most of the quirks have been worked out and I should have all of the free online tools and other features back to normal later today. A few new series were started in March, so I hope you’ll check them out. Dan Smith joined us to pick up the monthly DIY project series. Catherine L. Tully joined us with a monthly series on writing for print markets. And our existing writer, and ESL-certified teacher, Rebecca Garland has added a monthly series on grammar and issues facing ESL writers.
3. Also related to All Freelance Writing, we’re merging two of my other sites into that blog. QueryFreeFreelancer.com, dedicated to The Query-Free Freelancer book I’ve been working on for months, will be fully merged with AFW shortly. My partner on the FreelanceTheater.com audio play series and I have also decided to join that entire site with All Freelance Writing. It will allow the freelance writer audience to access all of our related projects and features from one place.
4. In other news, I’m going to be serving as Editor-in-Chief for a new social media blog launched by a client of mine. I hope you’ll stop by and read some of my upcoming posts there!

By: Diana Ting

Here’s a cold hard fact: your press releases suck. Not only are they un-blog-worthy, which means they’re really huge pieces of sh*t (because bloggers are always on the lookout for topics to write about), they’re still sitting in bloggers’ inboxes unread.

Bloggers don’t know you exist. Therefore, your press releases don’t exist. Niceties are overlooked as ass-kissing and ignored. If bloggers wanted their egos stroked, they would still be a part of the corporate rat race and not sitting at home in their pajamas writing for a living. So how do you get the attention of these anti-establishment bloggers? Piss them off.

Pissing off bloggers with your press release is brilliant marketing. The traditional press release is boring, formal and out-of-date. And although bloggers love reading press releases, the sheer number of them that they receive assures that the most important ones—yours—will go unnoticed. Write a press release that ignites passion in bloggers and forces them to read and respond to you. Making bloggers remember your name is the key to having your newsworthy press releases read, written about and discussed.

Light a fire under bloggers’ asses with my guaranteed ways to piss of bloggers with your press release:

Grammar and Editing:

• Turn spel chek off.
• Don’t bother editing.
• Forget grammar rules. don’t need ‘em. There optional and your sure to succeed without thems. Right sentencing structures and grammar using is overused, redundant, and done too much.
• Omit needless fluff like pronouns, articles, prepositions and conjunctions. State facts get point.

Formatting a Press Release:

• Turn on CAPS LOCK. WHEN YOU WRITE IN ALL CAPS, YOU’RE “SCREAMING” AT THE BLOGGER. THIS GETS THEIR ATTENTION AND MAKES IT EASIER TO READ.
• Use a simple text-only program like Notepad.

Use word wrap to confine the words within a

small screen. Copy and paste your wrapped

content directly from Notepad to the email blast.

• WriTE iN MIxEd CaPs, MakINg eVerY lEtteR a diFfeRenT ColOR @nD include a lot of exc!amation points, w3ird $ymbol$ and funn4 ch@racters!!!!! Give bloggers something to edit.
• Use giant type and fun fonts like Comic Sans or Script.

Press Release Format and Length:

• Make your press release newsworthy. Bloggers care about what you care about. Anything and everything that excites you or is an accomplishment for you is a reason to send out a press release. From your first sale to every sale, to when you complete a service or ship out an order, to when you launch your 50^th “get rich quick” website: everything is newsworthy.
• Press releases should be lengthy. If you can say it in one page, you can certainly say it better in five pages. According to PRWeb, lack of content is just one of the many reasons press releases never make it to the wires: “We reject about 10% of all press release submissions for lack of content. Oddly, authors are particularly guilty of short press releases.”

Don’t fall into the trap of short press releases. Stick to a five-page format and I guarantee it won’t be rejected for lack of content. There’s a wealth of information buried in there. Somewhere.

• Press releases should be written like long-form sales letters. Start with a juicy headline filled with hype words like “breakthrough” and “make $100,000 while you sleep!” Use the lead and body of the release to hype the product/event/service further. Just before you get to something newsworthy, stop writing. Just. Stop.
• Press releases should be friendly and cutesy. Include smiley faces and abbreviations. Press releases that sound like they were written by uptight (ROFL) corporate public relations departments (J/K, J/K, J/K) are much too formal for today’s day and age. LOL. Communicate on a more personal level. <3

PS. Always end the press release with “XOXOXO!!!!! Write back!!!!!”

PPS. Using postscripts is always recommended.

PPS. I cannot emphasize this enough. Okie, KIT!!!!!

• Use a lot of links and bold keywords and phrases. Links should:

1. Open up a porn site known to create many pop-ups (pardon the pun).
2. Be dead links that lead to nowhere.
3. Be abundant enough to make your press release look like a link farm.

The Language of Press Releases:

• Use a lot of acronyms and abbreviations. If you really want to wow bloggers, use acronyms you make up. When trying to keep your press release down to the ideal five pages, UAMBSTSS (using acronyms makes better sense to save space). UASOAIEB (Using a series of acronyms is even better). ANDTL (And never decipher the letters).
• Give yourself credibility and make your company an authority on the subject by using a lot of industry-specific jargon such as “strategic capacity analysis,” “evaluative workflow procedures,” “systematic extrapolation techniques,” and “search engine optimization algorithm.”

