Moderator: Hi everyone! Hi Diana

Diana Ennen: Hi GUYS!!! Great to see you all.

Moderator: Great! We have a good group this morning. Well, welcome to our fabulous chat today with Diana Ennen. Now, I'm sure most of you know *exactly* who Diana is, and many of you have any number of her books in your home business libraries. In fact, for many VAs Diana Ennen's name was one of the *first* they learned to recognize - but for those who are new to the industry I'll just take a moment to introduce our guest.

{I'd also like to remind you that Diana has a VERY special announcement to share with you at the end of our chat today, so be sure to stay tuned}

Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including one of our own favorites here at the forums: Virtual Assistant - The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Workbook. This year she celebrated her 23rd year in business as President of Virtual Word Publishing. She has been featured in so many books and magazines - when you see the list you truly understand the wide reach she has, not only within the VA industry but in the business world in general.

One of her true passions is helping others start their own business and she remains extremely active online mentoring and providing expert advice on business start-ups. She is a wife and mother to three terrific kids and a very supportive husband. You'll be provided links to Diana's website, online bookstore, etc. at the end of our chat today so be sure to go visit her site!

Diana, congrats on 23 years in business - wow!

Diana joins us today to share her expertise and experience on a subject and task many of us get stuck on, frustrated with and flustered by - PRESS RELEASES. The title of our chat today is: "Insider Secrets to Press Release Magic - Writing, Distribution & Valuable Do and Don'ts You Need To Know"

So, thanks very much Diana for being with us this morning!

Diana Ennen: Hi .. Thanks! Whose ready to rock 'n roll? I'm going to have you all fired up by the end.

So often when I mention writing a press release, I can almost see people leaving the room. OH PLEASE don't make me do THAT! But I'll show you ways to make it fun and also effective. The most important thing to remember is that the rules have changed. Years ago you wrote your press release to editors of newspapers, media, etc.

But today, you get to write to your target audience. Your clients. The actual people who will be paying your bills. It's awesome. First, Format...

For Immediate Release always goes on top.

Then the contact information, or you can put this at the end of the release depending on where you are submitting it. If you are sending it in an email, put the contact at the bottom of the release.

Make absolutely sure you have this info correct ... it kills you when you send it out and you have put the wrong phone number or website. OUCH!! Plus, if you happen to offer this service to clients and they catch this, well, they aren't happy campers. I always click on the website link and make sure it takes me to the site to be sure.

For contact information include: Name, email, phone, website

Then, the all important title. This is perhaps the most important part of the release. You have to capture their attention and you also have to get those all important keywords in there. Hopefully get those keywords in the first 3 words.

Do a keyword search analysis before you do your title and find out what keywords would work best. It's worth the time. Google, Yahoo, WordTracker all allow you to do this.

I like to keep my title to one powerful sentence.

Then comes City, State and Date -- Margate, FL (February, 2008). The importance of the city is often local media will put up Google Alerts to their city and they find your release that way.

Then you have the all important first paragraph. Just as important as that first paragraph is in a cover letter, this paragraph is THAT important. Don't save the best for last. Capture your audience's attention. Tell them the story about your release. Relate it back to the title. And most important .. make them want to read MORE!!

Your release should be in 3rd person. Now this may actually be changing soon as many of the PR experts such as Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, are on a campaign to change it, but for now it stands that press releases need to be in 3rd person. It makes it more professional. You don't want to have any I's, you, they, in there. Also, when referring to someone the first time you have Diana Ennen, from then on it's Ennen.

The next paragraphs are the body of the release. What to write about? Write on something you know. Establish yourself as an expert. Provide information. Details, facts, quotes from experts, etc. You really don't want to write a press release or news release as they are called more commonly today on just the fact that you opened a business. What benefit are you fulfilling to your clients? What difference are you making? Why would someone click onto your website link to find out more about you? What do you have that the others don't? Also, be cautious of just listing services.

