Press releases: start with the end in mind

Unlike articles and stories, the aim of a press release is not to suck the reader in due to curiosity and take them on a journey to the punch line at the end.

A press release is intended to get an editor’s attention.  Whether that’s the editor of a publication or the producer of a broadcast medium (local radio or TV).  That means that the headline and the first paragraph need to put all your goods up-front.

The headline needs to tell people what the article is about e.g. Local tennis coach wins national award or Exciting new technology changes the future of business.  Not Pete’s big surprise or What’s in Arvin’s garage?

Then the first paragraph needs to summarise what the press release is about.

This should layout the reason why this is news.  And if it isn’t news, then don’t write a press release!  News to you, may not count as news for the publication you are targeting.  Ask yourself, ‘Will readers find this interesting/entertaining/useful?’  The opening of a new store in the High Street or a new restaurant may count as news, but if you’ve moved office, that’s only of interest to your clients and probably won’t get past the editor’s ‘spike’ (press-speak for the bin)!

Don’t write too much - a page and a half at most.  All the editor needs is to get the gist of the story.  If they think it’s interesting and would make a good feature, they’ll call you.  That means you must make sure there’s a phone number and email where they can easily get hold of you.  It’s best to add your mobile, as if they have to leave a message, they probably won’t.

If you have an image, attach it as a separate item.  NEVER embed the image into a Word document, it makes it virtually unusable.  However, do add a caption to the end of your press release - making it clear what the image is and identifying who is in it from left to right, names AND titles or roles.

When press releases were typed on paper and posted, double spacing was expected, this provided space for the editor to go to work with their red pen.  Today we live in a digital world, so you don’t need to double space everything, but don’t submit a crammed together wad of text.  White space makes reading easy (and not just for editors) so, maybe set your line spacing to 1.15 and at least a half line between paragraphs.  Left-aligned (not justified) paragraphs, without indents look best too.

Now all you have to do is come up with good stories!

5 tools to help your business

Whether you’re just starting your business or trying to grow the business you’ve got, there are a few things that are essential.  These are just a handful of business tools that will make your business stand head and shoulders above your competitors.

1:  A mobile business card

A good one of these is great, but pick your card carefully.  Some of them are cheap and cheerful, some give you tons of facilities and some are pretty basic.  Having looked at several I finally settled on this one.  It offers an attractive look and feel, is easy to use and you can have as much information on it as you want, from written date to images and even video content.  You can promote your events, your products, your services, your affiliate links, whatever you want - it’s like a mini-website.

You literally get people to scan the code and it appears on their phone ‘desktop’.  If you’re worried about having lots of them showing up on your screen, it’s easy to keep them all in a folder.

It means you can give people far more than just your contact details - it’s a whole marketing vehicle.  Check out more here.

2:  A payment system

If you want to make regular payments easy, you don’t want to be raising invoices each month, then chasing after people who don’t pay on time.  GoCardless is an ideal tool for retained clients, subscriptions and anyone who pays a regular monthly fee.

It means that you can be sure that your money lands in your bank account reliably month-in, month out.  And best of all, if anyone doesn’t pay, GoCardless will do the chasing - until they do - even if that means ‘going legal’.  They do all the leg and legal work for you at no extra cost.  All you pay is a small percentage (as little as 1%) of each invoice - definitely worth it, compared to your time, when you could be doing the things that earn you much more.

For one-off payments you’ll probably find a shopping cart such as Stripe is more effective.  It will process payments for events, products and online programmes in a simple streamlined process.

3: A website

Even if you’re a very small business, a website is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’.  If people go online to check you out and you don’t have a presence, they won’t take you seriously.

A good website doesn’t have to be huge, or have lots of bells and whistles, but it does have to represent you well.  That means:

• A modern design
• An easy-to-see way to contact you on every page
• A powerful message that engages the visitor
• Clear navigation that doesn’t require thinking to understand
• Images that represent your business well (and load quickly)
• Properly secured against hackers (if you can type your web address followed by ‘wp-admin’ or ‘wp-login’ and get to the log in page, your site isn’t secure!  And if it does get hacked you should be able to get it back online in minutes - not days.)
• Pinged out so it’s found by search tools quickly.

