Before you write your press release, be sure to define who your audience is. Who are you targeting your message to? Make sure you call out to those people by defining them in your headline, sub-headings, and/or first paragraph.

This is another good tip from Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, and her 89 Day Tutorial for writing great press releases.

Other tips include the many of the same good writing habits you should be using for other kinds of writing. Common sense things like:

• Keep your message simple
• Make sure you include all your correct contact info
• Use eye-catching headlines
• Use sub-headings to further draw people in to reading your message
• Always write with the readers’ interests in mind
• Always include a clear call to action, where you take them by the hand and walk them through the steps you want them to take

As for that last tip on the call to action, we’ll stop right here. Joan feels that part of writing a good press release is so important that we will devote a full post to it, in our next post continuing on everything you need to know to write a great press release.

Here are some more good tips for writing press releases about your business from Joan Stewart’s 89 Day Kick-Butt Press Release tutorial.

• Decide exactly what you want your press release to accomplish. It’s all about changing people’s behavior and prompting them to do something they wouldn’t do had you not written the release.
• Define your audience(s) before you write

• Keep your key message simple

Remember Joan’s first tip about writing press releases that work? It’s not so much about getting a story printed in the media (although that’s always good!), but more about getting found by your clients on the Web through press release services like PRWeb.com.

And it’s not a sales pitch either. But write with the goal in mind: what do you want readers to do?

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If you want to learn how to write kick-butt press releases that work to help you get found on the ‘Net, sign up for Joan Stewart’s 89-day tutorial.  Here is a summary of week one PR tips.

Joan, also known as The Publicity Hound, is adamant: Go ahead and break these 3 old rules about writing press releases:

1. Write for journalists – (No, write for clients, so they’ll find you on the Web)
2. Only write when there is legitimate news – (No, write whenever you want to get noticed by clients on the Web)
3. You have to include the "5 W’s" in the first paragraph – (No, that’s for journalists, but we’re writing for clients so they can find you on the Web)

On the other hand, Joan says there are 3 rules you can’t break:

1. People don’t want to read a press release that’s loaded with hype
2. Avoid using words like "spectacular," "cutting-edge," and other adjectives
3. Unless you are writing a press release specifically for people in your own industry, never use industry jargon

Great, Joan. I studied journalism in my undergraduate years, and writing press releases go against the grain… the journalist in me says, "but this isn’t really news! It’s a cheap attempt to generate publicity, it’s so blatantly obvious to any journalist."

But you are right, this isn’t about getting a news story published. Today’s press releases are about getting found on the Web, and providing information to the targeted clients we are trying to reach. To them, our stuff may be just what they are looking for. Our press release isn’t written for the front page of the NY Times.

Maybe I’m the only one who struggles with this "new" kind of press release/marketing tactic? Maybe everybody else out there already knows this and I’m the last one to the party. Hit the comment link below and tell me your thoughts.

To learn more from Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, try this: http://snipurl.com/Press_Tutorial

Okay, I’m only on day 1 of 89 tips to mastering Press Releases, and already, Joan Stewart is making sense.

Joan says, "Don’t write a press release for journalists. Write it for customers or clients."

Now days, press releases are posted on the web through services like PRWeb.com. There is a greater chance of your press release being found by some unsuspecting client doing a google search on a problem than by a journalist.

Quite frankly, the result we all have in mind is finding clients, so why not skip the middle man (or woman, journalist)? In other words, when you write a press release, keep in mind how this information can help a client solve a problem and find you on the Web.

Press Release Tutorial