The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

The debate rages on about whether news releases are less relevant than ever.

BL Ochman, who used to do a lot of publicity work for her clients, says she stopped writing news releases a long time ago and, instead, prefers chatty, customized pitch letters. (See “How to Write a Pitch Letter More Powerful Than a News Release.”)

But the fact remains that many Publicity Hounds still write press releases. That’s why you must do everything possible to make your releases so compelling that they capture a reporter’s interest within five seconds.

Here’s something you can do to make that happen. Try to banish the following words from your press releases:

Announce

Announced

Announcing

Announcement

Why? Because announcements are not news. The gist of the announcement is news. Besides, an “announcement” sounds so contrived and overused.

Let’s say you want to publicize a fund-raiser that your group will sponsor two months from now. Many people would write the release saying “The 5-mile run for multiple sclerosis was announced yesterday…”

That sentence immediately dates your release. It makes it sound as though the news occurred yesterday when, in fact, it won’t happen for another two months. The best news releases are those with present tense or future tense leads. Like this:

“The Bay View Kiwanis Club will try to raise $20,000 for multiple sclerosis with a 5-mile run on October 17.”

You can’t always eliminate those four words from your releases. But I want you to pause every time you are tempted to write them. Then ask yourself, “Is there another word I can substitute?” or “If the announcement isn’t the news, what is?”

Posted In: Press Releases/News Releases
posted On: 8/10/2005: 5:11 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Cheryl Stroup of Sanger, California writes:

I am a soap maker working out of my home (you can visit my website). I use only natural ingredients in my soaps. One of the hottest rages in the market is food-scented soaps and other products such as candles. Most fruits and foods do not produce essential oils. Any soap that smells of fruits is scented with artifical fragrance oils and therefore has not been part of my soap repertoire.

In January, I came across a beer line of Belgian Lambic ales–beers made with fruits such as rasbperries, peach and black currants. I devised a technique I hoped would preserve these beer characteristics and did an expriment to see if the fruit scents would hold up under the soapmaking process—they do! I now have the only fruit-scented soaps on the market that do not use artificial oils. And beer is wonderful for the skin and hair as well.

I sent soap samples to the editor at All About Beer magazine and the soaps were featured in the June/July issue, in time for Father’s Day. But the soaps are great for everyone. Does anyone have any suggestions for reaching the beer market or other specialty/novelty markets with these wonderful soaps? I also make custom beer soaps, the most recent used Dos Equis.

The Publicity Hound says: Beer-loving Hounds everywhere, unite! Let’s toast Cheryl on her success with All About Beer magazine and also give her some super ideas on how she can spread the word about these candles. This one is really fun, and I can’t wait to see the responses.

Posted In: Business Promotion
posted On: 8/9/2005: 10:36 pm: By Joan
Comments: 15 Comments

You should have seen me last Thursday, racing around the Expo building at the Wisconsin State Fair, darting from display case to display case, searching for the two pieces of needlepoint I entered.

I finally found them with — ta da! — a second-place ribbon on one and a third-place ribbon on the other. My heart started racing, and I vowed to seriously consider rejoining the American Needlepoint Guild, which I abandoned 10 years ago when I started my business.

But before I pick up a needle again, there are more important things to do. Here’s how I can squeeze every ounce of publicity from this baby:

–Write press releases about the awards for my two local weekly newspapers and submit photos of the prize-winning entries. (Sign up for my free course “89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases.”)

–Pitch a story to Wisconsin Woman magazine about how women business owners find time, or don’t find time, for hobbies.

–Post an entry to my blog.

–Submit an article for the American Needlepoint Guild’s magazine about how the Wisconsin State Fair finally removed the silly rule saying all needlepoint entered had to be taken out of the frame so judges could inspect the back of the canvas. Then ask members, does the rule make sense, or not?

I’m sure there are many more possibilities. The point is, if you win an award, start working very single angle. I’m amazed at the number of people who let local newspapers and trade journals know about awards they have won for new products, sales records, projects they’ve completed for clients, etc., without ever stating what they did to win the award. Or without ever submitting a photo of themselves or the item that won.

If you’re named “Sales Person of the Year,” submit a tip sheet with your top 10 tips on how you close a sale or face rejection. (See “Special Report #16: How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media’s Attention“) at How to If your company wins the “Product Innovation of the Year” award, pitch a story on all the problems that occurred while the product was being designed, how you overcame them, and how you kept your creative team motivated. If you win a local triathlon, offer tips on how you train for the competition.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Press Releases/News Releases
posted On: : 5:25 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Sheryl Raineri of San Antonio, Texas writes:

“I operate Gold Star Professional Offices, an executive suite office center. We opened in spring last year and were forced out of our space due to renovation. Now we’re in a much nicer location and want to promote our temporary office set-up (we call it a “day office”) to business travelers via contacting hotels/motels/extended stay providers.

“Can your Hounds offer any advice on the best way to market our office center to hotels? My goal is to put our name or brochure in every room’s guest packet so if a business traveler finds they need an office setting to do business while they are here in San Antonio, they will call us! Suggestions?”

Posted In: Business Promotion
posted On: 8/2/2005: 11:16 am: By Joan
Comments: 7 Comments

I’ll be one of the first in line when the Wisconsin State Fair opens this weekend, making a mad dash to the Expo building to see if two framed needlepoint canvasses I entered won blue ribbons—or were judged good enough to even place.

Then it’s off to the creampuff building to stand in a mile-long line and watch college kids in white aprons behind a big glass window. The efficient assembly line will probably crank out several thousand creampuffs dusted in powdered sugar by the time I’ve made my way to the front of the line to claim my six-pack. Several hours later and several pounds heavier from sampling giant turkey legs, french fries, elephant ears, blooming onions and those fried Dutch cakes, I’ll waddle to the parking lot to find the car and head home.

It time for county and state fairs. And smart Publicity Hounds will be able to work their way into newspaper and TV stories using a clever angle. Here are several to consider:

—Call your local TV station and ask if they want to follow you through the vendors building to see how much free stuff you can accumulate in a brown paper bag. My friend Shawne Duperon, a TV reporter in Michigan, says that’s a favorite story for TV.

—Are you a speaker or author who specializes in humor? Offer to take a newspaper reporter on a tour of some of the funniest things you can find at the fair. Heck, you’ll practically be writing for the story for them. How can they possibly resist?

—If you’re taking the kids and you know how to do the fair on a tight budget, you could be the source reporters are looking for.

—If you work in any area of health, offer tips on how people can stay cool, from buying those little portable fans you hold in front of your face to drinking gallons of water.

—Veterinarians can comment on how to keep the dairy herd cool. Horticulturists can pass along tips for keeping cut flowers fresh in sweltering heat. And gardeners can share green-thumb secrets for gargantuan cukes and carrots.

My friend, TV reporter Shawne Duperon, who was my guest during the teleseminar titled “103 Sizzling Story Ideas from July Through December” says TV stations are always looking for unusual angles for the fair. And because fairs ahve so many visuals, the story is custom-made for TV.

Newspapers love them too.

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, TV Publicity, The Local Angle
posted On: : 10:11 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments