Press Releases: Why Everyone Thinks They Can Write Them

Yes, There Really is a Need for a Professional to do the Job

Why Pay Someone Else?
This is a subject near and dear to my heart. In business, for the longest time, everyone assumed that the job of Public Relations is a job anyone could do. It wasn’t, and isn’t, unusual to see someone with no background in media relations to be asked to do them.

Why pay someone to write a media release when we can do it ourselves? Ah, but therein lies the problem. There is a method to writing press releases to achieve the optimum effect, and with the advent of the internet, that method, or format, has changed accordingly. Add to that the very real and indefinable ability to know exactly the right thing to say at the right moment in the article and you have the reason to find a good writer of media releases.

Innate Instinct Does it Every Time
To be sure, anyone can write a media release. It is the quality and that certain something that grabs you and brings you in as a reader that separates a bad media release from a good one. There are all kinds of rules to writing one, but no matter how accurate your media release is and no matter how beautifully you follow the rules, there is one thing you may not be able to bring the table; the innate instinct of what to say that will attract the most readers. Even if you know the subject inside out, you may not be able to hit on that one salient sentence that brings it all together for the reader. It includes the ability to bring palpable excitement to a subject that may not be interesting, clarity to a complicated subject, the ability to make a consumer want to buy, and to initiate more interest in the subject by the reader. A good writer can do that and much more.

The Bottom Line
One of the most important determinations a good media writer has to make is what subject matter is truly newsworthy. This is tricky business because what is perceived to be important to the people involved may not be the least bit important to the general public. Many times the initiator of a press release request can’t understand why it just won’t be of interest to publishers or potential readers. This is where trust in the person making the determination is critical. When trust of the client and the ability of a good writer come together, the maximum benefit of media releases can be realized.

Author: Cathy Derechailo, SEO Copy Writer and PR Writer

Posted in Marketing, Search Engine Optimization.