Most of us read reviews of movies, books, games and CDs before making a purchase decision. Well, it’s often the same with other products too. With so many choices in every product category, we generally look for critical reviews of a class of products to help guide our decision making.
Find the trade publications, consumer magazines/newspapers, web sites and our social media networks that publish product reviews on a regular basis. If you have a tech product, contact the publication’s test labs or other staffers to find out if and when they’re evaluating your type of product. As them what the evaluation procedure is that they follow. If all goes well, you’ll get some kind of “Editor’s Choice,” or “Top Pick” ranking in the published review, which, believe me, looks just great in article reprints, in sales collateral, on your web site – and, yes, as the subject of a news release.
But be aware that you can’t control or influence the evaluation process or results. They do have editorial integrity. So while a rave review can do wonders for your sales, a negative ranking can have just the opposite effect. Take a “warts and all” look at your product’s overall strengths and weaknesses before going forward with a product review.
In consumer publications we call these reviewers new product release editors or gift guide editors. And bloggers must come clean on product reviews. FTC regulations on blogger payola and freebies went into effect on Dec. 1, 2009. Bloggers, Twitterers and others who write online reviews or endorse products using new media must disclose when they receive free merchandise or payment for writing about an item. This is a controversial subject. Fueling the controversy over the new guidelines is the fact that mainstream media, such as newspapers and magazines, are exempt. But in an age of media transparency, bloggers must play fair if they want the public’s respect.
Showing posts with label PR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PR. Show all posts
Monday, May 3, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Don't Write the Words, You'll Kill Yourself.
Remember that commercial, "Don't take the car, you'll kill yourself" That is true of writing your own press releases. Last night I had another conversation with a business owner asking about press releases. I will shed some light, as many have before me, to the question that plaques small business owners everywhere. How do I do it? If you have a story to tell, or want to make people aware of your event or fundraising activities, know about your addition to urban sprawl, launching a new product or want to talk about an existing product line or just want the press you deserve; you should let your local media know by sending them a press release. There are other ways to get found in your hometown online. Check this out:
http://tinyurl.com/yb9wgl4
Sending the local media your press release still holds true but we have more items to consider. When a term is entered into the search engines, the results often seem arbitrary, random, or just don't match what you are looking for. SEO Press Releases are the way to get your website into that top ranking, and listed on the first page of the search engines. Search engine optimization, (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is growing at an alarming rate, predicted to be a $13 billion dollar industry in 2010. Combine this with the introduction of new SEO technologies including social media, blogs, and user generated distribution it is critical that your business looks at the resources a PR Specialist can bring.
Many businesses want to write the release themselves. Big mistake! Someone with professional level writing skills and ample public relations experience will probably be your best bet for writing a press release that meets industry standards. Although small business owners often write and distribute their own press releases, it goes without saying that they may know their business but not the PR business. You should strongly consider hiring a professional. PR Specialists are usually proficient writers, will be privy to current best practices and updated journalist formatting preferences. Although it may seem cliché to say, press release writing truly is an art, and journalists are beyond savvy when it comes to deciphering a newsworthy piece of information from a fluffy, sorry excuse for a press release. Not only is it insulting to them when you waste their precious time by tooting your own horn about nothing special, but what's worse...it makes you look bad. In addition, they know where to distribute it utilizing the catch phrases of today such as SEO and social media marketing. For us PR is easy, for you the small business it may not be. Why not ensure success and hire the professional? But maybe you are saying I can’t afford it.
If that is the case, the following may help. If you really want to understand what goes in to writing a great press release, and to find out if the information you are sending is up to par, ask yourself these 5 simple questions:
Is your press release:
1. Attention Getting
The first question you should ask yourself before you even dive into writing a press release. Is it newsworthy? Don’t know what is newsworthy? There are no pat answers. But some general guidelines exist. Below are several characteristics that can make information newsworthy. The more of these characteristics a piece of information has, the more newsworthy the information is.
• information has impact if it affects a lot of people
• information has timeliness if it happened recently
• information has prominence if it involves a well-known person or organization
• information has proximity if it involves something happened somewhere nearby
• information has conflict if it involves some kind of disagreement between two or more people.
• information has weirdness if it involves something unusual or strange
• information has currency if it is related to some general topic a lot of people are already talking about
2. Do your homework! We all have homework. Remember writing a paper when you were in school? How you didn't cite any of your sources? Needless to say, journalists are much like teachers: they want to see that you've done your homework and that you have a thorough understanding of the topic on which you are writing. No, you don't need actual citations in your press release, but you should definitely be prepared to answer in depth questions if the situation presents itself.
3. A timely press release is the first cousin of a researched press release. That is to say, a press release that is relevant to current events or cutting edge technology is more likely to get noticed. Remember, it is important to be aware of trends in your particular industry so that you can seize opportunities to create the news!
