Are You Leveraging Press Releases to Gain Instant Credibility?
By: Charles Walker
I want to talk about Press Releases and how they can serve to be very worthwhile when it comes to getting instant exposure for your business and website. If you are not already leveraging this marketing strategy, definitely take the time to soak up this information so you may begin reaping the benefits.
So generally what is a press release (PR)? A PR can be classified as a media release, news release, or even press statement that may be a written or recorded communication that will be directed towards members of the actual news media to announce or promote something containing news value.
What kind of media will release PRs? Press Releases can be published through magazines, newspapers, radio stations, television stations and television networks, you can see the significance and potential a press release may bring.
On a difficulty scale of simple, moderate, and expecting a learning curve, press releases thankfully fall into the simple category. For your setup time, on average less than three hours, but ultimately it will come down to your writing abilities. Once you have completed a press release, there is no ongoing maintenance to worry about. Your cost is going to range anywhere from free to low cost, another convenience, and you can expect to see results immediately.
Your Basic Use Your goal, especially if you are just starting, is to establish yourself as a leader and make your presence known. Press releases are a great way to gain some instant credibility for your business. I recommend to use actual press release distribution sites rather than through fax, mail, or email.
It is important to remember the difference between an article and a press release. An article is generally going to express an opinion or is sharing some kind of information, while on the other hand, a press release will announce some kind of specific event, like the launching of your business for example. These press releases can bring you some very high quality leads and prospects as the people reading press releases are generally going to be already interested in business, and are searching for the right opportunity and doing research.
Here are your basic action steps to follow:
1. You Need to Choose Your Topic When it comes to picking your topic, again keep in mind you want to announce a specific event. For example, the launch of your new business, new website, blog, even your new team, etc. Make sure to start with one topic, as time moves forward you can announce new events in and for your business.
I will say it again, do not format your release like an article. You will end up wasting your time writing it, just to get denied by a submission site because your format was wrong. Ideas are for articles, not press releases.
2. Choose Your Keywords I am sure if you are an entrepreneur leveraging the internet to promote your business, you are learning the importance of the phrase: Keyword optimization. Same thing here, you are going to want to pick specific keywords for your press releases, that way when someone Google's one of those keywords, your release will pop up, giving them a chance to go to your website.
You want to make a list of about 5 to 10 keywords specific to your topic you choose. There is a site you can go to called freekeywords.wordtracker.com. This is a free keyword site that will show you which of those keywords you choose have the highest amount of searches. From there, choose the top three with the most searches, keep in mind if you are using your name as one of the keywords, you do not need to type it in to word tracker. Choose one keyword from your top three that you will use for your first press release.
A good thing to remember and do, make sure that the keyword you choose actually in your press release as well, this way you can rank in Google's organic listings.
3. Write Your Press Release It would be best to create a simple outline addressing these five questions:
What event will I announce?
When will it happen?
Who does this event involve?
Why should others be interested in reading up on this event?
Where can people find out more information?
Your next step is to prepare quotes. Write a least two to three quotes, and again make it like someone is interviewing you. The quotes should mainly reflect on what you think and how you feel about this event.
You want to make your PR reads like a news story. Make sure that the keywords you select are used about three to four times within the body of your release, but no more than four. Also make sure that your keyword is in the title of your press release as well.
Aim for 400 words, that is the optimal amount for a PR. And if your press release sounds like an advertisement instead of a news event, expect it to get rejected.
Make sure to thoroughly inspect your press release for improper spelling, punctuation, and grammar, have someone else read it if necessary, it would not hurt. You must be wary for you will not be able to edit your press release once submitted.
4. Go Ahead and Distribute Your Press Release
Once you have proofread, and all corrections are made, go ahead and distribute it.
You are going to want to create an account for each distribution site.
I would recommend starting with these distribution sites to get you going:
Webwire.com
24-7pressrelease.com
Free-press-release.com
PRWeb.com
PRLog.com
Make sure you double check your information that you enter, it needs to be 100% correct, edited, all that good stuff. You have to remember that once you submit it their will be no way for you to edit it. It will look bad if you have sentence fragments and punctuation problems in your press release.
Keep in mind that some distribution sites will actually take your PR live immediately, and some sites can take up to 72 hours for approval. The nice thing is that even if your press release is rejected, the site will tell you exactly why they cannot accept it, making it easy for you to go back and revise as necessary. Also when it comes to speed, webwire has been known to be the quickest.
If possible, go ahead and add a video to your press release. This is not mandatory, but Google actually favors press releases with videos in them, which comes to me with no surprise being that Google and You tube are owned by the same people.
Well there you go, that is how to get you going with your first press release in a nut shell, I hope you find this article to be helpful, and God bless.
About the Author:
Charles K Walker is currently serving in the United States Coast Guard and running a business from home, or wherever his travels may take him. Charles is a very conscious minded individual, a spiritual man, and a devoted husband. He enjoys playing basketball, soccer junkie, dog lover, travelling the world, writing poetry, and helping and building relationships in business and in life. Charles loves to relate to those who enjoy building more than just their wallets and is an entrepreneur on a personal mission to maximize his life potential and help empower the youth as well as his community.
http://MyWealthOfFreedom.com
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