🔥 Puddingstone Media Comms Tip: The Press Release

An editor at the local daily opens his 20th — maybe 29th — e-mail of the morning. Another press release. He skims the first paragraph, and stops. Down the page, more long blocks of text that reads like they could be about anything—or nothing. He looks for a reason to keep going, doesn’t find one Moves on. There are three dozen more messages waiting.

How to Write a Press Release That Gets Attention

Press releases aren’t articles—they’re tools.

They exist to inform, persuade, position, and network all at once.
But most of them fail to attract the attention your business or organization needs for solvable reasons.

Why Most Press Releases Get Ignored

Most organizations don’t know how to write a press release that actually gets attention. Most are bland. Way too long. Zero follow-up.

And focused on what the organization wants to say, which is not necessarily what the public wants to read about. Editors know this.

What Editors—and the Public—Actually Care About

Here’s the reality:
The public wants the “why it matters.”
You’re writing “what we did/do/are going to do.”
The overlap is smaller than you think.

So:
Lead with what’s actually interesting.
Cut it in half (then maybe cut it again).
Give someone a reason to keep reading past the first paragraph.
If it reads like it came out of a template, your message has already lost.

Need help making your message land? That’s what I do.
Available for freelance and project work.