Public Relations:
Press Kits:
A press kit is a critical piece to the puzzle when dealing with the media. You need to have a good press kit that provides the reporter with everything they could need to write your story.
A press Kit provides everything that your reporter needs to decide if your story is news worth. Like any kind of advertising, you need to catch that person’s attention and sell them on the idea that your story needs to be told. It is worthy of the valuable TV time they will provide it?
There are other news media outlets to get free public relations from, radio and newspapers. With the internet, you can now use online PR services to help distribute your Press release to news outlets all over the internet. Check our resource center for some companies to contact for help.
Your Press Kit sells your story
A good PK will introduce your business or story to the press. It will capture the reporter’s attention and then quickly highlight the important points.
It then answers the top 3 to 10 questions that revolve around the story you are trying to sell.
Remember you must have an angle that is interesting and helpful to the reader. The better you can write the actual story the better your chances to get it printed and reported.
What is in a Press Kit?
Depending on who you talk to, there can be lots of items in a Press Kit, let’s look at the basics.
- The News Release: This is the actual written news release. A very critical part of any press kit. They have a headline that will capture the attention of the reporter. Then the highlighted facts of the news release. At the end, you need to have all your contact information.
- Your Bio: A single page of all the facts about you and your experience. Highlighting all the reasons you should be considered and expert on this subject. Build your Bio to help sell your expertise, is important to verify your expert status.
- An Introduction Letter: A letter that details why you have introduced them to this story and why you are the one that should be relied on as the expert and their “Go To” source for information in this area. Another great chance to sell yourself and your business.
- Top 10 Questions and Answers: Write up the top 3 to 10 questions that your customers or clients will have. Provide the answers to each question. Then decide on the most important questions. Number them in order of most important to least important. If a certain question or two make the story stand out use these as part of the New Release.
- A sample of the product: If your product or service warrants it, you want to add it into the Press Kit. If you are selling a book or report you can add a copy for the reporter. If you provide a service, you can add information about how it works and possible client or customer testimonials.
These are the basics of a standard Press Kit. There are many other things you can add into a kit that can help sell your story or business. The basics are the starting point, if you have more to add feel free to do so. If it helps to sell the story then add it in
Where can you learn about building a Press Kit?
The best starting point is Google or the public library. This will give you a great starting point. You can learn about the basics and Google will point out places you can find more information. Our resources section can help point you in the right direction as well.
Who do you send the Press Kit to?
Each media outlet has an editor or producer that manages that section of their media. In a newspaper, the Real Estate section has a main editor. A television station has a different producer for each Segment. If you have made some relationships with reporters or editors make sure a copy of your Press Kits goes to them. Consider couriering the package. This will guarantee it gets opened.
Your job is to find out who takes care of your section that relates to your story or business. Once you have done this you now can focus on who to send your Press Kit to.
A great idea at this stage is to investigate the person you are going to send the Press Kit to. Find out their likes and dislikes and how they like to read or hear about new stories.
How can you investigate your target?
Once again, the mighty Google comes into play. You can start your search by typing in their name and reading all the related information you find.
Then go to their company website and see if you can find old articles or TV segments they wrote or produced. Review them and make notes as to any similarities on the stories or the way they are told. Really take notes on the way they talk or write what they report on.
You can call their receptionist or secretary and ask question of them. Ask for help, and in some cases, you will find they are happy to help you. In fact, this relationship building step may get your story in front of your target. If you build a relationship with this person, they may want to try and help sell your story to their boss.
If you build it, someone just may read it
Remember, your story may or may not get picked up. The chances are slim if the story is weak and has limited interest.
Due to that reason, you need to write variations on your News Releases. Just like advertising you need to have multiple test News releases. First to give you options when deciding on the one you want to use for your Press Kit. Next because writing multiple releases gives you multiple stories to work with. You can then choose which one works best.
Learn all you can about making a Press Kit, then get started on making your kits.