Ok, agreed, this market loves press releases. But, how do you make press releases interesting to editors at newspapers and magazines? Remember, a newspaper editor gets no less than 50 press releases a day. How do you make your press release stand out of the crowd? As a journalist, I would love press releases which are precise and to-the-point in terms of news peg. Those extra flab on press releases are just waste of time, and a good editor will chop it off to make the copy crisper.

Being on the other side, as a public relations consultant, I make sure the press releases are catchy enough to attract editors’ attention by way of good headlines and proper structure of writing stories. Oh, yes, the newsman in me is more prevalent than ever before. As a journalist, I would be put off by flowery language in a press release, and now I make sure I don’t repeat the mistake when I am in the other side of the fence.

When I approach clients, the first thing they tell me is – we know how to write press releases. A cursory glance at their press release is enough to judge the quality of writing and thought process. I don’t blame them either. Their core job is not to write press releases, but to provide engineering solutions. In their effort to cut costs, they dish out crappy press releases created in-house, and which in turn does more harm than good in the long run. Folks, take care of your core activity, and outsource press release writing for people who are good are doing it…and see the difference.