Use Small Business Press Release Checklist for Success

Entrepreneurs tend to use checklists and to-do lists. It helps them stay organized. They can be good for easy reference. Here are the key points you want for successful press release distribution. Read this article for an online press release small business checklist.

by Louise Harris

Small businesses and entrepreneur use checklists and to-do lists to stay organized. They are good reference tools and help people when they are overwhelmed. Checklists can be made for anything and in any industry. Therefore, it makes sense to provide a small business online press release checklist to help entrepreneurs know they have all the parts they need for a successful press release distribution. Here are the key points.

1 — Good Headline

Every press release must have a good headline or title. It should include a verb and be engaging that catches the eye of a journalist. These headlines should not be the same that you use in blogs and posts on social media. You want to be specific and target the headline to what your news is, so avoid “10 Things About My Product You Didn’t Know.” Try something along these lines: “New Product Decreases Blot Clots in Legs.”

2 — Strong Lead

Your press release should follow the headline with a strong lead that tells what your release is featuring. You want to use who, what, when, why and how in your lead. You could have two sentence leads if it would be too wordy and confusing. For example, “On Tuesday, ABC Company developed a new product that reduces the chance of getting blot clots in patients’ legs.”

3 — Contact Information

Journalists need to know how to reach you if they want to do a story. Therefore, you want to make sure you include your phone number, e-mail address and Web site information in your press release. You can choose to place it at the top of the release or at the bottom. You might prefer to use the top because they will see the information before they read the headline and lead. If they choose not to read any more, they won’t see your contact information if you put it at the bottom. Either location is acceptable. If you have both a landline and a cell phone number, you should include both numbers.

4 — Dateline

The dateline is on the first line after the headline, which is before you start writing the lead. It includes the city and state where the story is taking place. That is usually your corporate headquarters, but sometimes, you might need to put a different location, such as for an event or a special coming from one of your other locations. For example, Omaha, Neb., would be a dateline. You do want to include a date in the release, but that is usually under the contact information and not on the dateline.

5 — Body of Release

In an online press release, the rest of your announcement follows the lead. This is known as the body of the release. You want to put important information at the top and least important as the last paragraph. That allows journalists to stop reading when they wish without having to read to the bottom to get the most important information

6 — Ending

You want to end your press release with either # # # or -30-. They should be placed in the center of a release after the last paragraph. If you want to give additional information, such as photos, about the company or links to videos, you should do it after the ending.

7 — Sending

When you have used this checklist to make sure you have a correct online press release, you have to figure out how to get your release to the journalists who would want to read it. You could do the research yourself and send via your e-mail program, or you could hire a press release distribution company to do the work for you. Faselis Growth has a platform designed for entrepreneurs and targeted to specific journalists. You could choose the industry and send it nationally or locally. You could rest assured that Faselis Growth has the right contacts for your announcement.

8 — Follow Up

After your release is sent, you have to follow up the release with a phone call or e-mail to make sure they don’t have any questions for you. If you follow up the release with a phone call, you are more likely to be successful in getting media attention for your news.

If you want to be successful with your online press release, use this checklist and ask Faselis Growth for help.