The Press Release Side of Business Blogs

In How to Write Powerful Press Releases, Judith Welsh shares ten tips for success.  Accounting Today Magazine calls the book" a valuable resource for selling yourself, your product, or your service," Since business blogging is designed to accomplish exactly those three things, I thought, let’s see how the tips apply to the writing of effective business blog posts.  (In keeping with my own advice on Monday about keeping posts short by dividing content into more than one "installment", I’m going to discuss only the first five tips today.)

Make sure the information is newsworthy.
Since online searchers are already in the market for what you have to sell, what you know about, and what you know how to do, simply focus your blog post on providing useful, relevant information on your topic.

Tell the audience the information is intended for them.
By using keyword phrases in the title and in the first sentences of the blog post, you can assure readers they’ve come to the right place to get information related to their online inquiry. 

Ask yourself, "How are people going to relate to this and will they be able to connect?"
One suggestion is to open your blog post with a "grabber" question such as "Have you been concerned about……..? Now, there’s a solution….".   Or, "Have you tried and tried to find…..  At ACB Company, we’ve found a way….."

Make sure the first ten words of your release are effective, as they are the most important.
Since online searchers tend to be scanners rather than readers, you have only a few seconds to engage their interest and attention, so that they do not "bounce" away to other websites or give up their search altogether.

Avoid excessive use of adjectives and fancy language.
Direct, simple, businesslike language is a good idea for most kinds of business writing, and that goes double for blogs. Publicity Insider.com uses a press release for KitchenAid coffee makers as a positive example of this kind of writing:

"Flat brew baskets help maximize flavor extraction from the coffee grinds,while refined shower heads provide optimum steep time."

Business press release or business blog – in a way, the goals as shown in these five tips is the same: 

Demonstrate the particular expertise and history of your company or your professional service and how you differ from the competition in approach, product, expertise, or price.