Ideally, you will have two types of quotes in your press release. A quote from yourself is mandatory. To give your release extra impact, get a quote from a third-party.

Quoting yourself may seem unnatural to you at first, but it’s what every reporter expects. Your quote should be about the information in the press release, not about how great you are. As I always say, the key to getting publicity is to build your story around information, not around yourself.

A good quote: “This tip is the single best advice for homeowners,” said local attorney Nicole Jones.

A bad quote: “I am the best lawyer in town,” Ms. Jones said.

If you are having trouble coming up with a quote, try interviewing yourself. I often use this technique when I need to come up with an appropriate quote. Think, "What would a reporter ask me?" Probably something about why you are doing what you are doing, what the significance of it is, or how it will change the lives of your readers.

It’s often helpful to quote (with consent) clients, customers, colleagues, other experts in your area who complement your story. It shows the reporter there’s more to the story than some hot air blowing their way. And it makes it easier for them to assemble a complete story.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Use journalistic style

Reporters are busy. Just like you.

So when you write anything for the media, be concise and tight.

Short, simple, sentences. Lively. Ridiculously short. Even if they seem to violate those fourth-grade grammar rules about complete sentences.

Save big, sophisticated words for impressing old English teachers at school reunions. To get free publicity from the media, use common words.

It’s OK. Trust me. It’s how they write. It’s what they want. Shows ‘em you understand their jobs.

Keep everything short. Not just sentences.

The whole press release should be short – one page, or two at most. Honest.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, one of this nation’s enduring literary masterpieces, is only 278 words. Surely you can entice a reporter’s attention with less than 400 words, which is about one page.

Hold the adjectives and the jargon

Be lively and colorful in your writing. But avoid the hype. Adjectives in a release doom you to the trash box. “Unique,” “Exceptional,” “Remarkable,” “Cutting-edge”…. All they say to a reporter is, “toss me.” Better: let the facts – your story – speak for themselves.

If there’s anything reporters hate more than hype, it’s jargon. Reporters have even created web sites to vent their frustration about this. Avoid hackneyed words and phrases like "solution" or "best-in-breed." Use plain English. Like Lincoln did.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

There’s a dirty little secret about press releases that the media doesn’t want you to know. The fact is, most of them travel directly from the sender’s computer to the reporter’s trash box. Or from out of the envelope into the "round file."

That’s part of the reason reporters don’t like to be asked "did you see my press release." They probably did, but they threw it in the trash so they don’t remember yours specificially.

But you do still need press releases sometimes. (Like, when you have news.) So when you do, remember this.

You may already know that every press release has a headline – a short title – and a lead, or first paragraph. What you may not know is that virtually nothing else in your release matters!

The job of a release is to attract and pique the reporter to read on. Keep the “head” and the “lead” snappy – and short. Make them compelling, intriguing, and grabbing.

(But still true, please. This is no time to emulate a supermarket tabloid. Do not claim, for instance, that famous stars are among your clients, just because the former quarterback of the high school football team uses your services.)

To get the best chance for publicity from your press release, put as much time into carefully crafting these two inches of your masterpiece as you allot to writing the entire rest of the release. I am not kidding!

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Ever wonder why papers devote a page or more to letters to the editor? Because subscribers love to read them!

Letters to the editor are among a paper’s most popular features, so getting your name underneath a letter can be even more valuable that being quoted in a news article.

Letters to the editor can’t just be about anything—they have to be related to the news. The ones most likely to get published bring a personal perspective to a topic of national or intense local interest. Anytime one of your topics is even vaguely in the news, try writing a letter about it.

Letters to the editor should be short—no more than 200 words—so they shouldn’t take long to write. Type it up on your computer and e-mail it over to the editor. Look for your letter in the newspaper in the next few weeks, and if it appears, let your clients and colleagues know about it.

There are some newspapers that now put letters to the editor that didn’t make the newspaper on their web sites. Soon, a letter to the editor may be guaranteed publicity.

Longer, signed articles called “op-eds” run on the same page and are spectacular showcases. Try one.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Unlike some professionals like lawyers and doctors, financial planners aren’t required to be members of a professional association.

However, if you want to take advantage of a great way to get free publicity, you marketing-minding financial professionals will join an association like the Financial Planning Association or the Society of Financial Service Professionals.

Get active first in your local chapter, then nationally. Being active in a professional association is the number one way for a financial planner to get media coverage.

When media folks need experts, they often go straight to the associations for help. This is a particularly popular tactic among local newspaper or television reporters who want a local person to comment on a national story. Has the stock market had a huge rally? They’ll want a local stock-picker to share their thoughts, not a New York City brokerage chief. That’s when a reporter will call the association.

Most associations and chapters have a list of financial planners that they will refer the media to. You want to make sure that you are on this list.

Besides publicity, there are several other chances to improve your marketing that membership in a professional association provides. You can publish articles in their newsletter (then reprint these to give to clients), speak to outside groups on behalf of the association, and attend marketing seminars given by speakers like me at national conventions.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Let’s say you’ve called a reporter with some ideas for stories about financial planning, and they seemed interested. Congratulations! First, pat yourself on the back. It takes intelligence and gumption to come up with ideas that reporters like.

