The Ins and Outs of a Good Press Release

Press releases have changed drastically over the years, especially as business owners realize the importance of online marketing. Whether you are announcing a new class offering, trying to drive interest in your company, promoting an event or simply trying to enhance your search engine optimization, a press release is a great way to showcase your gym to your local news and radio stations in hopes they pick up the story.

However, you got into this business to change lives through health and wellness, not because of your passion for writing. Whether writing for a local television station or a national publication, consider some of these basic guidelines before whipping up your next press release:

Cover the 5 W’s

The best way to quickly get your point across is to put the five W’s (who, what, where, when and why) in the lead paragraph of the press release. Then, you can use the following paragraphs to expand on them, but this ensures someone immediately knows what they are reading about without all of the fluff.

Use a Quote or Two

A quote is a great way to enhance an article. Quote an athlete who has benefited from a class you are trying to promote, or even quote yourself on what sets your gym apart from the competition. This is a great way to expand on your press release topic by adding an opinion.

Be Strategic in How You Send It

It seems like sending over a press release to a news source would be the easiest part of the task, but there are a few things that will help ensure the source actually reads the release.

• Type FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE in the subject line of the email, followed by the topic.
• Always put the information in the body of the email; don’t send it as an attachment. This makes it easier for an editor to read it, versus having to open a document.
• Send along a picture of your logo or your gym so the news source won’t have to use a stock image.

Don’t Forget Contact Information

 At the end of the release, include a short paragraph on your company’s background information and include all the details on how to contact you — email, website address, phone number and address.