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Press Releases Are Not Like Pizzas

As a provider of written solutions for small business Copy Text On Line is often asked to write a press release for a client. And it's usually right at that point that the problems begin because our idea of a press release and what the client thinks of as a press release are often two entirely different things.

For a start press releases are not like pizzas. When we lived in Hobart (Tasmania) we were regulars at a small pizza shop that produced the most scrumptious wood fired pizzas you have ever tasted. Once a week we would call them up and order a Satay Chicken pizza with extra sauce and ten minutes later we would be in the shop to pick it up.

All we had to do was phone the order through. The pizza shop had all the ingredients, they added it all together, put it into the oven and we got the finished product. It was all too easy.

Press releases are entirely different. You can't just pick up the phone and order one to be picked up in ten minutes. The copywriter who has to write your press release isn't like the guy at the pizza shop; he doesn't have the ingredients to make your press release. You have to bring those with you.

Unfortunately not many people realize that. They don't see a press release as being a joint effort between the client and the copywriter and yet that is exactly what it is. The copywriter can't produce a thing without the important details that the client can provide.

So there needs to be some two-way communication between the client and the copywriter before a single word is written. The copywriter either needs to ask questions to ascertain all the details and/or he needs to be given a collection of all the important facts that the client might want covered in the press release.

Nor should the client expect a completed press release in just a few minutes. A press release is not about throwing all the details onto a page and then handing it over the counter to the client. A good press release is a carefully crafted document than needs careful work and some refining.

The first draft is just what it says, a draft that needs to be reviewed. Any copywriter worth employing knows that he is not going to get it right the first time and maybe not even the second time either. He expects the client to review what has been written and ask for changes to be made.

So if you want to have a good press release written about your product or service be prepared to work with the copywriter to produce the finished product. He has the words but you have the product knowledge.

And you also have to understand exactly what a press release is - but we'll talk more about that later.

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