How to Make the Most of your Online Press Release #CaseStudy

As some of you may know, I have just received £150,000 worth of investment into my business Gloople, valuing it at £1M. Because of this, I had to go through the process of getting the Press Release written and sending it out. I am going to share with you some simple steps I went through, along with some examples of how it can help your business.

Depending on your business and how good your writing skills are, you will need to decide whether you are going to write the press release yourself, or have someone do it for you. If you are going to write the press release yourself you should take into account the following things;

• Keep the headline of the Press Release relevant, clear and to the point. Use the keywords within your business to help you with this.
• Use a larger font for your Headline as it is the first thing people see.
• The first sentence of your main body text should encapture the feel of the press release.
• Have the date of the press release and the city your company is based in, in the body text.
• Avoid using long sentences in your press release as well as fancy language. Keep it simple to read and easy to understand.
• The first paragraph should sum up the press release and the rest of the text should elaborate on this.
• Use the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where and why) when writing your press release. Make sure you have information on each W in your document.
• Provide information links to support your press release.
• Include information about your company along with contact details at the end of the press release for the people who want to find out more.

If you have decided to have someone else write the press release for you, the best place to go to is Freelancer. You are able to post a project for free and have some of the best writes get back to you with the Press Release.

Now that your press release has been written, you will need to start sending it out to businesses who may find it of interest. The first company I use to do this is Press Release Point. You can submit a free press release here or pay £12.50 for them to post the press release to 50+ free press release websites and 100+ online publications.

I also use SourceWire to distribute the press release even further. This costs between £30-£65 depending on how many categories you want to use for the document. Using Sourcewire will allow you to target the right journalists, raise your SEO and web traffic. Although this website is slightly more expensive, it is worth spending money on as it has proven results.

The final company I use which I found only recently is Soft Solutions Ltd. For £12, they will automatically submit your press release to over 100 media and journalist outlets.

Because of using these three sites, I managed to secure 18 pages worth of Google searches featuring the key words from the Gloople press release. I also had articles written by Startups.co.uk, GrowthBusiness.co.uk, iExpats and Angel News along with various other websites.

It would also be worth creating an excel spreadsheet of media outlets which you could send your press release. This is a great way to connect on a one-to-one basis. Don’t forget to market through the traditional route, just because you have sent out the press release to the above websites, it doesn’t mean you stop there. You will need to use your Social Media and Email Marketing resources to maximise your Press Release exposure.

I hope this blog has helped you with your Press Release and I would love to hear about your Press Release experiences.