Sending Out the Press Release:

• Post your press release in the “comments” section of every post on bloggers’ blogs. Paste as quickly as you can before you get banned from the site. Pasting your press release on every post assures it will get the attention it deserves.
• Send your press release at least three months in advance even though details are tentative. Follow up with bloggers every day leading up to the event as a reminder.
• If you’re not able to send out the press release months in advance, send it out the day of the event. If bloggers haven’t posted the information from your press release within an hour, relentlessly follow up with them via phone, email and blog comments.
• A picture is worth a thousand words. A few gigabytes of picture and video are worth a few thousand words. It’s preferable (but not necessary) that the videos relate to your press release. When sending gigabytes of media, no further explanation is necessary. You don’t have to write or explain anything. Bloggers are wordsmiths. They can write the press release.

Deliver Often:

• 7:01: It doesn’t get any more recent if you don’t continuously update it.
• 7:03: Press releases, like tweets, are meant to be relevant and include recent news.
• 7:04: After all, content is king.
• 7:08: Update your press release at least every five minutes with too much information.
• 7:12: Update your press release like it’s your Twitter account.

Follow Up—Spam and Stalk bloggers:

• Collect bloggers’ contact information, including email addresses, phone numbers, Twitter usernames, Skype Id’s and any/all other instant messaging handles. If bloggers didn’t want to be found, their blogs wouldn’t have all the contact information readily available. They want to be contacted. And often. By whatever means possible.

Bonus tip: Get all the contact information of bloggers’ friends, family, acquaintances and professional contacts. Blast your press release and updates to third parties who have access to the bloggers with the instructions to forward it.

Follow my tips and I guarantee bloggers will remember your name and be on the lookout for YOUR press release. Happy writing!

Xoxoxo!!!!!

Write back!!!!! <3

PS. Check back next week for a post on how to make bloggers fall all over themselves in love with your pitch.

PPS. If you have more ideas on how to piss off bloggers, I’d love to hear them.

PPPS. Sound off below!

Elsewhere on the Web

• Handling the Press Release Process
• Don’t Spam us with Press Releases say Global Bloggers
• 10 Words I Would Love to See Banned from Press Releases
• Darren Rowse on Targeting and Pitching Bloggers
• 7 Signs That Your Press Release Sucks

Press releases have been around for over 100 years. While we might distribute them a little differently now given the advent of online press release distribution, the goal is still the same — get your news in the hands of interested people. While news dissemination is still the primary purpose of press releases, search engine optimization (SEO) also has a role to play with releases distributed online.

Which is more important though? Having something newsworthy to say or using press releases to build relevant backlinks to improve search engine rankings for your website? They both are. The key is striking a balance.

It’s All About the Audience

While SEO releases and non-SEO releases look and act similarly, they’re not quite the same. It’s okay to break some of the more traditional rules of press release writing when distributing online no matter what some of the “old school” PR reps might say. Why? Because the audience can be different.

When you write a press release, you’re not answering to anyone but your audience. In some cases that target audience might be major media outlets. If so, you might want to stick to the more traditional rules of press release writing and distribution like focusing on hard news and following AP style guidelines.

If, however, your target audience focuses on groups like bloggers and end consumers who are searching for news through news engines like Yahoo! News and Google News, those traditional rules not only don’t have to apply, but they can actually hurt your reach. For example, timely releases with softer angles (more in line with features than traditional news releases) can attract more interest, and some AP style rules are directly contrary to the way people actually search (and being found through those searches is vital).

Don’t Forget the Fundamentals

You can’t know when it’s okay to break the “rules” of press release writing and distribution unless you know what those rules are in the first place. So don’t neglect the traditional release. There’s a lot of merit to the way things have previously been done.

While you don’t always have to release hard news, having a newsworthy or timely story is still important. Without at least one of those elements you’re not really putting out a press release at all. You’re just taking part in article marketing. There’s nothing wrong with article marketing. It just isn’t designed to bring in the immediate influx of traffic, links, and coverage that online press release distribution is.

Another traditional rule is to write out full URLs for links. There’s nothing wrong with breaking that rule in part — by all means use anchor text links whenever the press release distribution site allows you to. After all, that’s a key of a well-optimized release for SEO purposes. However, you might want to consider those traditional full URLs as well. There’s always a chance the release will be picked up somewhere that won’t publish the anchor text links, and the full URL at least gives readers a copy / paste option to find further information.

Striking the Balance

How do you ultimately strike that balance between SEO releases and news value? You certainly don’t use SEO as an excuse to publish fluff and crap that no one has any interest in. As with anything your company publishes, make sure your press releases add value for the intended audience.