I've seen VA releases where all they did was write "hi I started a business. I do this. Hire me." It's not newsworthy enough.

See if you can connect to something that is happening in the media today. For example, in selling my VA books I will often write when the gas prices go up as you can work at home and not pay the higher rates. If you are a real estate VA you could definitely write something on foreclosures and how a VA could help? If you offer publicity and target authors, the writers strike being over would be a good lead. See how you can capture more AAAHHH power when you connect it to what's happening toda

The last paragraph is your "call to action paragraph." So many miss this. This is where you summarize the release and tell them what you want them to do. Buy my book. Go to my website and download my free .... Do this. Make sure here you put your website with the http:// in there for search engines.


You have your release, what next? ... PROOF, PROOF, PROOF and Proof again. If you're release goes out with typos, even the most awesome release won't get the attention it deserves. I normally put mine away and come back to it. It's clearer then.

Now let's quickly talk about distributing your release out. Always always send to your local media. Go to www.newslink.org and go to your state and send to your local papers, TV stations, magazines, etc. If you always do this with every release, even if they don't take one, they get familiar with you.

Then send online. PR Web is great .. You need to do the $80.00. Webwire -- $19.95, SBWire -- $19.95, and then the freebies. I have a complete listing that I'd be happy to send anyone that emails me at diana@virtualwordpublishing.co m

When sending online you normally fill out a form. You will need the contact information, keywords and summary. Very important to do the summary right. That's what the person will read to see if they are interested in your release. Don't forget to get those keywords in there. Don't sell yourself here, sell your release. You normally have a place for a bio too. You want to convert your press release from Word to Notepad. If not it will have funny characters.


Set up a Google Alert for your keywords, (such as Virtual Assistant), and then also the title of the release in quotes to see who is picking up your release. Often times the release will go even further than you send to.

To get even more exposure for your releases make sure that you put them on your blog, newsletter, website, etc.

For a great paid submission, use PRNewswire. For all my biggies for me and my clients I use them. It's $200 to $400.00, but well worth it.

When using NewsLink.org you go to the newspaper and look to their contact us section. There it will tell you what to do. Often it's a form for the newspaper or an email link to the reporter.

If you're submitting your release in an email -- in the subject, make it compelling. Never send the press release as an attachment. I usually send a brief 2 sentence introduction of the press release before I list the release telling them why they should run my release.

For follow-up, it's really recommended not to contact the newspaper and say, "hey did you get my release." They are just too busy.

(Cont'd in next post...scroll down to next post to continue reading!)

__________________
Stuck in startup? Stop dreaming. Start DOING!
Get the Become a Virtual Assistant eBook for just $29

Just a few do's and don'ts. And then we can open it up for questions.

Do Write a press release that establishes you or your client as an expert and tells a story

Do know your target audience and write to them. What would they want to hear.

Do proof and make sure it's in the proper format.

Do send press releases often.

Do keep your release to 300 to 500 words.

Don't do a release every blue moon. Get into the habit of doing them often.

Don't send out a release with typos or that is just thrown together to have it done.

Don't write a great release. Send it to a few places and then sit on it. You've worked hard on it. Get it out there. You can see if other sites take releases too in your target market. I know at VirtualWordPublishing.com (my site), we do.


Well, that's about it. I could go on forever, cuz I LOVE press releases. I've seen so many great results with them that I just know they work.

I am pleased to say that I do have my very first ever video that my husband and I made available on how to do a press release. I'm going to be doing more "how to videos". It's really rough, but it will be available this week. So please do email me for that as well as my business informational package which is free and includes information on how to get started.

Moderator: Diana's email, for those who missed it is : Diana Ennen <diana@virtualwordpublishing.co m>

Diana Ennen: And please do stop by my site at www.virtualwordpublishing.com or www.virtualassistantstartups.c om. Now, any questions?

