What is a news release?
A news/press release informs the public and the media about news related to your organization or business. “News” is defined as information about a recent or important event. As an example, if your organization or business hires a new CEO or introduces a new product or service, you could write a news release about this event. However, if you wrote an article about what your organization does or what your business sells, this would NOT be considered a news release because it does not give information about “a recent or important event”.

What are the parts that make up a News Release?

1. Headline - Like a newspaper story a press release needs a brief yet memorable headline that summarizes the topic of the news release in one sentence. As an example: A fictitious business, FreeFuel.biz just started selling a new widget that turns water into automobile fuel. The headline for the press release that announces this new product to the media and the public might be “Revolutionary Invention from FreeFuel.biz turns water into automobile fuel eliminating need for gasoline”. It’s important that the title also contains important keywords that pertain to the topic of the release.
2. Summary - The summary is a bit longer than the headline and allows you to give more details and include more keywords that pertain to the release. Some public relations professional just use the first paragraph of their news release for the summary. My personal preference is to write something a bit different from the first paragraph of the release. Again, using our fictional company and their new product as an example, the summary for their press release might be “After 5 years of research, FreeFuel.biz begins distribution of their revolutionary converter that turns water into automobile fuel, eliminating the need for gasoline”. As with the headline it’s also important that the summary contains important keywords.
3. News release body - This is the body of the press release. In this section you want to answer the questions: who, what, why, when and where, as if you were writing a story for a newspaper. Make your release interesting by telling your target audience how your news will have a positive impact on their lives. Above all, avoid the temptation to sell them something with your release. Don’t get caught in the trap of turning your press release into an advertisement. Your release should read like a story in a newspaper. The body of a press/news release has several different parts….
   • Location and date - At the beginning of the first line of the release, you want to give the geographic location that the press release is originating from and the date. As an example the standard format usually looks something like: “Key West, Florida - September 07, 2008 - … “
   • Who is sending the release - The date would be followed by the name of the company or organization that is publishing the release. This can also include the URL or Web address of the company. Using our original fictitious company again, the first line might look something like this: “Key West, Florida - September 07, 2008 - FreeFuel.biz (http://www.FreeFuel.biz) today announced…..
   • What is the release about? - Following the location, date and who is sending the release, is the topic of the release. This first paragraph is very similar to the summary mentioned above. For this first paragraph, you want to give the reader a very concise outline of your news and you want to grab their attention as well. You should also be careful to include keywords that pertain to the subject of your release. Using our fictitious company again, The first paragraph of their news release might look something like this:”Key West, Florida - September 07, 2008 - FreeFuel.biz (http://www.FreeFuel.biz) today announced that after 5 years of research and development they have eliminated the need for gasoline as a fuel. The company has developed and is now manufacturing a small, inexpensive, revolutionary device that converts water into automobile fuel. The new converter is expected to hit store shelves in October of 2008 with a suggested retail price of $29.95.”
   • More details about the product or service - In the paragraph(s) following the first/opening paragraph, give more details about the product or service. Using our fictitious company once again as an example:”The “FreeFuel” water converter uses proprietary technology to convert common tap water into fuel for most gasoline powered vehicles. The converter can be easily installed by the owner of the vehicle or their local auto mechanic, in about about 30 minutes. The converter also allows the driver to switch from conventional gasoline to water by simply flipping a small switch on their dashboard.”Feel free to ad more paragraphs as needed to tell your story, but keeping it brief and factual will serve you better than long and commercial.
   • A quote from someone of authority at your company or from outside your company - Following the details, include a quote with 2 to 3 sentences from someone of authority. Example:”As you can probably imagine, our new FreeFuel water converter is going to change the world as we know it.” said James Smith President and CEO of FreeFuel. “We are very excited to be able to bring such a revolutionary product to market.”
   • Closing paragraph and a call to action by the media - If you distribute your press release online, it is going to be read by both the public and the media. In your closing paragraph you may want to reiterate some of your important points and then encourage the news media to contact you about this story. For our fictitious release the closing paragraph might look something like this..”The FreeFuel water converter will be available at retail outlets across the U.S. beginning October 1st, 2008. For a detailed list of locations, visit the FreeFuel Web site at http://www.FreeFuel.biz .Accredited media interested in scheduling an interview to discuss this press release in more detail are encouraged to contact Bill Smith at bsmith@xyzprcompany.com
   • Boilerplate - This section contains a paragraph or two about your company and appears after the closing paragraph. Once again, using our fictitious company as an example…”About FreeFuel.com
     FreeFuel.com was founded by Tim and Tom Turner in 2003 after the fraternal twins obtained doctorates in chemistry from MIT at the age of 16. The company is based just offshore in Key West Florida on a repurposed oil drilling platform. Twenty million dollars in first round funding was secured through WeFundAnything partners in 2004 allowing the company to secure 32 patents and begin manufacture of their water fuel converter. The company is currently privately held.”
4. Contact info - This can appear at the top of the page above the release or at the end of the release and would look something like this…Contact Info:
   Bill Smith
   XYZ PR Company
   1-888-555-1212
   bsmith@xyzprcompany.com
5. Keywords - Many press release release distribution service will give press release publishers the option of including keywords with their release. If you have this option, ALWAYS include keywords with your release. This may help your release with search engine optimization as well as other features offered by the service you are using. For the Fictitious release we have been creating, the list of keywords might look something like…Alternative fuel, gasoline, water, converter, FreeFuel, fuel, automobile, car, petroleum, revolutionary.
6. Photos & Graphics - Including and optimizing graphics and Photos for Internet distribution of your press release is extremely important. Proper optimization has the potential to more than double the number of readers your press release will get. Be sure to review our blog article about how to properly do this here: http://bignews.biz/blog/?p=11
7. Putting it all together - When you take all the parts and put them all together, you get a press release that looks something like this…

