Most press releases are terrible, even though professionals write them!

Please reread and think for a moment about that sentence, because it’s a stunner.

Companies who make excellent products hire presumably trained experts to publicly relate to the media, who can then pass along your message to consumers.

But as a former Chicago Tribune columnist, and as a current host of a nationally syndicated daily tech radio show, I can tell you that 95 percent of press releases are useless:

• They’re ill-conceived conceptually.
• They’re poorly written.
• They’re usually filled with grammatical errors — and they’re sent to professional writers and editors!
• They’re not interesting. No. They’re boring.
• In the tech field, they’re sometime impossible to understand. Sometimes, not only do I not know what the release is trying to say, but I don’t even know what the product is!
• They fail to capture the recipients’ attention.
• They play “the numbers game” — pitch as many journalists as possible and hope somebody bites. This is NOT a good way to interest the media. (A better way would be to take your story and shape it for each recipient, whom, ideally, you know well. More on this tomorrow.)
• They often talk about the products and specs, which almost nobody cares about.
• They rarely tell a good story.

And I repeat: it’s professionals, internally and externally, writing these horror shows for companies who invest billions in product development. How embarrassing!

Now imagine getting press releases this bad, 100 times per day.

Now imagine why reporters and editors HATE getting press releases.

Now ask yourself this question: Do you think it’s easy or difficult to stand out in this horrid crowd?

I’ll answer the question: It’s beyond easy.

You just have to do a few things better.

I’ll detail them in postings over the next week.