Make a Monthly Habit of Writing News Releases

Getting media attention is easy than you think The group shown in this photograph were protesting a long-standing battle in Israel. I snapped the photo last year while walking past New York’s Madison Square Garden.

They received lots of publicity, but you might want to take a different route for media attention. Here’s what I did.

Yesterday, it took me 20 minutes to write a news release, 10 minutes to edit it, and 20 more minutes to distribute the news to 10 trade magazine editors specifically targeted for one market.

This is a task that, for me, cannot be put into someone else’s hands, and it will become an easy, in-house project if you set up the steps to launch your news once a month without fail. If you’re ready and willing, what I’ve created as a habit is easily transferred into your own schedule.

Choose a news topic by: 1) piggybacking off a current event, 2) launching a Web site or blog, 3) speaking/discussing any subject (verbally on in print or the Web), 4) whatever you believe is newsworthy for that month if none of the above applies.

I save my releases in one folder on my computer so that the basic boilerplate is ready for copying and pasting. At the end of each release, I include the names and Email addresses of who received it. That makes it easy to send next month’s news to the same contacts.

The release I Emailed yesterday was added to one of the trade magazine’s Web sites on the same day. How’s that for results?

You’ll achieve the same or even better marketing results by making a habit of contacting your media sources on a regular basis.

Review this section of Solo Business Marketing for more on elevating your relationship with the press.

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