Press Releases are a great way to increase recognition for your brand and business. While you can write them for any occasion, a new product launch, a charitable event, recent honor and even new hires – they are the perfect way to continue to drip your business and services to your consumer and most importantly, potential consumer base. There are a number of wire services that will distribute your press release, costing you nothing to upwards of thousands of dollars, but no matter where you distribute your press releases you need to make sure they are written well so they get noticed and even better picked up by the media. Bare in mind that your press releases may not garner high quality back links to your website, but if well written they may twig the interest of a journalist or a social media maven who has the ability to provide you with significant exposure. Here are the top five rookie mistakes you want to stay away from when writing your press release.

1.       Title Isn’t Catchy

The title should be the most attention grabbing part of your release. Journalist and consumers are so over-saturated with press releases, if you don’t grab their attention right from the start, you have lost the effectiveness of your press release. Do not make your title too detailed, that’s what the rest of the release is for, and definitely do not make your title a pun. A press release title should be short, to the point and exciting – briefly tell the reader why they should continue reading.

2.       Organization of Text is Random

There is a system to writing a press release – follow it. The most important information goes into the first paragraph. Make sure you answer the five W’s: who, what, where, when and why. The following paragraphs of the release should be supportive information, including quotes from people that matter (president of company, organization that is benefiting, someone the release directly impacts, etc).

3.       It’s Not Newsworthy

While you may think your new product is the best news since sliced bread, it feels more like a sales pitch to journalist. You need to find an angle for your release that will make journalist care about your news. Does your product or service solve a wide-spread problem? Journalist will not write a piece based on your sales pitch. They will write a piece however that is benefiting the wide-spread problem of at-risk children or a health benefit. Find the angle that ties your release into an important message for the general public and you will be more likely to get your release picked up by a journalist. Do not feel bad if your product barely gets a glimpse in the story however, any small piece of your business that makes the news is a success. Their stories will always be centered around the larger picture – the reason people will care about it.

4.       Bad Grammar

There’s no bigger turn off to a journalist than bad grammar. Make sure your press release reads well and uses proper grammar. Journalists are slammed with so many stories, that they sometimes use text directly from your release. If they notice it isn’t written well they may second guess themselves about using the release to write a story. Proofread your release before submitting it and ensure it is correct – if you don’t feel you can handle this task, give it to someone who can or there are tools out there to help you, like grammar checkers.

5.       No Contact Information

If you are going to spend the time to write and submit a release on a wire, you want to make sure journalist know how to contact you for more information. There’s nothing worse than wanting to contact a company and having no idea how to reach them. Include a contact name, phone number, email and a link to your website – you need to be reachable at any hour. Also make sure you give a brief description about your company in the boiler plate so they have an overview of everything the business does. Even if they don’t write a story about your special news they may add you to their contact list to use as an expert for a future story.

Written By Terry Ford

Terry Ford has a long trajectory as a writer, one of her favorite resources is the English Grammar Rules Handbook.