As a business owner, you need to be sending a press release to journalists on a regular basis so you need to make sure that your efforts aren’t being wasted because you’re making some of these common mistakes. Here’s a little rundown of what not to do when emailing a journalist:
Not giving them all the information that they need in the press release.
This might seem a little ‘Captain Obvious’ but you’d be surprised how much gets left out of press releases because people believe that their purpose is to entice the journalist with clickbait-style writing, completely devoid of factual substance. Ultimately, what you want to be sending is every single piece of information a journalist will need to write their story – make the job so easy for them that they have no excuse not to write about you!
Making them open lots of attachments.
Almost every person I teach comes in with the idea that press releases are sent as attachments. Aside from this giving them one extra job to do (opening the attachment), this also means you’re running the risk of sending them a file that’s not compatible with their PC.
Trust me when I say that unless you’ve sent them the cure for COVID, they’re not going to be chasing you for a resend.
Telling them what to think.
There’s a fine line between being confident and being arrogant – don’t be the latter.
I’ve seen many opening emails from over-confident PRs telling (not suggesting to) a journalist that they’re going to love what they’ve got to say. This bravado is immediately off-putting enough to warrant a flat-out ‘NO’ – regardless of what’s in the press release.
Want to find out how to get yourself, your brand or your products in the press? Check out more of my resources.
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