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Put the Ease in Press Release

6/28/2014

 
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In a newsroom, hundreds of press releases come across the assignment desk every day.  You need to get your press release moved to the top of the possibilities pile.  But, how do you do it? 

Write a head turning headline. 
Your goal is to grab the reader’s attention right off the bat. The clock starts ticking as soon as that piece of paper or email hits his or her hands. Be clear. Be concise. Get straight to the point. We want to care. Make us care. 

Let's make this quick.
The entire press release should be no more than one page. Hit the 5 W and 1 H: who, what, when, where, why and how. However, another page or even a paragraph with answers to possibly asked questions are helpful and appreciated. Journalists follow the KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Some prefer Keep It Simple, Sweetheart. If you are writing a release for television broadcast, think in terms of picture and sound. What are the best photo ops? If there is a certain time this is happening, please be specific in the release.

Who you gonna call?
If journalists have questions, they need to be able to get a hold of someone NOW. Include a contact office phone, home phone, cell, pager, twitter, facebook, instagram, whatever is the best to reach you.  Your client will not be happy if his or her story didn't make air or press because you couldn't be reached. 

Be memorable. 
 If your story is covered, call or even write to say thank you.  Keep good records of your contacts, even take notes on any personal information he or she may share to ask about later.  First impressions go a long way.  Take the time to stand out.            

Writing Well With Images

1/7/2014

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What do you see first when you look through a magazine, newspaper, or website? It probably isn’t the text or even the headlines; it’s the pictures. 

Images grab a reader’s attention, help to inform them of content and tone, and guide the reading experience. They are powerful tools – think of the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” If you are mindful about the images that you use, these evoked “words” will only deepen and affirm the content of your writing.

Tone
The tone of your image and the tone of your writing should match. For example, if you are writing a cheerful piece, you probably want your image to be bright and fun. A dark and shadowy picture would give readers mixed messages.

Tone is not always an easy thing to describe. Before you use an image in your writing, ask yourself how the colors, shapes, and textures make you feel. This feeling is your tone. Sometimes you might want an image, like a picture of a product or a graph, to have a neutral tone. Simple white backgrounds help create this neutral space.

Decoration versus Information
Be careful of using images for decorative purposes. Some decoration on a website or brochure is nice, but it can easily become cluttered. A good image will add meaning. Before you use an image, ask yourself what it adds to the reading experience.

Letting the Images Speak for Themselves
A simple caption is often enough, but they are not always necessary. If you try to explain the image too much, it can lose its power. Trust that your readers will understand. Trust that the image can speak for itself.

Quality
Nice pictures equate to higher sales, more interested readers, and a better company image. Pictures are the first element most people look at, so they set the standard of quality in your writing. If you use a below average image, your writing will appear less professional, even if you have an amazing title and intriguing first paragraph.

Having an image that is blurry or hard to make out is like having a sentence full of grammatical errors. Take as much care with the image’s quality as you would with the quality of your words.
 
Copyright Laws
Ok, this one is pretty simple. Don’t use images without checking their copyright information. There are many free image websites you can use, but that leads us to our last point:

Originality
Be original when possible. Millions of people can download the same free image that you can. If someone sees the same picture on a facebook ad and on your website, it will be diminishing to your site. Originality with images is just as important as originality with words.

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The Key to Writing Well on the Web

9/12/2013

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The Internet offers us the ability to see new things at any moment. Entertainment is endless online, and at times the desire to watch funny YouTube videos instead of being productive is overwhelming. Successful websites are those that reduce these temptations by keeping the reader interested and focused.

Here are a few easy ways to do this:

Titles
 Use titles. Use them a lot. Titles are short statements about what you will be telling the reader. Big blocks of text can be daunting and unappealing, often driving readers away. 

Even if you have a lot to say, titles can help break up this text and direct the reading experience. Don’t be afraid to make titles interesting or surprising, this will only draw readers in further.

Simplicity
Notice the difference between the sentence you are reading right now, which has far too many words, is too complicated, has many clauses, and seems as if it was written in a sort of long-winded delirium (probably caused by the author muddling through a lot of poorly written internet articles), and this next sentence which is essentially saying the same thing. 

Be simple. 

Be clear, but simple. 

Long and wordy sentences are for comfy couches and Sunday mornings – they are much harder to digest at a desk or on a screen.

Hyperlinks
 Hyperlinks are one of my favorite elements on websites. People are click-happy on the Internet. No amount of beautiful, perfect, internet-adjusted writing is going to fix that, but as the saying goes, “if you can’t beat em’, join em’!” 

Hyperlinks are a writer’s answer to the temptation to click. They allow you to more keenly focus and direct the reading experience. They also give writers the ability to explain jargon or acronyms without going into too much lengthy detail. 

Linking to other pages on the same website can also be useful  - there’s no need to repeat lengthy data or facts if you can link to them. However, be careful to use hyperlinks sparingly – too many can be distracting.

Be Personal
 Dealing with machines is often frustrating and boring. From automated messages to technical issues, we would almost always rather be dealing with a person. We receive the Internet through the impersonal space of a machine, making the voice of an author all the more important. 

It is important to let readers know there is a person behind the words. More than anything else, this will hold their interest and keep them reading.  


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The Technical Elements of a Great Email: Email Etiquette Part 2

5/18/2011

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Avoid email confusion by following OPTTRP
We’ve all used acronyms at one point in time to remember bits of information (remember elementary school days when you memorized ROYGBIV to learn the colors of the rainbow?)  Labeling information in an easy-to-remember format does just that—it makes it easier to remember. That’s why OPTTRP (pronounced opt-trap) provides a simple solution to remembering the basic elements any business or work-related email should contain. Sending clear messages requires a clear format and OPTTRP covers all you need to know about writing effective emails that communicate your message clearly.

OP: Organizational Purpose
Aside from last week’s suggestion to always open a work email with a friendly greeting, the next item included in an email should be the organizational purpose. The organizational purpose states what the intentions of the email are and the reasons for writing. The purpose defines the context and explains necessary rationale for any upcoming requests. While it may seem obvious why you are writing the email, it may not be so obvious to the receiver.

If I am emailing a client, for example, I might begin by writing something like “As we discussed earlier on the phone, attached is the contract for our upcoming newsletter project.” While I could assume that my recipient knew the purpose of the email, I’ve eliminated any assumptions by reminding him of our earlier conversation and the ultimate purpose of delivering the contract.

TT: Technical Task
Once the framework has been established, the next article to include in an email is the technical task. This is the action or undertaking you are asking the receiver to complete.

Building off the above example of sending a contract to a client, my technical task is to outline the procedures for signing and returning the contract and ask that the client do so within a reasonable timeframe. Identifying the task explicitly avoids ambiguity and follows a logical approach since I have already set the stage with the organizational purpose.

RP: Rhetorical Purpose
After the technical task has been outlined, ending the email by asserting the rhetorical purpose is often beneficial, especially if the receiver is someone you are newly in contact with. In essence, the rhetorical purpose can serve to recap the organizational purpose or extend beyond that to define long-term goals.

In the sending a contract to a client example, my rhetorical purpose is to create a long-running relationship with that client and to become their go-to writer. Adding a line or two at the end of the email indicating my enthusiasm in working together is one way to define the rhetorical purpose of not only this one specific email, but to many more communication exchanges to come.

Whenever in doubt of how to begin writing a business email, follow the OPTTRP rules and remember each element need not be lengthy—it just needs to communicate clearly your purpose, the task, and the rhetorical outcome of those items.


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