ONLINE, TIME IS EVERYTHINGWhile a release on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch page can be scanned witha glance, the electronic form of the same release requiresscrolling. Says BusinessWeek marketing reporter Ellen Neuborne,"I hate having to scroll past contact information and theobligatory company description just to get to the subject ofthe release. Who has time to do that all day?"
Companies spend anywhere from $150 to $1,000 to have newsdistribution services send out each electronic press release.The results? Their one-line headlines are listed by time oftransmission along with hundreds of others sent that day onBusiness Wire, PR News Wire and other distribution services.
Clicking on a random sampling of Business Wire headlines showsreleases with lead paragraphs containing 156 , 94, 83 and 97 words.These are far too long for reading off a computer screen. Completereleases on Business Wire and PR Newswire average about 350 wordson three 8 1/2 inch wide, single-spaced screens. That is about200 words too many!
THE MAJOR ONLINE RELEASE DISTRIBUTORS ARE FOSSILSThe Internet needs a new method of company informationdissemination that fits the medium. But first a new form ofInternet news release needs to be adopted.
One of the major problems with the formats allowed on BusinessWireand PR Newswire is that they were created for print releases. Bothcompanies have simply moved their traditional print business to theInternet. However, one online press release distribution service-- XpressPress News Service -- currently will let you use anon-traditional, Internet-ready format.
Back in the pre-Web days, smart publicists knew that they had toformat releases for radio stations differently than those for print.They were taught to format radio releases like 30-second scripts.Whether for print or broadcast, releases were double-spaced foreasy reading on a maximum of 2 pages.
Any experienced publicist pitching a story by phone knows there isonly a 30-second window of opportunity. That's how long you get tograb a journalist's attention. If your pitch interests the reporter,s/he will ask you to continue with your story. The same thing willhappen after a reporter reads an Internet-ready press release.
Why shouldn't information-overloaded editors trying to wade throughreleases on their computer monitors be given the same consideration?
WHAT NEW FORMAT WILL WORK?What format would work better? Writing made-for-print pressreleases ignores the two chief constraints of reporters andeditors - lack of time and the fact that they must read yourinformation from a computer screen.
What's needed is a made-for-the-Internet press release format.Think of the electronic news release as a teaser to get a reporteror editor to your web site for additional information. Here's howthe Internet-ready news release should work:
The lead paragraph of a release should state it's point in 40 words or less. Of those 40 words, no more than six words should be used to describe what the company does.
Additional material about the company that is not directly related to the point of the story can be compiled in a separate paragraph below the lead or at the bottom of the page.
Writing style? Think of how you'd describe the story to a friend on a 30-second elevator ride. Pay attention to the way the stories on the nightly news are described during a 10-second commercial break on an earlier show. Listen carefully to the way radio news broadcasts relate the top stories of the day.
The lead should stand on its own as a description of the story. To learn how, study the home page of the online New York Times; page one of the interactive Journal or Yahoo! News Alerts. They all manage to tell what each story is about in a sentence or two. So can you.
Make your entire release a maximum of 200 words or less, in 5 short paragraphs.
Use the bulleted points "Who? What? Where? When? Why?" as paragraph headings.
Write only two to three short sentences in each of the five paragraphs.
Above the headline or at the bottom of the release, be sure to provide a contact name, phone number, email address and URL for additional information.
If you have compiled your own media list, consider not using a press release at all, but rather a three-paragraph, short-sentence, e-mail pitch letter or memo. The only news release distribution service that will allow you to use a pitch letter or memo format at this time is XpressPress.
It's not easy to write tight. Mark Twain summed it up best whenhe said "If I had more time I would have written less." Writingis about re-writing. And re-writing. Writing well takes time.
Respect today's reality: take the time to write less and make itmean more.
Want to win coverage? Start by throwing out the tattered old printpress release. Write like you have 10 seconds to make a point.Because online, you do.
B.L. Ochman's company, whatsnextonline.com, builds global trafficand sales for Internet businesses. She publishes the bi-weeklymarketing tactics newsletter, What's Next Online. Subscribe atwww.whatnextonline.com Send Mail toBLOchman@whatsnextonline.com
