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Writing press releases that get results (as in media coverage, blog coverage, etc.) doesn’t have to be difficult. As a matter of fact, there’s a pretty simple formula for effective press releases. Even though it’s not technically a “secret,” it can sure seem that way with as often as it’s ignored. Here’s the “secret” formula for perfect press releases:

Solid “Real” News Angle + A Well-formatted, Well-written press release + Press Release Distribution Through Proper Channels = The Perfect Press Release + Real Results. 

That’s it… simple, right? Let’s break it down a bit to explain where a lot of people go wrong.

Solid News Angle – Ask yourself a few questions to help when deciding if your story idea is truly newsworthy: Will the story grab attention on it’s own? Can it be tied to a larger issue in the news? Is it timely? Will it either inform people or entertain them? Is there something unique going on? Is there a good human interest angle? Are there any notable people involved? Is there a special local or industry angle?

Well-Formatted, Well-Written Press Release – This should be beyond common sense. If you want your press releases to get noticed, then write a proper press release! Give journalists an attention-grabbing headline, a summary or sub-heading with more info, a boilerplate with some background, full media contact info, and make sure your release answers the questions who?, what?, when?, where?, and why? early. Here’s a free press release template to help you out.

Appropriate Press Release Distribution -  Here’s where a lot of the press releases distributed online go wrong. To get real exposure with a press release, it needs to make its way in front of the right people (bloggers in your niche, appropriate editors and beat writers at media outlets, etc.). Even a professionally-written press release won’t help you if you don’t distribute that release effectively. You can manually distribute your press release to bloggers and journalists, release it over a newswire, use paid online distribution services, hire a professional to distribute the release for you, or post it to free distribution sites just to get it picked up in news engines. Your distribution model needs to match your coverage goals, and fit within your budget.

Before jumping into press release writing in your publicity efforts, take the time to plan out your goals and budget, and make sure your anticipated news angle actually has coverage potential. The time you spend planning can save you a lot of time and money later.