4. The golden rule still applies: Tell the Truth
Ask yourself: is the press release written in simple, concise, factual language void of industry jargon and buzz terms? Can I get my point across in an understandable manner in less than 400 words?
5. Media Ready
A reporter or editor should be able to take the information from your press release and plop it into any medium without having to correct bad grammar, or call to get specifics on what the heck you are trying to say. The key is to make the journalist's job as simple as possible. If you master this, then your chances of getting press placement will increase exponentially.
You can either adapt to an industry press release template like this:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Contact Person
Company Name
Telephone Number
Email Address
Web site address
Headline
City, State, Date — Opening Paragraph (should contain: who, what, when, where, why):
Remainder of body text – Should include any relevant information to your products or services. Include benefits, why your product or service is unique. Also include quotes from staff members, industry experts or satisfied customers.
If there is more than 1 page use:
-more-
(The top of the next page):
Abbreviated headline (page 2)
Remainder of text.
(Restate Contact information after your last paragraph):
For additional information or a sample copy, Contact: (all Contact information)
Summarize product or service specifications one last time
Company History (try to do this in one short paragraph)
# # #
(indicates Press Release is finished)
Or develop your own by following some tips:
http://tinyurl.com/6ltw4m
http://tinyurl.com/yb9wgl4
Sending the local media your press release still holds true but we have more items to consider. When a term is entered into the search engines, the results often seem arbitrary, random, or just don't match what you are looking for. SEO Press Releases are the way to get your website into that top ranking, and listed on the first page of the search engines. Search engine optimization, (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is growing at an alarming rate, predicted to be a $13 billion dollar industry in 2010. Combine this with the introduction of new SEO technologies including social media, blogs, and user generated distribution it is critical that your business looks at the resources a PR Specialist can bring.
Many businesses want to write the release themselves. Big mistake! Someone with professional level writing skills and ample public relations experience will probably be your best bet for writing a press release that meets industry standards. Although small business owners often write and distribute their own press releases, it goes without saying that they may know their business but not the PR business. You should strongly consider hiring a professional. PR Specialists are usually proficient writers, will be privy to current best practices and updated journalist formatting preferences. Although it may seem cliché to say, press release writing truly is an art, and journalists are beyond savvy when it comes to deciphering a newsworthy piece of information from a fluffy, sorry excuse for a press release. Not only is it insulting to them when you waste their precious time by tooting your own horn about nothing special, but what's worse...it makes you look bad. In addition, they know where to distribute it utilizing the catch phrases of today such as SEO and social media marketing. For us PR is easy, for you the small business it may not be. Why not ensure success and hire the professional? But maybe you are saying I can’t afford it.
If that is the case, the following may help. If you really want to understand what goes in to writing a great press release, and to find out if the information you are sending is up to par, ask yourself these 5 simple questions:
Is your press release:
1. Attention Getting
The first question you should ask yourself before you even dive into writing a press release. Is it newsworthy? Don’t know what is newsworthy? There are no pat answers. But some general guidelines exist. Below are several characteristics that can make information newsworthy. The more of these characteristics a piece of information has, the more newsworthy the information is.
• information has impact if it affects a lot of people
• information has timeliness if it happened recently
• information has prominence if it involves a well-known person or organization
• information has proximity if it involves something happened somewhere nearby
• information has conflict if it involves some kind of disagreement between two or more people.
• information has weirdness if it involves something unusual or strange
• information has currency if it is related to some general topic a lot of people are already talking about
2. Do your homework! We all have homework. Remember writing a paper when you were in school? How you didn't cite any of your sources? Needless to say, journalists are much like teachers: they want to see that you've done your homework and that you have a thorough understanding of the topic on which you are writing. No, you don't need actual citations in your press release, but you should definitely be prepared to answer in depth questions if the situation presents itself.
3. A timely press release is the first cousin of a researched press release. That is to say, a press release that is relevant to current events or cutting edge technology is more likely to get noticed. Remember, it is important to be aware of trends in your particular industry so that you can seize opportunities to create the news!
4. The golden rule still applies: Tell the Truth
Ask yourself: is the press release written in simple, concise, factual language void of industry jargon and buzz terms? Can I get my point across in an understandable manner in less than 400 words?
5. Media Ready
A reporter or editor should be able to take the information from your press release and plop it into any medium without having to correct bad grammar, or call to get specifics on what the heck you are trying to say. The key is to make the journalist's job as simple as possible. If you master this, then your chances of getting press placement will increase exponentially.
You can either adapt to an industry press release template like this:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Contact Person
Company Name
Telephone Number
Email Address
Web site address
Headline
City, State, Date — Opening Paragraph (should contain: who, what, when, where, why):
Remainder of body text – Should include any relevant information to your products or services. Include benefits, why your product or service is unique. Also include quotes from staff members, industry experts or satisfied customers.
