4 questions to ask before sending a press release

The Internet is flooded with lousy content. Much of that lousy content is composed of thousands, maybe millions of worthless press releases.

You know the kind. You’ve probably read a few of them—perhaps even written them. Once you reach the end, all you can say is, “Huh? What’s the news?”

How can you make sure you aren’t adding to the Internet litter with your releases?

The first step is simple: Make sure your event or announcement warrants the writing and distribution of a release. Here are four questions to answer before writing a press release.

1. Will anyone care about this?

All those terrible press releases have one thing in common: No one cares what they have to say. When it comes time to write a release, you need to picture your target reader. First, you need to think about the reporters or bloggers who would read your release and want to cover the news. What is their beat? What topics do their blogs cover? Is your story in line with what they might be looking to cover? Would anyone want to cover what you’re talking about?