Next, consider how you are going to follow up. Reporters are usually working on several stories at once, and unless they are coming to meet you today, there’s still a considerable chance that it will fall through the cracks. You need to try, without being annoying, to keep that story at the front of their mind.

If your call went great and the reporter’s interested – tell her you’ll send something by fax or email to summarize what you discussed. Whether you send a fax or email, keep it brief and on point. Don’t use it to raise new topics – close one deal first!

After you’ve had a good call, or sent something to a reporter, follow up about a week later. If you get no response, assume the idea’s either dead or filed for later consideration. No amount of follow-up calls is likely to change this cold truth – and it will actually lower your stock. Don’t be viewed as pestering – if the initial idea doesn’t fly, wait a while, then float a new one.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Relationships are based on trust—not just romantic relationships, or doctor/patient relationships, but practically any relationship, even the one with your auto mechanic.

That’s why the absolute worst thing a financial planner can do in their relationship with a reporter—especially a new relationship—is to give them false information.

Remember, they think of you as a subject matter expert. Someone they can turn to again and again for concise, intelligent and accurate explanations for financial planning matters that they don’t understand. If you mislead them, even if it’s unintentional, you lose all credibility–and all chances for publicity.

It is an especially egregious mistake to make with a reporter, because they have a relationship with their readers. If they print the false information that you gave them, it gets into the hands of thousands of people.

When the mistake is caught (and it will be) the reporter has to print an embarrassing correction or retraction. Believe me, your number will be gone from their Rolodex in an instant.

If you are not sure of the answer to a reporter’s question, say these words: "I’m not sure, let me check." This sentence is the only acceptable response. Winging it will invariably get you in trouble. Tell the reporter you’ll look into it, and call back soon.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Everyone has something that drives them up a wall. You may be surprised at what aggravates reporters.

They deal with horrors like jargon-filled press releases, poorly-written news advisories, and gimmicky pens and mousepads, but reporters consistently and overwhelmingly name one habit of publicity-seekers as their number one peeve.

What is it? It’s when someone calls after a press release has been sent and asks "Did you get my press release?"

This is the single worst way to follow up after sending something.

When you make this no-no call, the reporter thinks: "If I wanted to call you, I would" or "Doesn’t this person think I know how to open mail?" What’s worse, they may even say this to you right over the phone. If they weren’t interested in your story ideas before, they certainly won’t be now.

You think: “Unfair! These guys lose half the stuff they get sent!” True, but remember, they do own the printing presses. If you want to reap the many benefits of free publicity, you have to stay on their good side.

What works better is to find a credible reason to follow up. For example: “Hi, Jen. Since I sent you that release last week on how to buy U.S. Government bonds, Congress passed a new law that makes it even easier.”

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Always ask, “Is now a good time?”

Deadlines in journalism are unrelenting and unforgiving. Using these as your first words after “hello” shows the reporter you’re sympathetic to her needs. It also ensures your pitch gets heard when the reporter is devoting proper attention.

Your goal: attract

In your first contact with a reporter, don’t come off like a talking encyclopedia. Your job now is to attract and interest them – not to deliver the whole story yet. Keep it short and enticing.

Offer that reporter a nugget of information they need

The best way to get a reporter’s attention: put yourself in her shoes and ask yourself, “What do I know about my topic that would help this reporter do a better job or get a big story?”

Don’t go “off the record”

Memorize these words: “There’s no such thing as off the record.” It’s just too risky. If you don’t want to see your words splashed across page one, don’t let them out of your mouth.

When the interview’s over, don’t just hang up

Wrap up every media interview or informal chat with a reporter with this question: “What else are you working on?” Finding out what else is on the reporter’s plate can line you up to get interviewed for the next story, too.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

To many marketers, the press release is something of a "one size
fits all" proposition.  You want to get media coverage, you knock
out a press release, send it to some journalists and sit back and
wait.

Of course, smart Publicity Insiders already know that’s a
prescription for failure.  You know that your press release has
to have a "hook", be well-written and sent to appropriate
journalists in an active, not passive, manner.  But there’s
another part of the puzzle that even savvy publicity-seekers
sometimes miss — you can’t just write "a press release", you
have to write the right kind of press release.

There’s no such thing as a "one size fits all" release.  Smart
publicists have variations of the press release model ready to be
go, depending on the occasion.

(Note: for a general introduction to press release writing and
formatting, see: http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp

Let’s look at some releases suitable for "harder" and more timely
news….

The News Release

To some folks, "news release" and "press release" are
interchangeable.  Not to me.  I use the phrase "news release" to
refer to a release that, well, carries actual news.  Let’s face
it, most of what a business has to say to a journalist isn’t
exactly "stop the presses" kind of stuff.  But, on occasion,
something of real significance occurs.  A merger, a stock split,
a major new contract, winning a national award…something that’s
truly timely and important.  For these sorts of events, don’t
mess around.  Craft a solid, hard-hitting News Release that’s
written in pure journalistic style (lead includes "who, what,
when, why and how", language is in 3rd person and completely
free of hyperbole).  Use journalism’s "inverted pyramid" — most
important information at the top, next most important info in the
second paragraph and so on down.

