Help Writing a Press Release?

[itsgot2bme]

Hi all! I'm working on my press release and having a hard time writing the body of it. I know I need to work an angle to make it news worthy, and since I do housecall, I thought I would focus on pet anxiety and how my services help anxious pets. I have statistics about separation anxiety, and a good title but I'm just stuck on the body!

Any tips, advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!

[arlaede]

Think "Who, When, Where, Why" Keep it simple, about a 3rd grade reading level is good for newspapers. Don't be overly wordy, get the facts out. If the reporter contacts you and wants to expand the story that is when you expand it. For initial release just get the facts out there.

I'm posting some "tips" from my local paper for press releases...

Body: Be sure to use keywords in your press release - words that will help people find your press release in search engines. You can use free keyword search tools to determine the best keywords for your press release. Free keyword research tools include: wordstream.com/keywords, freekeywords.wordtracker.com, KWmap.net and Adwords.google.com.

Quotations from business owners, customers and prominent individuals in your company add life to press releases. No more than three or four quotes per press release are recommended. Be sure to identify who made the statement with their full name and title.

The last paragraph of your release should give the reader some background about your company. A sample ending paragraph: "About the Times - The St. Petersburg Times is widely considered one of the Top Ten newspapers in America. The Times has won eight Pulitzer Prizes, including two in 2009. The Times is produced by the Times Publishing Company, which also publishes Tampa Bay's largest local news web site,TampaBay.com, the free daily tbt* Tampa Bay Times, the Pulitzer Prize-winning web site, PolitiFact.com, special events, specialty publications, and targeted advertising programs."

Did we mention not to use all caps?