Many times when people think of the term "press release," what comes to mind is a major life-changing news story published by a large corporation or government agency.  According to the World English Dictionary, however, a press release is simply "an official announcement or account of a news item circulated to the press."

What does that mean for the home business entrepreneur?

You have a powerful tool for generating publicity and getting noticed -- right at your fingertips.

Why Online Press Releases?

In the past, news was released in print, on television and on radio.  In recent years, however, the internet has completely changed the way individuals and organizations get the word out.

The average consumer now expects to get their news immediately, especially online, so when you publish a press release about your home business on the web, it’s possible to see a major influx of traffic to your business within hours and minutes instead of the weeks and days it used to take.

Here’s why it works.

Many of the press release sites are considered important authority sites by the search engines, so if you optimize your report properly as explained in this article, your news item will appear higher in the search results for the terms your prospective customer cares about.

Moreover, the fact that they are identified as authority sites means the links from the press release sites to your website are given more weight.  So from the search engine perspective, you are more of an authority and your website rank increases, making it easier for your intended audience to find you online.

Additionally, due to the relevance associated with press release sites, your perceived authority in the minds of your readers multiplies.  You then have an avenue by which you can educate the consumer about your home business, build rapport and truly form a connection.

But What Would I Write a Press Release About?

As stated above, a press release doesn’t have to be about an earth-shattering event (although big news can garner a lot of attention quickly, as you’ll see below).  Here are 10 ideas you can use to gain free publicity using the power of the press:

1.      Announce the opening of your business.  If you’ve been in business for a while and have never written a press release about it, write a piece announcing your mission statement.  Tell the world who you are and what it is you have to offer.

2.      Publicize a new product or service you’re launching.  Share the benefits your customer can expect, and tell them how to do business with you.

3.      Announce your teleseminars and webinars.  A press release is a fantastic vehicle for attracting attendees, so always include enough information to ensure you’re drawing the right audience.

4.      Reveal a special sale or any special offers you have going on.  Tell your prospective customer exactly why they should do everything possible to seek you out.

5.      Remember that major news story?  Link big news with something happening in your company.  As an example, about two weeks before the time of this writing, Prince William announced his engagement to Kate Middleton.  The Franklin Mint then announced the production of a limited edition Kate Middleton portrait doll.

6.      Start a Meetup group for home business owners in your area and promote it with a press release.  You can announce the establishment of the group itself and send a news release before each event.  In this way, you grow your membership and increase attendance at the meetings.

7.      Publish a news piece when you launch your website and every time you make a major change to it.  Be sure to include an incentive for the reader to actually visit your site.

8.      Create a press release when you hire support staff.  This is an implied statement that your home business is growing rapidly and your prospects need to do business with you now, while they can still work with you personally.

9.      Set up a charitable event and tell the world via a press release.  One of the best ways to implement this idea is to offer a product for sale and commit 100% of the proceeds to the charity of your choice.  This is especially effective if the product for sale is an information product because it minimizes your cost.  Don’t have an information product?  Set up an interview with a well-known figure in your market (let them know it’s for charity), record the interview, and sell the mp3 download.

10.  Start a contest and write a news article to announce it.  Include enough information that the reader can clearly understand the rules and benefits.  Contests are fantastic tools for building your list of prospects.

So What Goes In a Press Release Anyway?

One of the keys to success with online press releases is to write your news item so that it will be found when people are searching for what it is you offer.

In order to do this, spend several minutes brainstorming and writing down specific words and phrases your ideal prospect is likely to enter into the search box when they’re looking for the solution you provide.  Then use a keyword research tool, such as the Google External Keyword Tool, to identify the most popular search terms in your market.

Select 4-5 of the most popular terms.  One of these will be your main keyword, and the rest will serve as supporting - or secondary - keywords.  These are the words you’ll focus on when writing the press release for your home business.

Now that you know your keywords, let’s look at what to put in the press release.

1.      Title.  A good press release title is short, starts with your main keyword, and grabs the reader’s attention immediately.  Use action words and power words such as results, secret, risky, revealed, and announces.  Remember the goal is to motivate the audience to want to read more.

2.      Summary.  The summary is one or two sentences that describe what your news item is about, and it should include 3-5 secondary keywords.  The summary should entice the prospective reader to read the entire article.  It’s also a good idea to place a link to your website in the summary of a press release so the reader can immediately visit your site if they so choose.

3.      Dateline.  The dateline must include the date and a clear, concise declaration of the news.  When someone reads the dateline, they should have an immediate understanding of what you’re reporting.