Member: Question, If I submitted a press release the beginning of the month to only a few free online sites, how would I be best to submit it to the other sites, say my local paper?

Diana Ennen: With a press release, just keep track of where you sent it and send to all the places. Just be careful not to send to the same place twice. Keep sending it out. For your local paper, I use www.newslink.org, but I know there are others out there. Just go to your state and it lists all your newspapers. Go to the individual newspaper and submit according to their guidelines. Don't forget the little community papers too. They might not have as many readers, but it works.

Member: Do I keep the original release date?

Diana Ennen: I usually just have For immediate release at top, and then the month and year. For new submissions, I recommend putting the new month if it changes. You are using the date for when you send the release to that place.

Member: You say to send press release often, I am wondering if we should send the same release again and again until it's published or do we make some changes first before we resbmit?

Diana Ennen: You wouldn't send the same release to the same newspapers. But you would send the same release out to "different" places. Online places almost always accept releases. If you find that you are not getting accepted, then I would rework the release.

Member: Question, I do not have a website yet and am in the process of getting some experience prior to having a website etc. Should I only send out a PR if i have a website? Can I send out a PR just to introduce my business?

Diana Ennen: That's an excellent question and one I get when I coach VAs. If I don't have a website, should I send a release. Truthfully it is so much better if you have a website. That way they can go check you out more. I do believe most people do check the site first before contacting someone. However, let's say it will be a while before your website is ready, you can send out a release, especially if you are doing local. It's just a website is really going to be beneficial to have.

Member: For local media, do you ever do phone call follow-up (or call before sending release?)

Diana Ennen: That's an excellent question too...local phone call followup...In year's past that was highly recommended. You send a release, you follow-up. However, today, they are just too busy and it's actually frowned upon. Especially if you call and just say, "did you get my release." The media tells us PR people, that if they are interested they will run the release or contact you. Also, just because you dont' get a call, don't assume you haven't been accepted. They don't contact you anymore.

Member: How long should we wait before we follow up should it be necessary?

Diana Ennen: If you do follow-up follow-up with "more." Something else to add. Perhaps a week. I rarely do follow-up myself.

Memberr: Diana, would you please highlight some of the benefits of sending a paid release? I know a $200 press release feels like a BIG investment to many VAs, especially during startup.

Diana Ennen: Sure! With the paid submissions it gets out there more. For PRNewsWire and Businesswire, it's like $195.00 for your local area. The newspapers and TV stations will pick it up. Now for the TV stations they might only add it to their site, but it's excellent exposure. And always the results are great. Plus, it just keeps on going. As other newspapers and stations pick it up. You then have something great to add to your press page too. You look so much more established when you have been quoted in these places. PRWeb is a must I feel at $80.00. Your keywords get out there and it places you on Google. Someone types in virtual assistant...your speciality you will be there. SB Wire and Webwire for $20.00 each. I always do them too. They get Googled almost the same day. With PR Web it is set up to tell you how many people read your release, downloaded it, etc. Plus with the $80.00 you get to add in more categories, your logo, and more benefitis. Yahoo will pick it up, etc.

Member: Now, I was under the impression that we were meant to write for the media - that's what we learned in Journalism 101, LOL...but you mentioned that there are people working to change that...What is it they're hoping to change? Is it the general presentation of a release...or? I guess I'm seeing that more 'advertorial' releases are now becoming acceptable, so do I have an 'old school' view of what's right?

Diana Ennen: Absolutely!! That's the best thing about it today. We no longer have to write to the media. You want to keep it professional enough for media, but now with the Internet, you are actually writing to your target audience and (clients). Writing to your target audience has already changed. It's happening now. What is changing currently is the 3rd person.

Member: Can you elaborate on that, the 3rd person, just a bit? Are you saying it's becoming acceptable to use 'I' and 'you'?

