Use Your News: Get More Exposure With Press Releases
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I recently attended a Webinar presented by Dana Willhoit, CEO of The Press Release Site (www.thepressreleasesite.com) and expert on press releases. The topic was “How to Use Your News to Grow Your Business.”
She brought up some great points and shared tips and tricks (many of which I use when writing press releases and other marketing materials for my own clients) on fool-proof ways to increase your exposure online. Dana echoed what I’ve mentioned to my clients and in a previous blog post on getting more publicity: You can create your own news!
How Do I Create My Own News?
You don’t have to release a new product or service, acquire a large new customer, or appoint a new executive to have a reason to publish press releases about your company online. Whether you’re a business of 1, 10, 100, or more, even small businesses can regularly produce relevant press releases to build their brand. You simply need a news angle.
News Angles
So, where do you find news angles? They’re everywhere. Check Google News, Yahoo! News, daily newspapers (the ones that leave black newsprint on your hands—yes, they’re still around), cable news, magazines, trade journals, etc. Keep an eye out for anything to which you can tie your news. These can vary from entertainment industry gossip to serious international news stories. Find a news story from which you can draw a parallel to some aspect of your business, and you have some timely news!
For instance, if you sell metal sheds and are wondering how you can get more publicity for your business, take a look at a benefit of your product and tie it to something in the news. The new Terminator movie is coming out soon. If you sell metal sheds, your news angle could be that your sheds are as indestructible as the Terminator. If you used the keywords right, your press releases could pop-up online in places you never would have imagined!
If you’re having difficulty tying your company and/or product to something in the news, create your own news angle. You could:
• Hold a contest and give away a product/service
• Sponsor an event and report on its success
• Do a poll on something in your industry or on one of your products/services
• Present a free seminar or Webinar
• Do a raffle for charity
• Offer a special for holidays
Writing Your Press Releases
There are several important facets to writing effective press releases, but I’ll stick to a few main ideas as they relate to search engines and search engine optimization (SEO). A few tips on keywords in your press releases:
• Use your keyword in the headline and towards the end of the first sentence. If it doesn’t “fit” in the first sentence, make sure it at least appears in the first paragraph.
• Spread your keyword throughout the body of your press releases, using it three to six times (depending on the length of the press release). You want your press releases to be keyword-rich so the search engines can find you, but you also need to make sure you don’t jam your keywords into your press releases so much that they become distracting to your human readers.
• Make your keywords bold. The search engines like this and it draws your readers’ eyes to the primary topic of your press release.
The moral of the story: You can create awareness for your products/services, increase your brand’s exposure, drive more potential customers to your Web site, and sell more products/services when you make your own news!
Need help finding what’s newsworthy about your business? No problem. Give Novo a few minutes of your time and I bet we can find several reasons why your business should be in the news. Contact us at 714.335.5677 or via email at scott@novowriting.com.
She brought up some great points and shared tips and tricks (many of which I use when writing press releases and other marketing materials for my own clients) on fool-proof ways to increase your exposure online. Dana echoed what I’ve mentioned to my clients and in a previous blog post on getting more publicity: You can create your own news!
How Do I Create My Own News?
You don’t have to release a new product or service, acquire a large new customer, or appoint a new executive to have a reason to publish press releases about your company online. Whether you’re a business of 1, 10, 100, or more, even small businesses can regularly produce relevant press releases to build their brand. You simply need a news angle.
News Angles
So, where do you find news angles? They’re everywhere. Check Google News, Yahoo! News, daily newspapers (the ones that leave black newsprint on your hands—yes, they’re still around), cable news, magazines, trade journals, etc. Keep an eye out for anything to which you can tie your news. These can vary from entertainment industry gossip to serious international news stories. Find a news story from which you can draw a parallel to some aspect of your business, and you have some timely news!
For instance, if you sell metal sheds and are wondering how you can get more publicity for your business, take a look at a benefit of your product and tie it to something in the news. The new Terminator movie is coming out soon. If you sell metal sheds, your news angle could be that your sheds are as indestructible as the Terminator. If you used the keywords right, your press releases could pop-up online in places you never would have imagined!
If you’re having difficulty tying your company and/or product to something in the news, create your own news angle. You could:
• Hold a contest and give away a product/service
• Sponsor an event and report on its success
• Do a poll on something in your industry or on one of your products/services
• Present a free seminar or Webinar
• Do a raffle for charity
• Offer a special for holidays
Writing Your Press Releases
There are several important facets to writing effective press releases, but I’ll stick to a few main ideas as they relate to search engines and search engine optimization (SEO). A few tips on keywords in your press releases:
• Use your keyword in the headline and towards the end of the first sentence. If it doesn’t “fit” in the first sentence, make sure it at least appears in the first paragraph.
• Spread your keyword throughout the body of your press releases, using it three to six times (depending on the length of the press release). You want your press releases to be keyword-rich so the search engines can find you, but you also need to make sure you don’t jam your keywords into your press releases so much that they become distracting to your human readers.
• Make your keywords bold. The search engines like this and it draws your readers’ eyes to the primary topic of your press release.
The moral of the story: You can create awareness for your products/services, increase your brand’s exposure, drive more potential customers to your Web site, and sell more products/services when you make your own news!
Need help finding what’s newsworthy about your business? No problem. Give Novo a few minutes of your time and I bet we can find several reasons why your business should be in the news. Contact us at 714.335.5677 or via email at scott@novowriting.com.
Labels: Internet press releases, keywords, news angle, press releases, search engine optimization, SEO