4.      Main Body.  The body of your press release should be 300-800 words long, written from the third-person, neutral point of view.  It must answer the 5 W’s -- who, what, where, when, and why.  The body text should focus on a single news item and must not be written like an advertisement.  Instead, tell the reader what’s happening and why they should care.  Be certain to include 1-3 links to your website in the body of your press release.  At least one of the links should use your main keyword as the anchor text (the visible, clickable text in the hyperlink) and at least one of the links should use your actual website address as the anchor text.  Take the time to be sure one of your keywords is in every paragraph of your press release.

5.      About/Boilerplate.  Give the reader of your press release a high-level look at your home business.  Tell them about any special certifications, awards, and honors you’ve received.  Convey your unique selling proposition.  Then place a call to action, with a direct link to your website, as the last line.

6.      Contact Information.  Provide your name, the company name, your telephone number and the website address for your business so the reader and members of the media can easily contact you.  Do not use a personal email address.

So I Just Write a Press Release and People Start Calling?

Well...no.

After you write your press release, you do have to submit it to the online distribution services.  These services share your news items with multiple websites so your content is published all over the web, thereby increasing your exposure and the likelihood that your target audience will connect with you and learn about your home business.

While there are some paid services, the following are some of the most effective sites that allow you to distribute your news items for no cost:

http://digitalmediaonlineinc.com

http://emeapr.com

http://freepressindex.com

http://jkhanok.com

http://news.eboomwebsolutions.com

http://news.thomasnet.com

http://pressabout.com

http://pr-gb.com

http://prmac.com

http://www.1888pressrelease.com

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com

http://www.addpr.com

http://www.afly.com

http://www.afreego.com

http://www.betanews.com

http://www.BriefingWire.com

http://www.cgidir.com

http://www.clickpress.com

http://www.directionsmag.com

http://www.downloadjunction.com

http://www.filecluster.com

http://www.freepressrelease.com

http://www.free-press-release.com

http://www.freepressrelease.com.au

http://www.free-press-release-center.info

http://www.freepressreleases.co.uk

http://www.i-newswire.com

http://www.itbinternet.com

http://www.itbsoftware.com

http://www.mediasyndicate.com

http://www.nanotech-now.com

http://www.newswiretoday.com

http://www.npr.org

http://www.onlineprnews.com

http://www.openpr.com

http://www.pr.com

http://www.pressabout.com

http://www.pressbox.co.uk

http://www.pressexposure.com

http://www.pressmethod.com

http://www.pressreleasecentre.com

http://www.pressreleasecirculation.com

http://www.pressreleasepoint.com

http://www.prfree.com

http://www.pr-inside.com

http://www.prleap.com

http://www.prlog.org

http://www.prurgent.com

http://www.prwindow.com

http://www.przoom.com

http://www.publicitywires.com

http://www.sbwire.com

http://www.seenation.com

http://www.theopenpress.com

http://www.ukprwire.com

As with all of your marketing, the key to success with press releases is to test, test, test.  That means take action, be consistent, and make small changes until you find exactly what works for you and your business.

Here are 5 techniques you can use to ensure your press relationships are lasting ones:
1.    Make sure it’s easy to contact you.  Provide your home, office and cell phone numbers in your media kit and in all of your communications with member of the press.  If a reporter or editor calls you and you’re unavailable or it’s not a good time, call them back as soon as possible.  You don’t know what that contact could mean to your exposure.

2.    Do what you say you’re going to do.  If you’ve agreed to an interview, be where you’re supposed to be on time and complete it with enthusiasm and professionalism.  If you’ve agreed to write an article, get it to the editor well before the deadline.  If you’ve agreed to take part in a publicity stunt, show up and do it.  If you fail to keep your word, not only will that person not contact you again, but chances are they’ll spread the word among their peers that you’re not a reliable resource.

3.    Focus on them, not you.  Your media coverage comes about because of your ability to help a media outlet meet the demands of its customers.  That means they have to provide information, shows, stories, etc. that encourage their audience to tune in so that companies will purchase advertising space.  With that in mind, approach all of your contacts with the media by finding out what you can do to help them.

4.    Follow up professionally.  Maintain regular contact with those you’ve worked with (or want to work with).  Let them know what you appreciate about what they’ve been doing.  If you’ve sent them a story proposal and they haven’t responded, just ask for their feedback – they’ll let you know which way they’re leaning.  If you have a recommendation for a follow-up story or a piece of news that’s important for them to know right away, share it with them, but don’t be pushy about it.  Keep your name in the front of their minds, but do it so that your name is associated with positive thoughts.

5.    Say thank you.  Thank the people you work with for their time and effort.  Thank everyone you come into contact with on getting a story out there.  The best way to show your appreciation is to say thanks in person and then follow that with a thank you card.  Be specific if you can.  Although it’s not essential, note that a camera person recording your interview for the local news will remember you more if you say “Thanks for telling me to show my teeth when I smile, I really did look more approachable!” than if you say “Thanks for your hard work on this interview.”  Don’t send gifts, just make a simple expression of gratitude.

