The secret to getting publicity for doing good

Your company has done something of note or is planning on doing something great. Let’s say you have just donated some money to the local sports club or are thinking of funding a university award.

How do you get the positive publicity that should go along with being a good corporate citizen? It starts with creating compelling business writing in the form of a press release.

Get to the point quickly

Like any business document, a press release needs to be persuasive and accurate. But most importantly, it needs to be brief. Try and keep it to one page at the max. Aim for quality over quantity, so try not to go on for too long if you can help it.

One of the first things to remember when writing a press release is to have all of the important information – who, what, where, when, why – in the first two sentences. This is your leading paragraph and if this doesn’t pop, then chances are what follows won’t be read.

Furthermore, just because it is short doesn’t mean it’s something that you can smash out in a few minutes. If you want it to be picked up by media outlets, you need to take a lot of care in preparing it. The less work the journalist has to do, the more likely they are to pick it up.

Avoid self-promotional jargon

Although you may want to take a promotional approach to your writing, remember that media relations is not marketing. You are not writing an advertisement, you are essentially writing a news piece. Keep your messages objective. If it feels like spam, it will be treated like spam. Instead, add in a few great quotes and only talk about your company in the final paragraph.

If you have had trouble getting press releases picked up, you may want to consider getting some business writing training in Melbourne. With a bit of know-how under your belt, the front page of the Herald Sun could be within your reach.