There are millions of webmasters all competing for awareness, backlinks, clicks and ultimately – traffic. It’s especially frustrating when you’ve spent countless hours and invested financing into developing a credible resource for web surfers and still struggle to capture your fair share of buzz. I’ve struggled with this as well, and I think it’s about time to explore a white hat art of the traditional advertiser – Press Releases.

I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and I believe writing a press release would come naturally. However, even the most beautifully written press release is a miserable failure if nobody ever reads it.  That being said, you do need a press release before you can get it into the right hands.  Lets quickly review a few key points to keep in mind when writing your short news grabbing article:

• You’re writing a concise news article, not a sales letter. Blend an objective third party viewpoint with excitement and buzz – but don’t overdo it.
• What’s in it for the consumer? If your best comments are you’ll “save money” or we have the “best deals” than you’re writing a commercial – not a Press Release. Find an angle that makes your Press Release newsworthy.
• Follow this order:
• A headline that summarizes the article and sucks the reader in with excitement – think Billboard slogans.
• Write an explosive first paragraph or you’ll lose the reader immediately – how is this news unique, exciting or different than everything else they’ve seen?
• Write the body content journalistically and objectively or you’ll never be taken seriously – don’t include things like, “this is the coolest thing ever!”
• Recap the critical information and contact info.
• Follow proper Press Release format and quadruple check for spelling and grammar.

Alright great, now you’ve got a wonderful newsworthy press release that you’re ready to tell the world all about. How do we get it into the right hands? How do we do this in mass quantity? Often times, this means hiring a professional who has a systematic list of contacts to whom they can mass distribute information. These folks can listen to your objectives and devise a plan to get your Press Release into the hands of 1,000+ media professionals for about $150 a pop – and the price can go up to the thousands of dollars depending on the extent of your goals and finances.

Many businesses turn to Press Releases because they’re viewed as “free advertising”. How do we reach these key media professionals on our own? It can be tremendously challenging, so I’ve composed a list of ideas and resources to get you started:

• Buy a database of media contacts to whom you can mass e-mail your press releases. After a quick search, I found a United States “All-Media Directory” for sale in print and CD-ROM versions that seemed pretty valuable. Check it out.
• Create your own database by searching through free online directories such as the one at Newslink.org
• You can either spend your time sending out hundreds of e-mails to a directory you’ve bought or created or try to make a big splash with a select few targeted choices. For example, mail a package to a syndicated radio show that is funny, exciting and related to your press release and hope it’s catchy enough for them to mention you. You should probably try both.

So what’s the best route to follow – hire a pro, buy a database, build a list yourself or try to hit a few homeruns with some big names? To be honest, I’m not exactly sure and that’s why we’ll be testing (hopefully) all of the above methods to provide you with first hand results, experience and recommendations.

To conduct this experiment, I’ll be looking to obtain a free consultation from a Public Relations professional who would recommend a plan of action and submit my Press Release to thousands of media outlets. I would also buy a database of e-mail addresses and personally mass distribute the press release via e-mail. I’ll also e-mail press release to contacts I find on my own.  Next, I’ll try to make a few “big splashes” with creative packages sent to targeted media outlets. Then, I’ll return to provide you with my report.

Sit tight while I do the dirty work and give you the low down!