Sunday, March 07, 2010

Free ebook guide to writing press releases

A free ebook version of A Perfect Press Release - or Not?, a guide to writing press releases, can now be downloaded from my website www.jennigay.co.za. The book will help anyone involved in producing press releases and other types of articles for publication in the media or on a website to ensure they are written and constructed properly and contain content that is meaningful to the reader.

This includes small businesses that cannot justify hiring a PR consultant, but still need to send out press releases. Hard hitting views from journalists and editors who face a daily barrage of press releases are included in the book, which also contains tips for spokespeople that need to be quoted in these articles.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

New articles with writing and media spokesperson tips

I have posted some new articles on my website jennigay.co.za that contain useful article writing tips and media spokesperson tips. Here below are the titles of the articles, together with brief details of what they are about:

Media training - good listening skills are vital: Spokespeople who don’t listen properly are often so preoccupied with what they want to say next that they misunderstand the questions they are being asked and preempt what the journalist was going to say. This is irritating for the journalist and can railroad the interview. This article contains tips on why this happens and how to overcome it.

Writing tips - criteria for testing press releases: Before sending out press releases, read them objectively word for word through the eyes of those you are hoping will read them. Ask “So what?” after each sentence and make sure this question is answered from the readers point of view. Then test the content against the criteria provided in this article, which also gives tips on why press releases fail.

Article writing tips - Strategy and objectives: Every press release should have an objective behind it that is in line with the business strategy, regardless of whether it is going to be distributed to the media or posted on a website. It is no good just sitting down and saying: “We need to send out a press release, so what shall we write about today?”

Press release marketing hype and gobbledygook: Companies produce press releases to get their messages across and promote their brand to a target audience. But if the audience has to wade through screeds of marketing speak before they find any useful information, they will give up and move on. Plus, if every press release contains the same jargon, where is the differentiation? Read this article to find out where companies go wrong.

More article writing tips and media spokesperson tips are available on my website: jennigay.co.za, plus details of the writing workshops and media training I provide. My book, A Perfect Press Release - or Not?, a guide to producing press releases is also available on my website. An ebook version of this book can be downloaded FREE.