You’ve got the topic for a great press release, so now what? (If you do not have a topic yet, take a look 6 Press Release Topics that Pet Owners Care About.) Here is a simple step-by-step process divided into sections to help you knock out that press release!
Freewrite for 10 minutes. Set a timer. (This step is critical!) Allow yourself to freely jot down sentences about your business and your press release. Keep your hand moving the whole time. You won’t have to use everything that you write down, but you’ll have a lot to work with. No erasing, no sentence reworking. That will come later.
Address the problem for pet owners. What problems do you customers have? Consider if what you are writing about solves a problem for pet owners. If so, articulate what the problem is.
Sell yourself as the solution. How will your business fix these problems? Prepare to outline them clearly for your audience.
Gather supporting evidence. Get quotes and statistics from reputable sources, quotes from the business owner, and testimonials from your clients that are all relevant to the objective of your press release.
For your first press release, shoot for 300-550 words.
End your press release with a final paragraph about your business. This is a very important paragraph! It should answer the questions: Who are you and what do you do? What are you goals as a company? Your mission statement is a great place to start generating ideas.
Date
Headline
Sub-headline
Then begins your first paragraph:
City, State—First Paragraph…
Your contact info goes at the bottom of your press release:
Company
Business Owner
Email
Pre-Writing
Brainstorm ideas for your press release. What main points do you want to highlight?Freewrite for 10 minutes. Set a timer. (This step is critical!) Allow yourself to freely jot down sentences about your business and your press release. Keep your hand moving the whole time. You won’t have to use everything that you write down, but you’ll have a lot to work with. No erasing, no sentence reworking. That will come later.
Address the problem for pet owners. What problems do you customers have? Consider if what you are writing about solves a problem for pet owners. If so, articulate what the problem is.
Sell yourself as the solution. How will your business fix these problems? Prepare to outline them clearly for your audience.
Gather supporting evidence. Get quotes and statistics from reputable sources, quotes from the business owner, and testimonials from your clients that are all relevant to the objective of your press release.
Writing
Create an outline with all of this information. Organize your press release into short paragraphs. Make your main points clear within the first two sentences of each paragraph. For more in depth on how to structure your press release check out our (Press Release Template)For your first press release, shoot for 300-550 words.
End your press release with a final paragraph about your business. This is a very important paragraph! It should answer the questions: Who are you and what do you do? What are you goals as a company? Your mission statement is a great place to start generating ideas.
Formatting
Press-releases typically have a standard heading that looks like this:Date
Headline
Sub-headline
Then begins your first paragraph:
City, State—First Paragraph…
Your contact info goes at the bottom of your press release:
Company
Business Owner
Mailing Address
Phone/Fax Number
Reach out to your contacts and especially your local newspaper. Journalists are always looking for stories that they think the community will benefit in knowing. Your community is guaranteed to have several pet owners looking for new ways to pamper their pets. Are you announcing a new pet retail product or the fact that you now accept on-line reservations you accept using your kennel software? Are you sharing a way that your pet business is giving pack to the community or about an event you are hosting? Brainstorm a list of publications where you could potentially be featured and reach out to their editorial department (most publications list who to contact within the publication somewhere).
PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK! If you make your way through this process, stop and take a moment to be proud of yourself. Your marketing efforts will pay off and you deserve acknowledgment for making time to grow your business!
Phone/Fax Number
Marketing
Make a contact list on a spreadsheet. Identify local bloggers and other media sources that you can distribute your press release to. Not their first names, last namesIdeally, these contacts should be people whom you have networked with in person or online and whom are familiar with you or your business. Save this list!! As you create press releases over time, you will want to refer back to this as your “rolodex” of people to contact with news.Reach out to your contacts and especially your local newspaper. Journalists are always looking for stories that they think the community will benefit in knowing. Your community is guaranteed to have several pet owners looking for new ways to pamper their pets. Are you announcing a new pet retail product or the fact that you now accept on-line reservations you accept using your kennel software? Are you sharing a way that your pet business is giving pack to the community or about an event you are hosting? Brainstorm a list of publications where you could potentially be featured and reach out to their editorial department (most publications list who to contact within the publication somewhere).
PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK! If you make your way through this process, stop and take a moment to be proud of yourself. Your marketing efforts will pay off and you deserve acknowledgment for making time to grow your business!
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