Successful Press Releases Have These 5 Readers

Who's reading your press release?

Those of you who know me know I am passionate about press releases. In fact, if you’re following me on Twitter, you’ve seen that my Twitter profile even says “I believe in the passionate pursuit of press releases.” 

Many of my customers were initially unsure what press releases could do for their business. Many told me they weren’t sure anybody would even care about their company and its accomplishments, let alone read about them.

My experience has always shown that they are wrong. The truth is, press releases are read – even acted upon! – by more people than you think.

Here are 5 different kinds of readers you can expect to have IF your press release is well-written, a bit dramatic, and somewhat newsworthy.

1. Customers: One press release I wrote yielded 3 opportunities for a Sage VAR, resulting in over $10,000 in consulting and software revenue. When you consider the cost of the press release and distribution was not even $450, I’d say that was a hefty return on investment, wouldn’t you?
2. Newspapers: A local newspaper in Austin picked up a press release I wrote for a VAR and turned it into a story that amped up the VAR’s brand awareness. When a salesperson from the VAR called on a prospect the day after the story ran, the prospect said he had just read about the VAR in the paper. How’s that for brand equity?
3. Prospects: A software VAR in Maryland took a press release and included it in an invitation to a breakfast seminar series she mailed out to CPAs in the DC area. She picked up two opportunities in the process and started establishing herself as an expert in time & billing solutions. Could she be on to something?
4. Internet Media: Online content websites such as TMCnet.com rely heavily on news picked up from press release distribution sources like PRWeb.com. A well-written press release with an irresistible title stands a real chance of getting snapped up by an information-hungry editor for a story. Several of my customers have recently been featured in online magazines, creating a brand buzz lasting several weeks. Have you had an article written about your company?
5. Search Engines: One major benefit to writing and distributing press releases online is the boost they can give to your website’s search engine rankings. If you’re not getting 1^st page rankings for key words of interest for your company, a series of press releases may finally put you on the map. Is your company at the top of Google and Yahoo?

Don’t forget to let me know what experiences you’ve had from your press releases!