A Barebones Guide to Writing Successful Press Releases
by Dr. Randall Hansen

One of the most important lessons that beginners need to learn is that writing media releases is all about developing a persuasive communication within the framework of a traditional news story format.

Editors will quickly trash media releases that make outlandish promotional promises -- "the best ever," "everyone wins," "one-of-a-kind," "changing humankind forever." You get the idea. Instead, press release writers must think like a reporter. Media releases must follow journalistic style in order to be given any kind of consideration. How do you accomplish this task? Here's a barebones guideline.

1. The Headline: In about ten words -- or less -- you need to grab the attention of the editor. The headline should summarize the information in the press release, but in a way that is exciting and dynamic; think of it as a billboard along a highway -- you have just a few words to make your release stand out among the many others editors receive on any given day.
   
    
2. Opening Paragraph: Sometimes called a summary lead, your first paragraph is critical. This paragraph must explain "the five Ws and one H" of the story -- the who, what, when, where, why, and how. This paragraph must summarize the press release, with the following paragraphs providing the detail.
   The opening paragraph must also contain the hook: the one thing that gets your audience interested in reading more -- but remember that the hook has to be relevant to your audience as well as to the news media. A hook is not a hard sell or a devious promotion -- it's just a factual statement.
   
    
3. The Body: Using a strategy called the inverted pyramid, the body of the press release should be written with the most important information and quotes first. This inverted pyramid technique is used so that if editors need to cut the story to fit space constraints, they can cut from the end without losing critical information.
   
    
4. The Closing Paragraph: Repeat the critical contact information, including the name of the person, his or her phone number and/or email address.

(Sample) Media Release

Contact:  Dr. Randall S. Hansen
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Stetson University
Phone: 904/822-7495
FAX: 904/822-7393
E-Mail: randall.hansen@stetson.edu

November 22, 1996

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Stetson Professor Launches Career- and Job-Related Web Site

(Stetson University, DeLand, FL) - A Stetson University marketing professor has compiled a World Wide Web site that enables students - and all other job-seekers - to market themselves using the Internet. The Quintessential Career and Job-Hunting Resources Guide, found at http://www.stetson.edu/~hansen/careers.html on the World Wide Web, provides more than 100 listings and links to resources that can help job-seekers find employment.

The site, described as "impressive" by Stephen Abel, a brand manager for Netstart, Inc., provides resources not only to information about traditional job searches, (including resumes, cover letters, and interviews) but directs job-hunters to numerous sites at which they can post resumes online at low or no cost, network with professionals in their fields, and search online job listings. "The Quintessential Guide offers one-stop shopping for job-seekers," said the site's creator, Dr. Randall Hansen, a professor of marketing at Stetson University, DeLand.

"It's a very well done and comprehensive site," said Dr. Tom Horton, special consultant at Stetson's Career Services Office. The site is designed to offer greater breadth and scope than similar career sites, Hansen said. "Unlike other career sites, the Quintessential Guide doesn't just provide links to other resources; it provides helpful editorial content and links to even more invaluable information for job-seekers," he said. Hansen noted that the frequently updated site is also the only one to provide a comprehensive bibliography of career-related print resources.

Hansen, co-author with his wife, Katharine, of Dynamic Cover Letters, said he compiled the site after seeing his students struggle to launch their job searches, often waiting until just before graduation. "Because I make significant use of the Internet in teaching marketing courses, I realized the potential of this vast network for helping students jump-start and broaden their job searches in a medium with which they've become quite comfortable," Hansen said.

Doug Kimball, associate director of the Athletic Study Center at Illinois State University, noted that the Quintessential Guide contains "lots of nice resources and is attractively laid out as well." Kimball said he planned to add the Guide to the list of sites for students to check out at Illinois Wesleyan's Career Center.

Hansen explained that from the comfort of their dorm rooms, students can, for example, post their resumes at dozens of sites on the Internet, thus vastly expanding the number of employers to which their resumes are exposed. "They can also search for jobs in California, or New York City - or Finland, as well as search specific databases of job openings in their individual fields," Hansen said. "But you don't have to be a new graduate to use the Quintessential Guide effectively in your job search."

Only a few weeks old, the Quintessential Guide already has garnered two awards from the Internet community. The Guide was honored as a "Delta Cool Web Site" by Delta Cool, an organization that judges web sites based on graphics, content, and ease of navigation. The Quintessential Guide also has received a Leading Learning Fountain award as a site that displays "leadership in influencing people by helping them learn."

Hansen, who has taught marketing at Stetson since 1992, will teach a course in Internet marketing and have his second book, Write Your Way to a Higher GPA, published this spring.

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(Sample) Media Release

Contact:  Dr. Randall S. Hansen
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Stetson University
Phone: 904/822-7495
FAX: 904/822-7393
E-Mail: randall.hansen@stetson.edu

November 22, 1996

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Website Helps College Grads Find Employment

(Stetson University, DeLand, FL) - A new site on the World Wide Web enables new college graduates - and all other job-seekers - to market themselves using the Internet. The Quintessential Career and Job-Hunting Resources Guide, found at http://www.stetson.edu/~hansen/careers.html on the World Wide Web, provides more than 100 listings and links to resources that can help job-seekers find employment.

The site, described as "impressive" by Stephen Abel, a brand manager for Netstart, Inc., provides resources not only to information about traditional job searches, (including resumes, cover letters, and interviews) but directs job-hunters to numerous sites at which they can post resumes online at low or no cost, network with professionals in their fields, and search online job listings. "The Quintessential Guide offers one-stop shopping for job-seekers," said the site's creator, Dr. Randall Hansen, a professor of marketing at Stetson University, DeLand, (Florida).

"It's a very well done and comprehensive site," said Dr. Tom Horton, special consultant at Stetson's Career Services Office. The site is designed to offer greater breadth and scope than similar career sites, Hansen said. "Unlike other career sites, the Quintessential Guide doesn't just provide links to other resources; it provides helpful editorial content and links to even more invaluable information for job-seekers," he said. Hansen noted that the frequently updated site is also the only one to provide a comprehensive bibliography of career-related print resources.

Hansen, co-author with his wife, Katharine, of Dynamic Cover Letters, said he compiled the site after seeing his students struggle to launch their job searches, often waiting until just before graduation. "Because I make significant use of the Internet in teaching marketing courses, I realized the potential of this vast network for helping students jump-start and broaden their job searches in a medium with which they've become quite comfortable," Hansen said.

Doug Kimball, associate director of the Athletic Study Center at Illinois State University, noted that the Quintessential Guide contains "lots of nice resources and is attractively laid out as well." Kimball said he planned to add the Guide to the list of sites for students to check out at Illinois Wesleyan's Career Center.

Hansen explained that from the comfort of their dorm rooms, students can, for example, post their resumes at dozens of sites on the Internet, thus vastly expanding the number of employers to which their resumes are exposed. "They can also search for jobs in California, or New York City - or Finland, as well as search specific databases of job openings in their individual fields," Hansen said. "But you don't have to be a new graduate to use the Quintessential Guide effectively in your job search."

Only a few weeks old, the Quintessential Guide already has garnered two awards from the Internet community. The Guide was honored as a "Delta Cool Web Site" by Delta Cool, an organization that judges web sites based on graphics, content, and ease of navigation." The Quintessential Guide also has received a Leading Learning Fountain award for being a site that displays "leadership in influencing people by helping them learn."                                                                          

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