by Blue Schmidt

Created on: April 19, 2010

Press releases are a powerful tool for promoting small businesses. Unfortunately, many small business owners don't send out press releases, often because previous releases yielded little or no media exposure. Generating publicity isn't easy, but small businesses that fail to use press releases to announce newsworthy information are missing out on an important source of exposure and revenue.

Writing a Small Business Press Release

Poor writing is perhaps the most common mistake small businesses make when crafting press releases. Learning how to write a press release correctly can improve your results a great deal. If you're not a writer yourself, consider having an employee write your release or contracting with a professional press release writing firm. The investment of an employee's time or a couple hundred bucks will pay off big time if your business is mentioned in a major media outlet!

If you'll be writing the release yourself, start by considering the same questions that a journalist asks himself or herself when beginning to write a story: "Who, what, where, when, why, and how?" If you can't answer all of these questions, take a step back and reconsider the angle of your release. You may be focusing on something that's not as newsworthy as a press release should be.

Your small business press release needs to be timely, concise, factual, honest, and well-written in order to generate media buzz. It also needs to be formatted correctly. If you're not sure how to format a press release, view some press release samples in your industry and take notes. Overall, your release should read like a news story, with the most important information contained in the first paragraph. Don't forget to include contact information!

Distributing a Small Business Press Release

Time is always at a premium for small business owners. There are never enough hours in the day just to manage the business and keep it growing, much less painstakingly query reporters at individual news outlets and then send press releases to those who opt-in to receive your news. Unless your small business is flush with cash and has hired a big PR firm, a press release distribution company may be the smartest way to submit your press releases. You'll pay a moderate fee for services that should include submission of your release to at least one Tier-1 newswire, like PR Newswire or Business Wire.

Beware of "free" or ultra-cheap press release distribution companies. You get what you pay for, especially

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