One of the best ways to generate free publicity for your adult entertainment company is to write and submit press releases to appropriate industry news outlets. Different websites will have different requirements that you will have to meet when submitting a press release, but a properly formatted and well thought-out press release will be welcome at most websites that specialize in adult industry news. As the Editor-in-Chief of YNOT.com, I’ve seen my fair share of press releases. Some are well-written, while others are not so well-written. The purpose of this article today is to give you some kind of idea of what YNOT.com expects when you submit to us a press release for possible publication. Although I’m writing this article specifically with YNOT in mind, many of the tips that I will provide here will also help when writing press releases for submission elsewhere.Rule Number One: Have Something to Write About
One of the biggest problems I’ve seen with press releases is that the author of the release really doesn’t have anything interesting to say. Maybe it’s interesting to you that your office just upgraded all of its computers to the latest version of the Windows operating system, but outside of your office… nobody cares. If you want to write a press release that news sites will publish and people will actually read when it is published then you have to start with some interesting bit of news that is worthy of some attention.
Don’t get me wrong… you don’t have to cure cancer before you have something worth writing about. The other members of the adult entertainment industry are certainly interested in the business moves that your company makes. A good topic for a press release might be something as simple as hiring a new employee, sponsoring an industry event, announcing a new partnership, or launching a new product. What you’re writing about needs to have some kind of impact on the rest of the adult entertainment community. If your press release is purely fluff, then it probably won’t get accepted for publication on many respectable news sites.
Rule Number Two: A Press Release Isn’t an Advertisement
Okay, so you’re trying to promote your company with a press release – that’s fine. That’s what everyone who writes a press release is trying to do. But the information you are providing in the release has to be presented in a way that shows why it’s newsworthy and interesting to other readers. If all you want to do is write advertisements then you might want to look into the news sites ad packages and leave it at that – I know we can hook you up with a great deal on ads here at YNOT. If it isn’t clear through the text of your press release why your announcement is newsworthy then it won’t see the (cyber) light of (virtual) day.
When you’re writing your press release, try to avoid superlatives or any other words that sound like they belong in a late night infomercial. Your company might be “the greatest” or “the best ever,” but tone it down please when you’re talking about your company in your press release. Keep your tone professional. You don’t have to be totally unbiased, but if you come on like a used car salesman then your press release will be passed up.
Rule Number Three: Easy on the URLs
A press release isn’t an excuse to just spam a bunch of URLs for your company’s websites. If you include a URL, make sure you include it as part of the larger announcement, and keep URLs limited to one or two per press release if possible.
Rule Number Four: Add Some Meat
One paragraph probably isn’t going to interest very many news sites. Here at YNOT, we want details! Here’s a quick and dirty listing of the components that you need to include in your press release text:
- Lead Paragraph. Here you want the down and dirty facts – start strong by telling us what is happening, who’s involved, where it’s happening, and when it happened (or when it will happen). Just the facts, please, no sales pitch. Save the why for next.
- Significance/Impact Paragraph. Remember, nobody cares about what you have to say unless you tell them why they should care. Why should YNOT’s readers care about the facts you presented in the first paragraph? Explain the significance and impact of this announcement.
- Quotes. Back up what you’re saying with quotes from your company’s staff or the experts appropriate to your bit of news. Did you just hire a new employee? Well, include a quote from the new victim so she can explain how happy she is to be on your team. Launch a new product? Have somebody from your company explain why he or she thinks this is a good thing. Make sure it’s clear who the person speaking is, and why he/she has authority to speak about the topic at hand.
- Backup Paragraph(s). If you have to further explain anything above then include a paragraph or two of backup material. You can leave this out if it isn’t necessary for your announcement and the preceding information is clear.
- About Your Company Paragraph. Don’t forget to tell us something about your company at the end of the press release. Just because everybody knew you at the last party you attended doesn’t mean all of our editors or readers know who you are. You should include a basic “About My Company” section at the end of each press release you send out, and it should talk about what your company does, when your company was formed, mention any flagship company products, boast about defining company achievements, and all that good jazz. Paint your company in the best light possible, but don’t take forever to do it.
Rule Number Five: Learn Proper Formatting
Formatting your press release in the proper manner makes it friendlier to editors, and increases the odds that your press release will be published. There is no one absolute right way of formatting a press release, but there are a number of standard formats that are widely used. Here’s one that we appreciate here at YNOT:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Contact Person’s Name
Company Name
Contact Phone Number
Email Address
Website URL
HEADLINE (All Caps Please)
City, State, Date – TEXT BODY STARTS HERE WITH LEAD PARAGRAPH
(See Rule Number Four for details about the text body of your PR.)
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Rule Number Six: It’s Grammar, Not Grammer
Okay, we all make a grammar mistake from time to time. Typos are a bitch too. I probably made at least one mistake somewhere in the writing of this article. But the fewer mistakes you make, the more authority you have. Not everyone is a skilled writer, so let the employee with the best writing skills craft your company’s press releases. Pass the release around the office and check for any mistakes before you submit it to news sites. If a press release is plagued with grammar and/or spelling mistakes, I generally send that sucker on a one-way trip to the recycle bin. Not that I mean to be a pain in the ass, but I just don’t have the time necessary to rewrite everyone’s press releases.
Conclusion
Spend a little time now learning to write an effective press release and your company will enjoy the benefits of free publicity for a long time to come. Make the writing and submitting of press releases part of your regular routine. Submit your press releases to YNOT first – after all, we just helped you learn how to write a good one – and then consider everyone else. Or don’t consider them. That part, I leave to your wisdom.
