|
|
|
Christmas Vacation for Your Home Business - A Survival Guide
On Monday morning not too long ago, I braced myself for a deluge of email. I had not switched on my computer for three days and just knew I would have a couple of hundred emails. I was wrong. There were 486. That afternoon, our postal carrier...
Creative Strategies for Brainstorming for Business Success
We experience creativity every time a fresh idea pops into our minds. We recognize creative imagination in everything from a pastel painting to a business plan. By trying these ten tips, you will discover some amazing creative abilities that may...
Good Idea Generation – a process
It seems incongruous that good idea generation can be a process or that a process may lead to insight. However, if you examine the behaviour of people who regularly generate good ideas – such as creatives in advertising - you will find that common...
How To Use Brainstorming To Solve Your Money Problems
Advertising executive Alex F. Osborne first coined the word “brainstorming” in the early 1940’s. Since then literally millions of ideas, products and services have been created.
Every institution from Fortune 500 companies...
Sweat the Small Stuff for Great Customer Service
Undoubtedly you’ve heard about the popular book series that started with Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, followed by Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff at Work, …in Love, …with Your Family, etc. While these books relay a message containing a great deal of...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
How Not to Write a Press Release
Several years ago, when I was working for an agency, I was fired from an account. What that means is the client didn’t want me writing for him anymore.
Another writer, a friend of mine, got the account and life went on.
Of course, I was pretty upset by the situation. I had completed several writing projects already for that client, which had seemed to go well, and had just finished a press release when I got the boot.
My writer friend told me later her "secret" for making this client happy. Basically, what she did was rewrite the press release so it focused solely on the client and the client’s business.
I said: "But what you’ve written isn’t that newsworthy. I don’t think the newspaper will accept it."
She said: "That’s not what the client wants. Therefore, I don’t worry about it."
And she was right. (She kept the account after all.) The client wanted an "I’m so great" press release. He didn’t want something that might actually result in coverage for him. He wanted something that would make him feel good when he read it.
In the world of public relations, press releases are the explorers. They travel far and wide, visiting media outlets everywhere, and presenting information about your products and services. Media people decide whether or not to cover your business based in large part on those hard-working press releases.
So, there's a lot riding on them. Therefore, it pays to take a little extra time to make sure they're outfitted correctly for the job.
When you get an idea for a press release, ask yourself this question: "Is this something someone else would be interested in or is this something only I (and maybe my mother) would want to read?"
Sounds easy, right? Well, if it was that easy, there wouldn't be so many "Look at me -- I'm so great" press releases running amuck out there.
Unfortunately, the "I'm so great" press releases are seductive. They sound so good when you read them. They whisper things like: "Of course the editors will want to write about me. I would make a wonderful human interest/special feature/business feature story. Didn't I just see a story like this about my competitor/another business last week?"
You need to be on your guard when one of these ideas shows up. Question them. Interrogate them if you must. "Why will the media like you? What do you offer
that's different than any other press release? What's so special about you? Why will someone want to read more about you?" Don't allow their pretty words to influence you. You must get to the truth. Chances are what seduces you probably won't seduce the media.
Remember, media people are looking for an angle or a story that would interest their readers. They want to know things like: "What's in it for my readers? Why will my readers care about this piece of information?"
If you can answer those questions correctly, then you have an excellent chance of getting the coverage you're looking for.
Creativity Exercises -- Write a newsworthy press release
The only way to get better at recognizing a good press release is to practice writing them.
Start by writing what you think is a good press release. Put it away for at least 24 hours. Don't look at it. Don't even think about it.
After the 24 hours is up, pull it out and read it. Ask yourself this question:
"Is this something someone else would be interested in or is this something only I (and maybe my mother) would want to read?"
Really ponder the question. Don't let yourself answer it too quickly.
Still feel like it's newsworthy? Then try this exercise. Replace all the references to you and your product with another business and product. I recommend inserting a business that is not one of your competitors. Use the Find/Replace function on your word processing software to make this a quick and easy process.
