Steal 4 SEO tips from the search giant’s own releases
Google issues few press releases: 13 in 2013, 17 in 2014 and just 10 in the first eight months of 2015.… Read the full article
PR writing
Thumbs up
Get The Peer Principle of Persuasion into your next campaign
“What others say about you and your product, service, or business is at least 1,000 times more convincing than what you say, even if you are 2,000 times more eloquent.”
— Dan Kennedy, author of No B.S.
… Read the full articleWrite quotes that sound human
Convey personality, passion and a point of view
Too many quotes don’t even sound human. Instead, they clatter in your ear like a computer spit them out.… Read the full article
List, rhyme and twist
Craft a sassy sound bite
When the Federal Trade Commission needed to explain why the agency has decided not to develop a do-not-spam registry — officials feared that spammers would target people on the list — a spokesperson said:
“You’ll be spammed if we do — and spammed if we don’t.”
You’ve got to love that sound bite!… Read the full article
Use the magic word in releases
‘You’ gets the story started in PR pieces
It’s counterintuitive, but true: The product is never the topic. The program is never the topic. The plan is never the topic.… Read the full article
Description works for PR leads
Paint pictures in your readers’ minds
Imagine the first few hours in the recovery room following a hysterectomy or … ligament repair. Consider what post-surgical life has been like for some pets undergoing common surgical procedures; intense hours WITHOUT pain medication.
… Read the full articleDetails make the difference
Go granular with PR leads
The internet coffee pot. Word of the year. The Dust Bowl.
Details like these grab attention and help readers see your big idea.… Read the full article
Avoid Google’s wrath
SEO for releases — what works (and what doesn’t) now?
PR pros to Google: Do you love us? Or hate us?
In March 2015, Google News sent PR pros a belated valentine when the search giant announced that news releases would top the “in the news” section of its search results page.… Read the full article
Steal secrets from a Silver Anvil winner
This Clorox release is worth a closer look
I review a lot of copy for my learning tools, in-house workshops, coaching sessions and other projects.… Read the full article
Put the reader first
Don’t focus your release headline on ‘us and our stuff’
Front-loading your headlines with your topic word just makes sense if your readers are going to encounter those headlines in online lists — a search engine results page, for instance, or your online newsroom.… Read the full article