Check this out.

4: A web app

This isn’t the same as a phone app, even though it can be used on a phone.  Instead of downloading an app onto your phone, you can access the web app using your phone to go online.  It’s seamless and looks pretty much the same as a phone app.

What can it do?

• Provide your menu online for diners at restaurants so there’s a contact-free means of ordering their meal.
• Provide details of the latest cars on offer for car showrooms and second hand car dealers.
• Show all the latest properties available to let for landlords or letting agents or properties currently for sale for estate agents.
• Show all the products available for MLM team members to show off to their customers
• Provide ongoing health and fitness information for personal trainers, weight control specialists and fitness/nutrition industry experts.

Imagine if your clients - and potential clients - had everything at their fingertips, just by having your web app on their phone?  Find out more here.

5: Video material

We’re in a world where video content is the only way to be seen.  Look on social media - Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok - it’s all video material that takes precedence.  To get noticed you need video.

It depends on which platform you’re making your video for, as to what the ideal length is.  YouTube like it to be at least 8-12 minutes, but Facebook like short videos 30-60 seconds and Instagram likes them even shorter - 15 seconds.  LinkedIn members will watch a couple of minutes, more if it’s really interesting and relevant.

Getting lots of views on social media depends on content that is:

• Entertaining
• Informative
• Interesting

However, there’s a big difference between videos that turn up in your feed because a friend has shared it (think cat videos) and a video you’ve actively chosen to watch.  If you want video content to show up on the first search page on YouTube (and people do use it like a search engine), it will need to be highly optimised so it shows up when people search on your keywords.

If you want to know more about this, give me a call on 01245 473296.

How to write a book

There’s a well-known saying that everyone has at least one book in them.  If you’re running your own business or a specialist in a particular area, you’ve definitely got the information in your head to create a book.

Then the challenge of getting the book from being an idea to a manuscript.  If you’re comfortable writing, that’s not such a big leap.  Even if you’re more familiar with writing a few hundred words as a blog, you already have the ability to actually write it - all you need is a plan.

If you find writing a mind-bending mountain to climb, you’ll need to find a way to get the information out of your head and into written form.  If this sounds like you might need brain surgery, don’t worry - there are plenty of ways to turn your knowledge into pages people can read!

The plan

Hannibal from the A-Team used to say “I love it when a plan comes together!”  But for that to happen, you need to HAVE a plan.

The outline of a book is a plan and you’ll need to think about:

• The main subject the book is about
• The purpose of the book - who will it help and how will it help them?
• What will make your book different from other books on the subject (HINT: the answer to this is usually YOU.  You’ll have your own opinions and experience to share that will make it stand out from others)
• What subjects will the book cover?
• What order will these subjects be arranged?
• What will each chapter focus on?
• What elements do you want to include in every chapter?  E.g. quotes, case studies, practical things to do, models or diagrams, statistics, data, examples, an introduction either written or in bullets, a summary or conclusion, etc.

To maximise reader engagement, every chapter should have a similar format, so, if you start with a quotation, every chapter should do that.  This develops familiarity for the reader and encourages them to continue reading.

If you create a mind map or a list of items for each chapter you will already have the skeleton plan for your book - and this will make writing much easier.

DON’T write your book

If you’re still thinking that, a list is one thing, but a WHOLE BOOK …!  There are other options.

Record it

When your clients ask you questions, you are able to explain things to them easily - and you’ve probably covered the same ground many times.  So instead of writing your book, pick up the list and talk through each chapter - recording it as you go.  Most people have a mobile phone that will record - and you can save the MP3 files for transcribing later then all you have to do is get it typed up.

Dictate it

I’ve written books for clients where they’ve literally talked through a training programme and we’ve transformed that into a book.  So that’s another way of getting your book written - talk to a professional writer/editor and they’ll knock it into shape as you go.

Get it ghost-written

Another alternative is to get a ghost writer to ask you questions and they’ll then develop this into a book.