If there is more than 1 page use:
-more-
(The top of the next page):
Abbreviated headline (page 2)
Remainder of text.
(Restate Contact information after your last paragraph):
For additional information or a sample copy, Contact: (all Contact information)
Summarize product or service specifications one last time
Company History (try to do this in one short paragraph)
# # #
(indicates Press Release is finished)
Or develop your own by following some tips:
http://tinyurl.com/6ltw4m
Sunday, October 25, 2009
History Repeats Itself
I have been wrapping myself around the new catch words…Cloud Computing. It is the latest incantation being chanted by the IT Business World. It is being presented as a new idea but it really reminds me of the old mainframe computing of the 1960’s and early 80’s. Remember the days of when mainframes were the predominant model of computing, transitioning through the creation of the personal computer to ASP’s, managed services, Saas (Software as a Service), and now the new catch word…Cloud computing?
I remember the ASP (Application Service Model); it came right after the dot com boom. It was an acronym that had to evolve a few times too and had its buzz for a short time; it never really gained a strong business acceptance. Then the metamorphosis started and whala! The managed services market. This is basically what we all do in business. But to give you an idea, this is Wikipedia’s definition:
A managed services provider (MSP), is typically an information technology (IT) services provider, who manages and assumes responsibility for providing a defined set of services to their clients either proactively or as they (not the client) determine that the services are needed. Most MSPs bill a flat or near-fixed monthly fee, which benefits their clients by providing them with predictable IT support costs. Many MSPs now provide many of their services remotely over the Internet rather than having to perform on-site client visits, which is time consuming and often expensive. Common services provided by MSPs include remote network, desktop and security monitoring, patch management and remote data back-up, as well as technical assistance.
In 2006, Peter Sandiford, Intel’s Resource Center wrote this: With managed services, an Information Technology provider monitors your systems remotely, as if you have a full-time professional IT staff right in your office. From printers to e-mail to network maintenance to storage backup, managed services can keep your computer systems protected and operational.
Where I see this is channel partners aka the middleman. Channel partners is a term that came up with tech companies but the middleman has been around for years. Thank goodness. Think about how many middlemen there are in business: stock brokers, publicists, manufacturer’s representatives, food brokers, resident buyers, VARs, OEMs, MSPs (there’s that term again).
Computers have made our jobs busier and easier. The creations affiliated with computers like software have standardized or simplified our life. And for business, the commercial model varies. Instead of buying hardware, servers, etc., and creating our own network, thanks to the Internet we all can use the network. We are all trying to figure out how to make a living utilizing the new medium…Internet. True it is not so new but capitalizing on it, is constantly evolving.
So what I can figure out at this point is another term has been born. It basically takes what I have been doing for years for very small businesses, pay as you go. But cloud computing is more about a new management and commercial model than it is about a new technology per se. Or here just think of the Internet as the cloud.
I remember the ASP (Application Service Model); it came right after the dot com boom. It was an acronym that had to evolve a few times too and had its buzz for a short time; it never really gained a strong business acceptance. Then the metamorphosis started and whala! The managed services market. This is basically what we all do in business. But to give you an idea, this is Wikipedia’s definition:
A managed services provider (MSP), is typically an information technology (IT) services provider, who manages and assumes responsibility for providing a defined set of services to their clients either proactively or as they (not the client) determine that the services are needed. Most MSPs bill a flat or near-fixed monthly fee, which benefits their clients by providing them with predictable IT support costs. Many MSPs now provide many of their services remotely over the Internet rather than having to perform on-site client visits, which is time consuming and often expensive. Common services provided by MSPs include remote network, desktop and security monitoring, patch management and remote data back-up, as well as technical assistance.
In 2006, Peter Sandiford, Intel’s Resource Center wrote this: With managed services, an Information Technology provider monitors your systems remotely, as if you have a full-time professional IT staff right in your office. From printers to e-mail to network maintenance to storage backup, managed services can keep your computer systems protected and operational.
Where I see this is channel partners aka the middleman. Channel partners is a term that came up with tech companies but the middleman has been around for years. Thank goodness. Think about how many middlemen there are in business: stock brokers, publicists, manufacturer’s representatives, food brokers, resident buyers, VARs, OEMs, MSPs (there’s that term again).
Computers have made our jobs busier and easier. The creations affiliated with computers like software have standardized or simplified our life. And for business, the commercial model varies. Instead of buying hardware, servers, etc., and creating our own network, thanks to the Internet we all can use the network. We are all trying to figure out how to make a living utilizing the new medium…Internet. True it is not so new but capitalizing on it, is constantly evolving.
So what I can figure out at this point is another term has been born. It basically takes what I have been doing for years for very small businesses, pay as you go. But cloud computing is more about a new management and commercial model than it is about a new technology per se. Or here just think of the Internet as the cloud.
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