The Benefits of Using Press Releases in Email Ad Campaigns

Promotional Skills for The Chronically Amateur

Part 22: The Benefits of Using Press Releases in Email Ad Campaigns
by Shonda Ponder

© 2002, Shonda Ponder

If you know how to write a great press release, and if you know where to send them, one press release will give you more exposure than 100 paid advertisements. A good email campaign for press releases will benefit the distribution of your message over a thousand times more efficiently than any messageboard campaign, website, or advertisement. So let us discuss what a press release is, how to write one, who to
send them to, when you should send them, and what makes them so beneficial.

Let's face it: most of us, in the freedom movement, find it hard to "break into the media". Most of the time, if you stop and look at the overall picture, you will find that the fault does not necessarily lie with-in the media. For the most part, it is our inability to inform the media.

For instance, if you have a birthday party, and you fail to send out invitations, no one is likely to show up. Right? A good, newsworthy event is not newsworthy if no one knows that it exists. So, a press release is basically an invitation to cover a story, much like an invitation to a birthday party.

Speaking of which, if you send out an invitation, what are the protocols of all birthday party invitations? On a birthday invitation, many times you will find an RSVP contact information, as well as date of the party, place of the party, and an overview of what you can expect at the party. A press release works in much the same manner. Without the necessary protocols, your email may find its way to the trash can, and then you will get your feelings hurt because no one will show up.

It is much easier for one to blame the media for failure to cover a good story than to look at where the fault ultimately lies and to do something about it. This is why many organizations fail to get their message out to people who would benefit from the message the most -- mainstream America.

So, what is a press release? A press release is an invitation to the media to use information and to cover a story, giving them the necessary tools that will enable them to do the job efficiently and effectively to better benefit you.

According to one press release distribution service, Advanced PR, "The value of the exposure and recognition that a newspaper or magazine write-up, editorial or product feature, can have is often times enough publicity to launch small companies into multi-million dollar businesses and mid-to-large size companies into the millions!!!" They go on to say, "The golden rule is… 'If you get press attention, you
WILL GET ORDERS!' Businesses in today's world, cannot ignore this simple rule."

Yes, I know what you are thinking. You do not consider your message or event gathering a "business". But, in the grand scheme of things, your distribution of information is exactly that. And, if you want people to support your work by purchasing a product or making a donation, it is, in essance, a business. And, without press exposure, your organization or message will die a lonely death.

In the previous sections we discussed email lists, and now would be a good time to review what we discussed. The reason reviewing the email list section is important is because your announcement list (See Part 10 for a definition of "announcement list") will be the main tool you have for getting out good press events.

In the next section we will discuss the distribution of your press release.

This is Part 21 of "Promotional Skills for the Chronically Amateur"