This short checklist will help you to identify the main benefits of your product as well as those who would benefit by using it

1. Describe the specific selling features of your product.
2. Tell the reader the types of customers who could benefit from your product and how your product meets their needs.
3. Explain specifically how customers will benefit from your product.

When you’ve implemented these steps, try out your statements by reading them out loud to people in your office, who are not familiar with the product or not too close to the project. Once you’ve done this, ask if they can explain what the product does and who should use it. If they are able to do this, you should be ready to talk with the press. If not, you may need to re-work your material.

If you have ever sifted through a pile of someone else’s vacation photographs or watched home videos of other people whom you do not know well, you can certainly appreciate the fact that what may be a treasured memory or experience to one person may in fact be an evening of torture for someone else. Unfortunately, press releases announcing your companies’ goings-on can have the same undesirable effect on its recipients.

Unlike traditional advertising, where you pay a publication or journal for guaranteed space, press releases require you have to win over the media first before you can even hope to get your message out to the public. What is the best way to do this?

Your headline has to grab the attention of the reader. A headline like “XYZ Company Announces New President” may not garner very much attention, unless of course the company is a household name known worldwide. So, what kind of headline can be effective? Certainly, you will want to overview the content of the press release, but add a little flair to it. Keep it short, but create a little mystery that will entice the reader to read the entire press release.

With your first paragraph, make sure your press release answers who, what, when, why, and how. Explain why your company’s information is relevant to the editor’s readership or listeners. The remainder of the press release can then be used to detail your company as a whole; what services or product you offer, your involvement in local or national organizations and groups, and your company mission statement or boiler plate.

What specifically might you want to include in press releases pertaining to company announcements?

• If your press release announces the appointment of a new board member or CEO, a brief profile on the newly appointed individual, detailing his/her background and experience should be included. You may even want to include a statement from the selection committee member or chairman describing why this particular individual was chosen for the position and what responsibilities the new appointee will handle.
• If your press release is about the opening of a brand new company, focus on how the opening and new job creation will help to spur the local economy of the city or state.
• If your company has won an award or been recognized for it efforts in the community or nation, play up on the hard work that went into the accomplishment. Bringing a human-interest angle into the press release can help readers to create a more personal union with your company.
• Announcing a new product or service can be tricky. While you probably want to shout from the rooftops how great your product is, a press release needs to be kept strictly factual. Lose the fluff and hype and do not try to ‘sell, sell, sell.’ Explain how the product will benefit people personally. Detail the problems it will solve.

Finally, remember that a press release should not be used as a company newsletter. When you take on a press release writing project making such company announcements, it is your responsibility to make sure that your press release appeals to more than just company employees.

Your company just launched a new product… you finally printed your self-published book… you hired on a new executive… They are all common topics for press releases, but are any of these actually newsworthy?

Unfortunately, there are few clear-cut answers. The media is not only a subjective business, but a fickle one too. However, there are steps you can take to help hedge your bets.

• Explain how your event affects other people, customers, companies, local area, nation, or the world. Your company launching a new product is great to you, but what about other people?
• Use the press release to explain how your company’s new service is reacting to or on the forefront of an overall industry trend. Also mention if this new development is going to alter the way your particular industry does business.
• Are there newsworthy people involved in your company’s event? Magazines have long known that famous faces sell magazines. Do you have a saleable person involved? Even if it’s just a local celebrity, name and face recognition can go a long way.
• Does your new book release address a recent political event? Can you provide a fresh look at a newsworthy topic? Making yourself an expert will definitely get you more interviews and appearances.
• Are you promoting or advocating for a cause? Do you contribute a percentage of the profits to a charity? Does your company sponsor a fundraising event? This is almost always a newsworthy tie-in.
• How will this new executive effect the bottom-line for stockholders? Did the merger, restructuring, or consultant streamline your company resulting in a higher profit margin? Explain what this means to the general investors, financial professionals, and company stockholders.

Basically, you have to think past the end of your nose. Why does your company news matter to the outside world? Although some journalists will certainly connect the dots on their own, it’s best to cut to the chase and do it for them.

Remember that although the ultimate goal is to get promotion for your company, you also have to give the journalists the story angles that they need for their readers, viewers, and listeners.

If all you send out is an advertisement in the format of a press release, you will get a call from the sales department at the newspaper asking if you would like to take out an ad. You likely will not get a call from the journalist looking to write a story.

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