HOW DO YOU DO IT?

And the only way to do that has been largely ignored or is unknown by most students.

The failure of the vast majority of students to get admission to their chosen university is one of the great unpublicised stories of our time.

Why do they fail?

Because they think in their terms and do not consider the reader: the admission officer.

They don’t even know they are doing it.

But THAT is why they fail.

IN THIS ARTICLE

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Press releases are a way to get your business exposed to more and more would be customers. They are written as a news article and submitted to editors who would then print them or follow up with you for a story.

An example of a successful press release can be found at http://www.allprobizops.com/successrelease.html Take a moment to read through that article and then take a closer look.

You’ll find that this press release, just like any good news article, answers some basic questions for the reader. Not only that, there is a specific formula involved in constructing the piece.

Here are the questions:

Who?will bring or brought about the event?

What?is going to happen or has happened?

Where?will or did this take place?

When?will or did the event occur?

Why?will or did it occur?

How?will or did it happen?

Now, here is the formula. If you plan to write a great press release you must know and understand how to build it:

First is the headline. Choose the words carefully to convey several things at once to the reader. They must be brief and to the point. You say what the news is about in ten words or less.

The words of your headline must be exciting and dynamic. Don’t be afraid to make a bold claim your headline, say for example, “Thousands of People Reap Thousands in New Internet Business.” Just be sure – very sure – you back this up with proven facts in your article.

The next component in the formula is the opening. This is where, in no more than two sentences, you capsulate your information – tell what the article is going to be about in bite size. Answer the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” questions as briefly as possible. Save details for later.

Analyze this part of your press release carefully. To be successful the article must be able to peak the readers’ attention at this point. In other words, if they read nothing further, they have all the information they need to take action.

Now, shape the third element, the body. Elaborate on your opening. Add descriptions and benefits, quotes and testimonials. Be sure all of your quotes begin and end with quotation marks and give credit and credentials to the persons you quote.

For instance, instead of ending a quote with, “says Barbara Smith,” end it with “says Barbara Smith, six figure online entrepreneur and highly praised lecturer on small business on the World Wide Web. Isn’t the second way much more powerful and convincing (provided of course, it’s true)? That’s giving credit AND credentials.

Finally, close your press release with a short call to action. Use a sentence to summarize, then tell your readers how they may get more information. Don’t go for the jugular here, though; wait for a follow up contact to make your final sale. But do use action producing words like “get” and “now” (“Get more information “now” by phoning [your name] at [your phone number]).

A few final words are important now. Let me combine them with an exercise to help you remember the five “w’s” and one “h” of successful news writing. Make sure you thoroughly consider these questions as you plan and write your release:

Who?will benefit from reading your press release?

What?do you want them to know?

When?is your information available?

Where?can they find more information?

Why?is your information valuable in the lives of your readers?

How?is your information unique? It’s going to be submerged in a sea of press releases your intended publisher will have to review.

These are the best means I know to get your press release published once it’s submitted to an editor.

P.S. More on this topic can be found by reading Dr. Randall Hansen’s Guide to Writing Successful Press Releases at http://www.stetson.edu/~rhansen/prguide.html.

P.P.S. Directories to find places to submit your press release can be found near the end of the same web page.

About The Author

Brian Moore publishes ‘BizOps Secrets’, a complete ezine resource for online success. Subscribe and receive a free 5 line classified ad. AllPro BizOps, Proven Business Secrets That Work Online. http://www.allprobizops.com

]]> http://writearticlestoday.com/writing-press-releases-that-get-noticed/feed/ 0 http://writearticlestoday.com/writing-query-letters/ http://writearticlestoday.com/writing-query-letters/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 11:19:00 +0000 madhanskumar http://writearticlestoday.com/?p=3569 A QUERY LETTER is written to an editor or agent to describe a piece of writing to ask if they’d like to see it. It is sent in lieu of an unsolicited (unasked for) manuscript. (A COVER letter is a letter sent to ACCOMPANY a manuscript.)

Before you write a query letter, check to see if the agent/editor offers guidelines to writers – make sure you are targeting the right market for your writing. (Many publishers now have guidelines on the Internet.)Also check your Writer’s Marketplace guide.

New York agent Don Maass, in his interview with Writing For Success, offered these guidelines on writing a query letter:
“Make sure your query letter is brief and businesslike. I really recommend the four-paragraph query letter as follows:

FIRST PARAGRAPH

Say something like: ‘I’m looking for a literary agent for my mystery series.’ What more do you need to say than that? The agent thinks: Okay, so what is this series?

SECOND PARAGRAPH

The second paragraph is a description of the property that you’re offering. All I really care about is the story. Does the story have an interesting commercial premise? If you don’t have the knack of coming up with a neat hook or a pithy, strong pitch then all you have to do is tell me the beginning of your story. What is the problem that he/she faces? If you can give me those three things, and give them to me in an interesting way, I promise you I will want to know what happens next.

The job of the query letter is not to sell me on representation. The only thing the query letter has to do is convince me to read the manuscript. Sometimes we ask for a couple of chapters and a synopsis, but even if we ask for those, the query letter has done its job. All that I need is to be hooked – and the beginning of any good story will hook any reader.

THIRD PARAGRAPH

Now that I’m interested in the story, who is the author? Who wrote it? A little bit about the author is helpful – not too much. How does your experience relate to the story?

FOURTH PARAGRAPH

The closing: Say something like this: “I look forward to hearing from you. I’m prepared to send you the first three chapters and an outline or an entire manuscript; please let me know what you would like to see.”

Keep it short, simple, sweet, businesslike. When you’re reading 250 letters a week, and trying to do it in an hour or two – trust me: brevity counts.

Make sure you include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the editor’s or agent’s reply. If an editor responds with a ‘yes, we’d like to see your work’ then your writing has been SOLICITED, or asked for. Send it promptly, and in your cover letter mention that the piece is being sent at their request.

Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers’ tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/

]]> http://writearticlestoday.com/writing-query-letters/feed/ 0 http://writearticlestoday.com/writing-requires-self-control/ http://writearticlestoday.com/writing-requires-self-control/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 05:04:00 +0000 madhanskumar http://writearticlestoday.com/?p=3567 The only way to become a writer is to write. That requires a great deal of self-control and dedication, not only writing when the urge is upon you, but even when it is not. That requires seeing the words flow onto the blank page or screen.

Force yourself to sit at your desk or in front of your computer screen and write something, anything until the ideas begin to flow, and flow they will. You will soon learn that what you write when the urge is not there will be as good as when the impulse is strong. Later, when you reread what you wrote, you will be unable to tell what was a struggle or what was an inspiration.

Stay before the bare page or empty screen until it is full. One page is not impossible, and once that page is full, you will find that it is easy to fill two pages or more. Write as quickly as you can think. Do not disrupt the flow of ideas and sentences with concern about grammar, syntax, and other rules.

This is not the time to rewrite. Write quickly, ignoring spelling and punctuation. That can be corrected with rewriting as is the use of the dictionary and thesaurus. The important action is to put words to paper or to screen, to explore your thoughts, to brainstorm, if necessary.

More important is the development of self-control, of dedication, of persistence, and of a work habit. All productive writers have acquired this determination.

Charles O. Goulet has a BA in English literature. He has published several books that are available at http://www.Amazon.com, http://www.Amazon.ca, and many other bookstores.

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