—————————-
Headline:
Revolutionary Invention from FreeFuel.biz turns water into automobile fuel eliminating need for gasoline

Summary:
After 5 years of research, FreeFuel.biz begins distribution of their revolutionary converter that turns water into automobile fuel, eliminating the need for gasoline

News Release Body:
Key West, Florida - September 07, 2008 - FreeFuel.biz (http://www.FreeFuel.biz) today announced that after 5 years of research and development they have eliminated the need for gasoline as a fuel. The company has developed and is now manufacturing a small, inexpensive, revolutionary device that converts water into automobile fuel. The new converter is expected to hit store shelves in October of 2008 with a suggested retail price of $29.95.

The “FreeFuel” water converter uses proprietary technology to convert common tap water into fuel for most gasoline powered vehicles. The converter can be easily installed by the owner of the vehicle or their local auto mechanic, in about about 30 minutes. The converter also allows the driver to switch from conventional gasoline to water by simply flipping a small switch on their dashboard.

“As you can probably imagine, our new FreeFuel water converter is going to change the world as we know it.” said tom Turner President of FreeFuel. “We are very excited to be able to bring such a revolutionary product to market.”

The FreeFuel water converter will be available at retail outlets across the U.S. beginning October 1st, 2008. For a detailed list of locations, visit the FreeFuel Web site at http://www.FreeFuel.biz .

Accredited media interested in scheduling an interview to discuss this press release in more detail are encouraged to contact Bill Smith at bsmith@xyzprcompany.com

About FreeFuel.com
FreeFuel.com was founded by Tim and Tom Turner in 2003 after the fraternal twins obtained doctorates in chemistry from MIT at the age of 16. The company is based just offshore in Key West Florida on a repurposed oil drilling platform. Twenty million dollars in first round funding was secured through WeFundAnything partners in 2004 allowing the company to secure 32 patents and begin manufacture of their water fuel converter. The company is currently privately held.

Contact Info:
Bill Smith
XYZ PR Company
1-888-555-1212
bsmith@xyzprcompany.com
—————————-

Once you have a press release, you can post it online to a general press release distribution site like BigNews.biz or a topic specific press release distribution site like News-Antique.com . This blog also keeps a list of the top free press release distribution sites, which is updated several times each month. You can view the complete list here. If you want someone to write and distribute a press release for you, drop me an email at phil@bignews.biz

Tags: create, How to, instructions, News Release, Press release, write

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 7th, 2008 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Press release. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.