Create A Press ReleaseWritten by Jean Melconian
A press release is a great way to get free publicity for your site. In order to obtain editorial coverage for your business you must find a particular idea that is unique to your business and it should be newsworthy.. A press release is a document (usually between 500 to 1,000 words) about your company designed to make a newsworthy announcement to media. A press release is a key tool for public relations professionals. This type of document has a highly defined style and format, and in a nut shell answers basic questions of those who might be interested in particular subject- who, what, where, when, and why. Using traditional PR efforts to reach both online and other media outlets in order to obtain free editorial coverage is a powerful way to reach potential customers. Press releases can be distributed to media (such as newspapers, magazines, radio news outlets, television news outlets, and online publications) via U.S. Mail, fax or e-mail. Once you have a press release announcing your business (or some other news worthy event relating to your business), your goal is to get it in hands of editors. To help you compile your own customized media list, consider visiting Web sites sponsored by Editor & Publisher (http://www.medianinfo.com), Media Online Yellow Pages (www.webcom.com), or National Press Club (npc.press.org). Broadcast Interview Source (www.yearbooknews.com,) publishes a variety of phone numbers, addresses, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of writers, reporters, producers, editors, and radio elevision hosts. The Gebbie Press's All In One Directory (www.gebbieinc.com) lists contacts of 23,000 people from TV and radio stations, newspapers, African American and Hispanic Media, news syndicates, networks, and AP/UPI bureaus. Other media directories published by: Bacon's Media Directories (www.baconsinfo.com) Burelle's Media Directories (www.burrelles.com). In an article by John Hewitt (www.azstarnet.com) , before sending out any press release make sure you: 1.Know who to send it to, not just where. Find out who editor or reporter is for section you want your release to appear in.
| | Writing for MediocrityWritten by Heather Reimer
A while back, an Internet wit compiled a list of signs that you're not spending enough time online. One sure sign is that poor spelling and grammar still bother you. Good one!Unfortunately, there are no online grammar police … just you and me, voluntarily dotting our own "i"s and crossing our own "t"s. And since you want to go forth and prosper as an Internet business, you're taking time to do it, right? After all, as author Virginia Shea pointed out in her online book Netiquette, "On Web, you won't be judged by color of your skin, eyes or hair, your weight, your age, or your clothing. You will, however, be judged by quality of your writing." Okay, maybe these days, people aren't as picky as they once were about speaking and writing perfectly. Whether that's okay or not, is up for debate. But if you lose coherency as a result… well, that's going to cost you money and that's not negotiable, is it? But, for those of you with too many clients and too much money, here are a few guidelines on writing for mediocrity: 1. Do not under any circumstances use spell check function or have someone else proofread your text before uploading it. That wood be a horendus waist of time and serbs no porpoise. 2. If you don't have valuable content, don't worry… just substitute fancy fonts, busy wallpaper and lots of blinking banners. Your visitors will be so distracted they won't notice you have nothing to say. 3. If you quote someone, don't bother to get their permission or spell their name correctly. Why? See rule #1. 4. Exclamation marks rule!!! Your readers have likely never seen this tactic before and so will think that urgent punctuation (!!!) requires urgent action (!!!) on their part.
|