Tell the entire story in the headline and subhead.  Again, don’t
get cute — get straight to the point.  The headline Acme
Corporation Selected by Pentagon to Supply Troops with Widgets is
far better than something like Guess Who’s Making Widgets for
Uncle Sam? or something "clever" like that.  In the subhead, fill
in some details: $18 Million Contract Largest in Company’s
History.  Talk about getting straight to the point! You’ve just
given the journalist the meat of the story before she’s even read
your lead.

Add a "dateline" (Akron, OH) at the beginning of your lead
(first) paragraph.  In the dateline, use your company’s home town
(or the location where some news has broken.  You can be a bit
creative here, if it helps maximize your impact.  For the above
example, you can dateline it Washington, DC and say that "The
Pentagon today announced that it has selected an Akron
company…").

In distributing the release, use e-mail, fax, or even overnight
courier.  The goal is to get it into journalists’ hands on the
same day you distribute it.

Executive Appointment Release

Most businesses send out a brief release and headshot when
someone new is hired or a major promotion is made.  That’s fine,
and it will get them in the "People on the Move" column  on page
8 in the business section.  It’s an ego stroke for the employee,
but that’s about it. Savvy publicity seekers use the Executive
Appointment release to generate real publicity. Here’s the key –
don’t just announce that someone’s been hired or promoted.
Rather, explain why the move is significant to the company — and
perhaps the market — as a whole.

For example, Jane Smith has been hired as your company’s new
director of sales.  Not so exciting.  However, the reason you
hired her is because she came from a major online retailer and is
planning to overhaul your sales system to compare with the state-
of-the-art systems used by the big guys.  Hmmmm…that’s a lot
more interesting.  So why not tell the media about it?

The key  ingredient  is context.  Your headline may still look
like that of a typical Executive Appointment release (Acme Names
Jane Smith New Director of Sales), but starting with the subhead,
you begin your journey off page 8 of the business section and
onto page one (Hiring of Key Figure in Online Sales Explosion
Marks Important Shift in Acme’s Sales Strategy). Ah, now you’ve
entered the realm of news, not business as usual.  And a sharp
business editor will see that a local company is doing something
far more significant than just making a hire.

Dateline the release, fax (or even messenger), email or regular
mail it over to your local business editor and follow up with a
phone call.  Offer Jane Smith for interview, too.

The Media Alert

The Media Alert is a deceptively simple creature.  It’s
essentially a memo from you to TV, radio and newspaper assignment
editors, city desk editors and others who decide whether a
particular news event is worth covering.  They’re used to alert
the press about news conferences, charity events, publicity
"stunts" and other events.

The point of the Media Alert is to, in just a few seconds, tell a
journalist about the event, how to cover it and why it’s
important that the media outlet, in fact, covers it.  Most
publicists are pretty good on the first two points — almost all
media alerts do a decent job of telling what the event is, where
it will be held and what time it starts.  It’s the third aspect
– the "why" — that will make the real difference, though.  And
it’s the thing most publicists do a lousy of job of conveying.

First, a word about format.  Use standard press release headings
(contact info, "For Immediate Release" and headline).  The rest
of the document should be a few paragraphs, spaced at least three
lines apart from one another.  The first paragraph, should begin
with What: and continue with a one or two line description of the
event (WidgetFest 2004, a celebration of young minds).  Next
paragraph, When:, after that Where:

Now here’s the key paragraph,

Why You Should Cover WidgetFest 2004:  The brightest young minds
from around the region will gather to present their inventions,
as Acme Corp. celebrates the state’s top high school science
students.  The event will be a visual feast, with a host of awe-
inspiring inventions, many colorful, active and exotic, on
display.  As part of the event, more than $10,000 in scholarships
will be distributed to budding Einsteins by John Smith, Ohio’s
Science Teacher of the Year.

The key?  This line: "The event will be a visual feast, with a
host of awe-inspiring inventions, many colorful, active and
exotic, on display."  I just spoke an assignment editor’s
language, telling him that this will provide lots of cool
visuals, making for great video or photos.  The bit about the
scholarships and the Science Teacher of the Year assures him that
this won’t just be a promotional stunt.  So what are we offering?
A non-promotional, feel-good event with great visuals.  Just what
an assignment editor is looking for.

Bill Stoller, the "Publicity Insider", has spent two decades as
one of America’s top publicists.  Now, through his website, eZine
and subscription newsletter, Free Publicity: The Newsletter for
PR-Hungry Businesses http://www.PublicityInsider.com/freepub.asp
, he’s sharing — for the very first time — his secrets of
scoring big publicity.  For free articles, killer publicity tips
and much, much more, visit Bill’s exclusive new site:
http://www.publicityInsider.com