How NOT to write a press relese

People often show us press releases they’ve written.

Even if the releases have good information, the info in them usually is in the wrong order.

Good releases are mini-news stories with the most important information coming first.

The first sentence doesn’t have the news or what happened that you want published, i.e., local company wins major award.  

The first sentence contains the names of everyone involved. The first sentence should be general: local company, etc.

There are no facts to show why event is important. If the release is about a disease, it should have the number of people with that disease.  

The release is not be targeted to a specific reporter, i.e., local media need local statistics, business media need business details.

The release has too much jargon.

Unless you’re targeting a trade journal, you’re working with a generalist, a reporter who is covering many beats these days.

Even if the reporter knows what the jargon means, they need to translate it for their audience.

Why not make their job easier and translate it yourself?

The release doesn’t have any sources or people to call to get the necessary quotes.

Journalists work on crushing deadlines while fielding hundreds of pitches

If they know you’ll be easy to work with by providing everything they need quickly, they’re more likely to choose your story over another.

And, BTW, the company mission statement goes at the end.

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

What psychopaths and CEOs have in common

Kevin Dutton’s new book, “The Wisdom of Psychopaths” says that being fearless, focused and ruthless are tailor-made traits for success in the modern world.

Besides the above, the University of Oxford research psychologist from lays out habits of psychopaths that can help anyone in business:

Don’t procrastinate, don’t second-guess yourself, don’t look back and don’t blame yourself when things go wrong.

The Top 10 professions for psychopaths are not only CEOs, but lawyers, surgeons, journalists and clergy, among others.

Dutton writes that psychopaths have a gamut of traits that make them more—or less—successful, depending on the career they choose—or are thrust into by circumstance.

The difference between CEOs and criminals is that the latter are more impulsive and violent.

They also have a harder time delaying gratification and come from less educated backgrounds.

So if you want to be successful in business, acting like a psychopath at least some of the time might not be a bad idea.

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

Why marketing relates to string theory

Clients mainly come from publicity, referrals, networking and Internet searches.   

Because we’ve cast our net so wide over the years, it sometimes feels like they come out of nowhere.  

We’ve had clients save a column on public relations and call us years later.

Or a decade later, the cousin of a consultant we did a radio show for calls and wants PR.

So much so, we say it’s energy that brings in clients, not marketing.

“You put out energy, you get back energy” may sound New Age, but not if string theory is true.   

In string theory, everything is a vibrating possibility until transformed into  reality.

While we have the present moment, the future is filled with possibilities that come from the past and the present.  

Publicity and marketing all keep those strings vibrating. 

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

What do you do when referrals backfire?

I recently offered a referral to a colleague who informed me she wasn’t impressed by “that person”.  

Rather than argue about my experience, I asked why she felt that way.

Was the person incompetent, bad at communication, slow to respond?

Did the person not do what they said they were going to do? Did they do it 

badly?

Did they do something untrustworthy or unethical?

Hearing the answers, I realized there weren’t any tangible problems, just a bad fit.

The person’s style simply didn’t suit my colleague.

While I hadn’t done anything wrong, I still felt I had to redeem myself, to make-good.

I sent the colleague’s name, bio and contact to a couple reporters—and copied her on the emails-- introducing her to people who could do more for her than a single referral ever could. 

For more information, contact us at (916) 455-4790 or www.dellrichards.com.

How can I get in the Wall Street Journal?

Businesses often ask how to get in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or another “big fish” paper. 

I’m tempted to say “Move to New York and hire a New York public relations firms at $20,000-plus a month.”

But I don’t. I say that unless you have a national presence it’s very difficult to get into national publications.  

In journalism terms, that translates into proximity and impact, which means close and large.

That said, you can build credibility by tracking reporters’ interests and pitching unique, well-researched story ideas exclusively to them.

You need incredibly concise releases with enough interesting detail to make them realize there’s a story they want to write. But that's it.  

Public relations is like a fishing. Sending out well-written, newsworthy information is your bait and hook.  

When reporters respond, it’s because you’ve given them what they need.

By doing that, you actually get that “big fish” to bite.  

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

How to get a story in the media

People sometimes ask us to “write a release and send it out.”

 

When we tell them there's more to it than that, they’re surprised.

Before we send anything out, we collect the facts--the “who, what, where, when and why”.   

We also research statistics and other hard-core specifics that show why the story is important, unique and newsworthy.  

We may need more nitty-gritty for background.

Then, we draft a release, put together a list of sources for quotes and a media list.

After we call a reporter who covers the field to pitch the idea, we send the release and make another call to see if the reporter wants to set up interviews.   

Had the first reporter not been interested, we would have moved on to others.   

After we got one story, we would have revised the release for other reporters.

As the last step, we would email the release to anyone not already targeted.

For more information, call us at (916) 455-4790 or go to Dell Richards Publicity at www.dellrichards.com.

What's the biggest PR mistake?

We recently ran across one of the biggest mistakes businesses make in their public relations: Letting a partner do publicity.

No one would ever have an engineer work as a lawyer, yet this happens all the time in public relations.

Invariably, the person chosen to do the PR says “Why don’t journalists ever write anything good?”

This immediately shows they know nothing about newsworthiness—the basis of journalism.

Journalism thrives on conflict. But, journalists also use the following criteria to decide what to run:

·         Impact (how many people are affected);

·         Timeliness (how recent);

·         Prominence (how important the players are);

·         Proximity (how close);

·         Bizarre-factor (how unique, i.e., man bites dog);

·         Currency (how topical).

Choosing someone with no journalism experience just shows how little firm executives value their credibility with the media.

If you want the media to know you’re a player, if you want press, hire someone who knows what they’re doing.  

For more information, call us at (916) 455-4790 or go to Dell Richards Publicity at www.dellrichards.com.