Remember that reporters, editors, producers, production staff, and all of the other people involved in running a media company have specific jobs to do, and, chances are, none of those job descriptions say their job is to sell your product.  Keep your focus on being professional and building relationships, and you’ll be amazed at how much members of the media come to value your collaboration.

First, be sure your topic is newsworthy.  If at all possible, tie in the press release to something that’s a hot topic in the news or in social networking sites on the internet.  Visit trends.google.com and buzz.yahoo.com to find the most-searched-for terms and what people are interested in right now.

Second, write down the keywords that relate to the product or service you’re announcing.  Rather than sitting down and writing out what you thing people are searching for, use a tool with proven statistics.  One of the best free tools can be found at

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

Enter in your main keyword and find related keywords.  Select one that receives more than 10,000 searches per month and has a medium-range level of competition.  Be sure to select a keyword phrase that has more than one word; you will use that phrase to focus your press release on your target audience.

Third, write a compelling title that combines your keyword phrase with a hot topic.  Your headline should, if at all possible, include a benefit for the reader.  Structure your title so that your keyword phrase is the first thing a search engine spider “sees” when crawling your press release.

Fourth, create a summary of your press release that includes three or four of the other keywords your found when doing your keyword research.  That does not mean just list the keywords one after another, but use them in natural sentences to summarize what you’re announcing.

Finally, create the main content of the press release.  This content must answer the who, what, where, when, why and how for the reader.  Write the news item in the third person, include quotes from yourself and other experts, and keep your content to between 300 and 500 words.  As with all of your marketing efforts, be sure the content includes:

•    Benefits for the reader
•    Why they should listen to you
•    Call to action with a compelling reason for the reader to act

In the body of your press release, include at least three well-placed links to your website.  Think about this carefully so that you place them in the most natural locations.  If at all possible, send the links “deeper” into your website.  That means you don’t have to link only to your home page.

Ideally, your links to your website will be keyword links.  That means you’ll publish your press release so that what the reader actually clicks on is your keyword phrase and the url is not displayed.  The exception is in the call to action.  You need to have your full website addressed included in the call to action

The links to your website will cause the search engine spiders to follow and index your site.  Since press release sites are spidered very frequently, your site will likely be indexed quickly.

Follow these five steps and submit your press releases to the online distribution services, then monitor your vistor statistics and be sure your webhost’s server doesn’t melt under the tons of traffic to your web pages.

In order to be effective, press releases must be newsworthy and must compel the audience to take immediate action. The easiest way to implement these two factors is to write a press release that links your company or product to a current event, especially one that is generating a lot of interest and that impacts the emotions of your target market.

In order to get your press release published, you need to write so that the editor of the publication or news service finds your item newsworthy.

Editors receive thousands of news releases and have to sort through and publish only the best. Space is limited, so editors look specifically for stories that have the most appeal to their readership. A good press release includes:

• A provocative headline that immediately captures the editor’s (and eventually the reader’s) attention. Headlines are not statements of opinion and should not be a simple statement of fact. Use the headline to compel the reader to see what you have to say. For example:

“SaRita Hartin Announces New Course On Information Marketing”

is very weak and likely won’t get published. Who cares if a new course is announced? Try this instead:

“New Information Marketing Course Offers Powerful Tools To Prosper Despite The Failing Economy”

Now someone might care. There is a reason for the reader to find out how more. They certainly want to prosper, right?

• Content that stirs the emotions. The length should be between 200 and 500 words and should be broken down into small paragraphs so you can hold the reader’s interest. The content should implicitly show the reader what benefits they’ll gain by paying attention to this news item.

Put the most important information in the first paragraph: who, what, where, when, why and how. Take the time to really work on this part because the language needs to flow naturally and be interesting while still putting forth what the reader most needs to know.

• Claims that are backed up by research. Statistical information that reinforces your point is very powerful. It shows the editor that you’ve done your research, and it shows the reader that you’re a trustworthy source of information. As an example:

“According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts there was a 37.8% increase in the number of new bankruptcy filings from 2007 to 2008.”

That’s a powerful statistic if you’re announcing a product that will help with individuals’ income or asset protection.

• Company officials and other credible sources are quoted. Editors look for the opportunity to identify the source of any opinions or ideas mentioned in the news item. Use a true authority, such as the President of your company, to lend even more strength to the statement.

• A simple, clear and direct call to action. Tell the reader where to go for more information. Provide your phone number, email address, website, or whatever other contact method you prefer. This is the perfect place to offer readers something for free if they go to your website and sign up.

You can use press releases to find new leads, promote products, services and events, and keep your brand out there in the public eye.