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Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging - ProBlogger. Content marketing software for WordPress. How to Write a Press Release. Take it from those of us who know: An easy way to ruin your relationship with the news media is to send a bad press release.

How to Write a Press Release

Newsroom fax machines and reporters' inboxes are flooded on a daily basis with press releases from companies, government agencies, non-profit groups, and even average citizens trying to get their neighborhood plight noticed. If you send in a press release that's riddled with grammatical errors, buried in a convoluted e-mail, or completely irrelevant to the reporter's coverage area, you might as well be tossing your press release down a sewer drain. If you deluge a news organization with unprofessional or uninteresting releases, your chances of ever getting favorable news coverage are zero-to-slim. But when done correctly, a good press release will grab a reporter's attention and force their curiosity to want to learn more about your announcement. Here's some tips to help you craft your message. Mind the Message That means your release needs a good headline. Black binoculars icon (PSD) DIY PR: How to pitch your story idea and get news coverage! Getting your story on the local news Can we agree on one thing?

DIY PR: How to pitch your story idea and get news coverage!

Getting your story in the TV news is good for your business. Whether you’re a for-profit business, a non-profit organization, a club, a group, an individual…whether you’re involved in marketing, video production, sports, entertainment…getting in the news helps your cause. In today’s online-obsessed world, you may think you have to “go viral” or get lots of site traffic to be IN THE NEWS. Maybe you’re saying to yourself, “Traditional media is dead!” Get your story on TV news…free! In 10+ years of working directly with local news directors and reporters, I’ve seen a lot of good stories passed over…a lot of bad stories reported over and over and over… and many stories put on air just because the News Director said, “I like it.” The bottom line is, if you follow these tips you’ll exponentially increase your chances of your story ending up on the news. Here’s how it’s done. Make your story newsworthy 1. 2. 3. -Got Videos? Collaborative storytelling.

New Year's Resolution Reading List: 9 Essential Books on Reading and Writing. By Maria Popova Dancing with the absurdity of life, or what symbolism has to do with the osmosis of trash and treasure.

New Year's Resolution Reading List: 9 Essential Books on Reading and Writing

Hardly anything does one’s mental, spiritual, and creative health more good than resolving to read more and write better. Today’s reading list addresses these parallel aspirations. And since the number of books written about reading and writing likely far exceeds the reading capacity of a single human lifetime, this omnibus couldn’t be — shouldn’t be — an exhaustive list. It is, instead, a collection of timeless texts bound to radically improve your relationship with the written word, from whichever side of the equation you approach it. If anyone can make grammar fun, it’s Maira Kalman — The Elements of Style Illustrated marries Kalman’s signature whimsy with Strunk and White’s indispensable style guide to create an instant classic.

On a related unmissable note, let the Elements of Style Rap make your day. On the itch of writing, Lamott banters: On why we read and write: