To get media coverage for your business, being able to write an impactful press release is an important skill. But how long should a press release be? And what kind of information should you include? Here are a few tips to help you get started. Now, before you even attempt to write a press release, think about the things you like to read, watch and listen in the media. Most of us are generally interested in things we haven't heard of before, find surprising, or help solve our problems.

So before drafting your press release, it's worth asking yourself these questions. One, is there anything new in my story, too? Is there anything unusual unex or unexpected about it? Three, would this be of interest to anyone outside of my business and for anyone actually care? So last one sounds harsh, but it's probably the most important you Find that you are really excited about your new operations director. But Will anyone else be interested?

If the answer is no, you may want to just hold off on that press release until you've got a better story. If you're not sure whether your story is newsworthy read, or what turns into publications and outlets that you're interested in, and that you'd like your business to be featured in, so you can get a feel for the type of stories that he cover. And remember, is all in the headline. Most journalists get hundreds of emails every day, which is journalists will spend just a few seconds deciding whether something looks interesting, so be clear with your communications. And make sure you label your email with the phrase press release or story idea, along with a catchy subject line. If they don't immediately understand what the story is about, they'll move on to the next email in the inbox.

So be transparent. If your story is about the launch of the first product to the market containing a very rare ingredient in C. So, try not to get too jazzy or complex may mean the busy journalist skips your message and continues to scan their inbox. It is very important to get the top line key message, the most important bit of your story right at the beginning of your release. Your first line should be a summary of the story in no more than around sort of 1520 words and read like an opening of a new story. Journalists are taught to get as many of the five W's so that who, what, where, why and when, in the open line of news stories. So if you want examples, check out your daily newspaper, or go online and recent articles.

A TV or radio news presenter, Germany has around five to six seconds to introduce each news item. For example. I'm coming up next, why local artists is given away free digital downloads to her latest track to underprivileged children in Hackney, or why a restaurant owner is giving away free bonfire cakes this weekend to anyone born in November. The ideal length of a press release is an a4 side about 300 to 400 words. So that's around, you know, three to four short paragraphs in a good quote. Do try and sell message and lose any unnecessary waffle.

While background information is important, don't be tempted to include it in the opening paragraph. This along with any other additional information can always be included in what's referred to as the notes to add a section at the end. And just so you know, it's fine if you go over and a side if you went over for two pages, but here are some suggestions for you. Do use subheadings and bullet points and make information easy to digest. Particularly if you're including figures or statistics. Make sure you include quotes from someone senior in your company, because it can be very helpful for journalists.

And you'll find that actually a lot of what we call regional and trade publications are often often use the quotes word for word. Quote should be used to provide insight and opinion and sound like a real person said them. So do avoid jargon and keep it simple. to really maximize your to really maximize your chance of press coverage. You need to tweak your idea and your release for different publications. So it fits their readers and their audiences.

When you send a press release, it's a good idea to include a short outline of your idea, no more than a paragraph and where you think it might fit in the publication you're pitching to. You can include an attachment but Journalists tend to prefer to get you to get to the point quickly. So everybody should be embedded in the body of the email, what you'll find is busy journalists may not bother to open attachments. So if you can, you know, put it in the actual email body itself, but do beware, you know, as I mentioned, they do like visuals and videos, but they can be rather huge. So I'd say do avoid sending big files that will clog up inboxes. If you do have big files to share, then look at document sharing options like Dropbox.

And we transfer and finally, go for it but be realistic in your expectations. Most journalists are jammed in press releases. So it may take you a few attempts and a bit of chasing to land press coverage for your business. But don't give up Exercise. If I can paste so is going to be featured on the radio today. How would the presenter introduce it?

Asking yourself that question should give you the top line of your story. Now go and write it using the press release template and suggestions that you've just listened to