It’s never impossible to get your book out of your head and into written form - it just takes a little ingenuity!  If you need help, give me a shout.

Alternatively, you could follow Rick McMunns programme, which not only covers writing, but also publishing and marketing.

Buy now!

If you’ve ever read one of those really, really long sales pages you could be forgiven for muttering about l-o-n-g copy.  Why do those online marketers feel the need to write SO MUCH?

If you attend any online marketing conference you’ll hear many of the experts say “Everyone hates long copy [long pause], but it works!”

Many of these online marketers have converted their l-o-n-g written sales pages into video presentations - often taking anything from 5 minutes to an hour or more of your time to get through.  Some of these sales funnels are presented as a ‘webinar’ that you can’t afford to miss and promises you lots of essential information your business MUST have to survive!

As they are the people who make a substantial income from their online sales, they must know what they’re talking about.  However, long copy (or video content) does not necessarily equal good copy.

The guys who know their stuff create really effective sales messages – but there is some rubbish out there too.  I once came across a sales page that was over 9000 words – probably longer than the ebook it was promoting.  I’ve also seen some quite short pages that work extremely well too.

Many years ago I invested a considerable amount of money in learning how to construct a successful sales page.  There is a formula – and it requires a fair bit of work to get it right.

Who is it for?

If you’ve ever been in corporate-land you may have come across Honey & Mumford’s Learning Styles, one of many tests that identifies that we’re all different! We process information depending on our natural preferences – are you:

• An ‘I want it now’ person?
• A ‘So how will that work for me?’ type?
• A ‘Let me think about things a bit’ sort of guy?
• A ‘That’s all very interesting, but I need the detail before I can make a decision’ individual.

A good sales letter addresses all those approaches – it doesn’t just ramble on and on.

You need to know your target audience – what their problems are, what they want (rather than what they need) and what they will judge to be real benefits.  This will help you to write great headlines and include content that will really hit the hot spots.

Your credibility

If you’ve ever met a business coach who was struggling to make ends meet or an image consultant who looked like she’s fallen out of bed and put on whatever came handy, you’ll know that we need to have reason to trust the people we buy from.

Once you have your reader’s attention you need to assure them that you know what you’re talking about.  Introduce yourself, establish your expertise, knowledge and track record.  Most online marketers use their own ‘rags-to-riches’ or ‘dummy-to-expert’ story to convince their audience of the validity of what they say.  Proof is powerful!

That’s why you should also include testimonials) to convince the reader that they’re onto a good thing.  Third party validation is a strong support (but never, ever make them up).

Pain and gain

The main part of the content needs to be benefit-rich (what’s in it for me?) and focus on the problems that your audience experience, the pitfalls that are typical and then give them an indication that you can solve all those and give them … whatever benefits you know they’ll value.

The icing on the cake

Guarantees, bonuses and other goodies are all part of the mix. 

• What guarantee are you willing to give?  Believe it or not, very few people access a satisfaction guaranteed offer, but it is reassuring for the customer to know it’s there.
• If people buy your offer right now, what else will they get to make it worth hitting that buy now button?  These might include additional material, a buy one-get one free deal, a bring a friend for half price offer,  The bonuses will need tons of perceived value - so if you’re asking people to pay £100, for instance, a bonus worth £10 probably won’t swing it.  But if they’re getting bonuses worth £500 - it’s a no-brainer.
• You might offer a ‘buy now’ and get a 50% price reduction for a limited period.  If someone is getting £100 worth of product for only £50, most will grab it.

All of this applies to both written copy and video content and the structure is the same.

Don’t forget that all-important ‘buy now’ button too.  Make sure it’s easy for people to take action and offer more than one opportunity for them to do so.  You need to remember that you’re satisfying the needs of all those different ‘types’.  The action man doesn’t want to have to scroll down acres of text to get to it, or get to the end of a longish video to find out what the punchline is.

Most decent sales scripts are somewhere upwards of 1000 words – it may seem like a lot, but remember, IT WORKS!