Is there no such thing as bad press? While we’re not at liberty to answer that question for you, we can instead help you decide on how to present your business to the press in a positive way. You can choose the information you want to share with the public by writing your own press releases and not only will writing your own releases save you money (no need to hire a marketing firm) it also ensures that your story isn’t miscommunicated and is being told exactly how you want it to be!

Almost anyone with a high school diploma can conquer the art of writing press releases–so, whether you want to pitch your personal journey as an entrepreneur to a national publisher or you just want to share the cool menu offerings at your pizza shop with the local newspaper, you can have one sent over to all your favorite media companies in no time if you follow this list on how to write your own catchy press releases.

Let’s dive in!

1. Pick a UNIQUE subject to feature
   If you want your press releases to be picked up by publishers, what’s going to catch their attention the most is uniqueness. This may require some creative thinking on your part. What makes your business unique?Is it the “cool” atmosphere? Is it that it’s all woman-owned? That it’s open 24/7? Even in the case that you believe your company is “normal” or “mundane”, I can almost guarantee there’s something about it that can be angled towards a niche–and if there’s not, then make one! Think of the stories you’ve seen about popup events, outrageous foods, or a human interest piece about a company that donated to a charity or conducted a new study.

   Of course, depending on the topic you decide to feature you will need to tailor submissions to the right media companies. If you’re writing about food, you’d want to submit to food magazines, for business news, business magazines, etc.If you’re at a loss for what unique angles your business might qualify for, consider browsing trending topics to get an idea of what people are interested in reading about.

2. Don’t go overboard with information
   When you come up with an angle you think will catch a reader’s attention, you will then be able to start the hard part: putting it in writing. How do you tell what feels like your whole life story in only one press release? The answer is: you don’t.If you want your release to be picked up by the publisher(s) you are sharing it with, remember to write for your audience–aka editors who don’t have time to read a novel and will most likely only skim through your email. You definitely want your most important verbiage to be the main focus, leaving most of the backstory out of it to be explored at an appropriate time later.
3. Include supporting media
   If there’s one thing that can make or break the editor’s decision to move forward with a press release, it has to be the lack of good supporting media. In a world that is very visually stimulated, photos, videos, graphs, etc, are almost always a necessity for press consideration.Most publishing companies don’t want to be tasked with securing supporting media for a post. So don’t wait for them to ask for it; before you send your pitches, make it your mission to provide the best visual references you can–it will also help to get the editor’s attention.

And perhaps most importantly, remember that your press release isn’t supposed to do the publisher’s job for them–it’s only supposed to put your business on their radar for a feature. Your writing skills don’t need to be perfect; you should focus most on your story-telling and visuals and less on writing industry standards.