Tips for writing a how-to story
Service stories aren’t news articles. Which means that the inverted pyramid isn’t the right structure.
Instead, use the feature-style story structure, and organize your piece like this:
tipsheets
Tip sheet examples: An eggcellent idea
The American Egg Board offers how-to stories
When Americans bought more plastic and candy eggs and fewer real eggs for Easter 2012, the American Egg Board turned to Edelman to take back Easter.… Read the full article
Sample tip sheet: Silver Anvil winner shares tips
PR pros get attention with how-to stories
When PR pros at the U.S. Green Building Council needed to round up resources in their Green Apple Day of Service, they didn’t write stories telling volunteers to get donations.… Read the full article
Why tip sheets?
Service stories get read, shared, used and acted upon
How-to information is the No. 2 type of content that gets retweeted, according to research by Dan Zarrella, viral marketing scientist for HubSpot.… Read the full article
How to create a tip sheet
7 steps for writing how-to articles
When the folks at Topolobampo, Chicago’s cathedral to Mexican cuisine, wanted to sell more syrah, they didn’t put signs on the tables saying “Buy wine!”… Read the full article