Put your release away again. If you can wait another 24 hours, all the better. But even moving on to a different project and coming back a few hours later will help it sound "fresh" to you.
Read it again. Do you still find it interesting now that it's about someone else?
It's tough to view your business objectively. Fortunately, this is a skill that will get easier the more you do it.
About the Author
Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.writingusa.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek
|
|
|
|
|
| Creativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of ... Wallas considered creativity to be a legacy of the evolutionary process, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Creativity For Life |
| An exploration of creativity in everyday life, with articles, quotes, reviews and other creative resources to awaken creativity in daily life. |
| www.creativityforlife.com |
|
| AdCritic.com: Commercial Ads |
| FROM CREATIVITY: Emerging Directors, Unite In the time it took to write this, three new directors popped up. Here are twenty to get acquainted with. ... |
| www.adcritic.com |
|
| National Curriculum in Action - Creativity - |
| Ordering Creativity packs: print and video materials. This website gives practical ideas on how to promote pupils' creative thinking and behaviour. ... |
| www.ncaction.org.uk |
|
| Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity |
| Experiments performed by the JPB Creative Laboratory show that watching TV causes your ... a weekly report on creativity, ideas, innovation and invention ... |
| www.jpb.com |
|
| Category:Creativity Techniques - Mycoted |
| This is a general category of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, ... I like to think of these creativity techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the ... |
| www.mycoted.com |
|
| Creativity at Work: The interplay of business, art and science |
| A resource for training and development in creativity and innovation in organizations. Has a newsletter, and some articles and essays by 'Corporate ... |
| www.creativityatwork.com |
|
| Crayola Creativity Central |
| Crayola Creativity Central offers kids arts and crafts ideas for rainy day fun. We also have coloring books and pages, art and craft projects, games, ... |
| www.crayola.com |
|
| Pages tagged with "creativity" on del.icio.us |
| All items tagged creativity ??? view popular ... Perspective for Creative Leaders · save this. by aromay to creativity business management ... 1 hour ago ... |
| del.icio.us |
|
| Creativity Web - Resources for Creativity and Innovation |
| Creativity Web Home Page Resources for Creativity and Innovation ... The Creative Process · Multiple Intelligences · Idea Recording · Your Creative Space ... |
| members.optusnet.com.au |
|
| gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards": how to ... |
| So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. ... Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion ... |
| www.gapingvoid.com |
|
| Creativity Quotes | Creativity Quotations | Creativity Sayings ... |
| Quotes on Creativity - part of a larger collection of Wisdom Quotes to challenge and inspire. Find Creativity quotations and links to quotes on other ... |
| www.wisdomquotes.com |
|
| Ideas by Creativity Pool |
| A free database with new ideas and possible inventions. Add your own, or bring an existing idea to life. |
| www.creativitypool.com |
|
| CREATIVITY |
| Creative problem solving depends on using the right tools, tricks, ... Search for the latest books on Creativity (or anything else) in the Quantum Books ... |
| www.quantumbooks.com |
|
| Creativity Tools, Creative Solutions & Creative Problem Solving ... |
| This page explains a wide range of techniques which can help you generate creative solutions to your problems. |
| www.mindtools.com |
|
| The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
| A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company. |
| www.fastcompany.com |
|
| CreativeClass.org |
| Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" examines creativity and its effects on economic development. |
| www.creativeclass.org |
|
| TIP: Concepts |
| The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology ( Guilford , 1950). Much effort has been devoted ... |
| tip.psychology.org |
|
| American Creativity Association (ACA) |
| An incorporated non-profit organization promoting personal and professional creativity. Association membership is represented by four multidisciplinary ... |
| www.amcreativityassoc.org |
|
| CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
| A resource for links on creativity and innovation on the web. A selection of 690 links is divided into 67 categories for the visitors convenience. |
| www.creax.net |
|
|