That should always be your primary concern. If you’re giving good information and you’re making it easily found in search engines, you’ll likely be forgiven the occasional slip from the rules. Remember, even if your primary intention is to use online press release distribution to improve search engine rankings, what you release also has the potential to affect your company’s image and credibility within your niche or industry. It’s when companies forget that fact that they start to put out releases bordering on spam. Don’t be one of them.

Elsewhere on the Web

• Press Releases: Writing, Pitching & Optimising
• Number One Press Release Writing Mistake: No Keywords
• PR tips: The SEO Value of a Press Release
• How to Write Effective Press Releases That Help SEO
• Press Release SEO Tips

As a small business owner interested in press release writing and distribution, it’s quite possible that you’re going to come across a few different terms for the same thing:

• press releases
• news releases
• media releases
• Web releases

Why do we have so many different names for the same public relations writing tool? Unless you’re in the PR industry, it can seem downright confusing.

The Differences

“Press release” is the traditional term for the usually one-page document you’ll distribute to people or media outlets in your niche or industry to disseminate news or other timely information.

“News release” is a more general term many in the PR field like to use now because “press” implies print media. Now we distribute to broadcast and Web media and even social media outlets (not to mention directly to our end audiences online).

“Media release” is similar to “news release” — just another more general term sometimes used. These days I mostly see it used in reference to social media releases, but occasionally see it on its own.

“Web release” is specifically for releases distributed online.

My Preference

Personally, I still prefer the term “press release,” and it’s what we’ll predominantly use here at Public Relations Writing. But as a former PR professional, why would I choose to use a term many of my colleagues find antiquated? Because it just makes sense.

The association of the term “press release” with print media might occur with PR professionals, but my experience is that members of my target market (small business owners, independent professionals, and Web professionals) do not make that connection. Some PR pros assume that when clients use the word “press” they have all of these preconceived notions about not only what press releases do but apparently what PR is all about at well. My experience is quite the opposite, with very little understanding and a huge willingness to learn no matter what clients choose to call them (and it seems insulting to me for industry insiders to assume that clients would associate a single tool with the purpose of an entire profession — if that’s true, then PR folks simply aren’t doing their job).

On top of that, “press release” is the term they prefer to use, and it’s therefore the term I need to use if I want to reach them (advertising that I can write Web releases means nothing to many of them when they’re looking to hire a press release writer, so I stick to press release writing in ads and my own sites).

Not only does this apply to my own target market, but in general “press release” is still the preferred term outside of the PR industry — it’s the most searched for option when people are looking for information on release writing and distribution. Let’s look at Google’s global monthly search volume for each of the terms to show you what I mean (results generated from the Adwords Keyword Tool):

• Press Release — 823,000 searches monthly
• News Release — 90,500 searches monthly
• Media Release — 40,5000 searches monthly
• Web Release — 8100 searches monthly

Obviously people are looking for information on “press releases” far more than they’re searching for information using any of those other terms. You need to appeal to your audience, and my audience wants “press release” info.

Some might try to argue that it’s better to be a big fish in a smaller pond (get a bigger portion of the smaller search volume for the other terms than a smaller portion of the larger search volume for “press release”), but that would be shortsighted. That’s because we’re not solely talking about SEO here and placements / traffic for that one generic term. If you drill down the keyword research results even more you’ll find that even the frequently searched for long tail keyword phrases in this topic area revolve around the “press release” base. Therefore, you can still reach more people with the long tail / small pond method by sticking to press releases as opposed to changing your phrasing just to appeal to other PR types (which is never something I go out of my way to do).

You can use any of the terms here, nearly interchangeably, so don’t let them confuse you when you’re doing research on press release writing. Just know that here “press release” is the way to go.

Elsewhere on the Web

• News Release vs. Press Release
• Is the Social Media Press Release a Meatball Sundae?
• Press Release Checklist

Here at Pro Business Writer I’m all about helping small business owners learn how different types of business writing can benefit their businesses. With a public relations background, PR writing is of particular interest to me (and I’ll teach you the basics of public relations writing so you can complete some projects on your own). Before getting into specifics of how to tackle different public relations writing projects though, it’s important that you understand what PR writing is and what types of projects fall under that umbrella. To give you a rough idea, here are some of the types of PR writing we’ll talk about more in depth on this blog:

• Press releases / news releases
• White papers
• Features
• Pitch letters
• Newsletters

Some of these projects will be easier to take on with a DIY approach than others, and the list certainly isn’t exhaustive (public relations writing can also include brochures, op-eds, fact sheets, backgrounders, PSAs, speeches, and more). These particular projects are some of the more common you might want to consider as a small business owner though, so that’s where our emphasis will be moving forward.

In our future post series, we’ll look at press releases — how they can benefit your small business, tips on press release writing, SEO press releases, a simple press release template to guide you, and advice on press release distribution on even tight budgets.

Elsewhere on the Web

• Types of Public Relations Writing
• Top 10 Publicity Tools for $1 or Less
• 10 Tips for Small Business PR Success
• 11 Questions About Press Release Writing
• Effective Public Relations Writing From the Mind of a Retired Editor with a dose of “Stickiness”