Diana Ennen: Not yet, but I've been reading that some PR Pros are trying to change this. PRWeb will not accept a release that isn't 100% 3rd person. In a way I kind-of like that because it makes me write them more professionally. However, I think it would be great if we could have a little less 3rd person. If it wasn't too much in the vein of advertising. That's another big key I'm glad you reminded me of. One criticial point..Don't make your press release sound like an ad.

(Cont'd in next post...scroll down to continue reading!)

__________________
Stuck in startup? Stop dreaming. Start DOING!
Get the Become a Virtual Assistant eBook for just $29

Member: I have a question about copyright issue. I know someone who sent a PR to one place and did not hear results for few weeks. He then sent the PR to another place. Then both place published the PR at the same time thus had conflicts with copyright issues.

Diana Ennen: I'm not sure how the copyright would play into that. You can send your press release out to dozens of places and they can accept them anytime. I'm not sure where the problem would be.

Moderator: If you haven't seen it already, be sure to check out our review of Diana's Virtual Assistant: The Series book! http://www.virtualassistantforums.com/showthread.php?p=14198#post141 98

And be sure to visit Diana's site at www.virtualworldpublishing.com! If you'd like to receive all of the amazing goodies she mentioned during the chat you can email your request to Diana directly at Diana Ennen <diana@virtualwordpublishing.co m>

Thanks Diana for taking the time to chat with us today! It's been very informative.

Diana Ennen: Thanks! Hope you're have me back soon.

Moderator: Absolutely, will do! Have a gorgeous Tuesday everyone. We were just thrilled to have you Diana - and wish you the best with your video series! (DO email Diana for a peek at that, you're going to be some of the first to check it out!!)

__________________
Stuck in startup? Stop dreaming. Start DOING!
Get the Become a Virtual Assistant eBook for just $29

Tess thanks for taking the time to post this here!

__________________
Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

I wasn't able to attend this chat in person. Thanks so much for posting this Tess. I learned a lot!

__________________
Shari Sultana
Online Business Manager (marketing for retail ecommerce)

This was great. I was hesitant about the usefulness of a press release but now I'm definitely doing one.

Thanks for taking the time.

Tess, thank you SO much for posting this chat. I am working on my press release as we speak, so this is going to come in super handy. Thank you to Diana too for all of her awesome info!

I am in the process of writing my first press release, and I am finding it very daunting and have been putting it off for some time.

Quote:

Also, when referring to someone the first time you have Diana Ennen, from then on it's Ennen.

Is this always the case, I know I am writing in the 3rd person but I do not like been referred to just by me surname (last name) could I use "Ms O Connor" instead of "O Connor" or would this sound a bit presumptuous? If I used Vicky all the time, I know that would be too familiar.

Does any one have any ideas on this, please?

__________________
Vicky
www.c-vas.eu

Vicky, I know it sounds and feels pretty wierd, but go ahead and use your last name just as is. It's just a convention of journalism, everybody has to do it. If you're writing a biography, not for newspapers, etc., it can be appropriate to refer to Vicky, but for a press release, using your last name is the way it's done.

__________________
Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Thanks for your reply Mary. I guessed that would be the answer, but I had to ask anyway.

I am sure I will get used to it after a while, after I written lots and lots of press releases, that is.

__________________
Vicky
www.c-vas.eu

This was a great read. Does anyone have examples of good press releases they've written? I think I got the idea down, I just want to see it in action.

I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread. Once my site is up and running I can't wait to work on the press release.

Quote:

This was a great read. Does anyone have examples of good press releases they've written? I think I got the idea down, I just want to see it in action.

If you go to some of the submission sites such as PRWeb you can take a look at many good press releases.

__________________
Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

I've been toying with the idea of creating a press release to announce the opening of my new VA Company. This was great!

Thanks!

Hi,

Thanks for this thread! It is fantastic!

I was just wondering if the same rules apply for press releases globally or do they differ from country to country?

I'm in Australia, do these rules apply? (3rd person, surname etc)

Thanks,

Deb