Charlotte-Area Communicators Discuss Best Practices for Feature Releases

Business Wire Charlotte hosted a breakfast on September 29th in Greensboro, NC to discuss “All Things Feature Release.” The discussion, led by Greensboro-area PR and media professionals, revolved around the best practices for getting your feature news noticed. The panel of speakers included:

• Gerri Hunt, Managing Editor, Kids Today Magazine
• Susan Ladd, Features Editor, The News & Record
• Mary Leigh Wallace, VP, RLF Communications

Here are some key takeaways from the discussion:

• Always try to spin a local angle into your features article.
• Always include multimedia. Even if an editor doesn’t have time to write an original article about your story, they can fill space with your photo and caption.
• It is never to early to send in a features release. Some Features editors plan months ahead, you should plan in advance, too.
• If you plan to email a features article to an editor, don’t forget the basics in email etiquette. Save the cute headline for the release. The subject line should show basic info.
• Make your features story evergreen. Make it timely tomorrow and timely six months from now (except for obviously seasonal topics).
• Local papers don’t have enough staff to write a story for you. Provide the whole package for them: local angle, multimedia, quotes.

Don’t forget to check out Business Wire’s Feature Topic Series.

Local Business Wire offices host several events each year on PR, IR, SEO & media topics.  Check out the Business Wire Events page to find upcoming events in your area.

Follow Business Wire events on Twitter! Hash tag #bwevents

Upcoming Business Wire Events – September 22 Edition

Join Business Wire experts in your area for media breakfasts, panel discussions and other insightful events. We bring local media members and industry thought leaders to your market to discuss today’s most relevant topics, from writing for SEO to marketing with social media. Best of all, Business Wire events are usually free of charge. Check out some of our upcoming events in your area:

All Things Feature Release

Hosted by Business Wire Charlotte

Join Business Wire for breakfast in Greensboro and a panel discussion on the latest trends in feature articles and lifestyle news. Learn about how to effectively write and pitch feature stories and what newspaper and magazine editors look for in a feature story. Our panel of local communication professionals and feature editors includes Mary Leigh Wallace, Vice President of RLF Communications, Susan Ladd, Features Editor for the News & Record and Gerri Hunt, Managing Editor for Kids Today Magazine. This event is free for Business Wire members and $10 for non-members.

Tuesday, September 29 at 7:30am ET
Emerald Event Center
200 E. Wendover Ave., Greensboro, NC 27405
To register: Please RSVP to Angela Hayworth at angela.hayworth@businesswire.com or call 704-347-1590 by Thursday, September 24

Press Releases: The Road Not Taken

Hosted by Business Wire Nashville

Add more life to your press release. Join Business Wire Nashville for this educational workshop that will show you how to partner your text release with multimedia, stylistic elements and SEO techniques, the “road not taken” that can earn you big media results. This event is free for all attendees.

Tuesday, October 13 at 11:30am CT
Courtyard by Marriott
1901 West End Ave., Nashville, TN 37203
To register: Please RSVP to Denise Higgins at denise.higgins@businesswire.com or call 615.661.6123 by Tuesday, October 6

For more upcoming local Business Wire events or to see what’s coming up in our award-winning webinar series, visit http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/business-wire-events.

Follow Business Wire events on Twitter! Hash tag #bwevents

How to Build Your Online Newsstand with RSS

Some day, RSS will be to our online life what catalytic converters are to cars and no one will care what it is or how it works–we’ll just be glad it does.

But that day of understanding and acceptance has not arrived–yet.  At our presentations and webinars, “What is RSS?”  continues to be a frequently asked question.

That’s why Business Wire account executive Malcolm Atherton out of our Phoenix office, and San Antonio-based Joseph Miller, our EON: Enhanced Online News Product Manager, have assembled an 11-minute video on How to Build Your Personal Newsstand with RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

As always, the approach is accessible and easy-to-understand.  Please take a look.  And if you want Business Wire or EON content as part of your online newsstand, please sign up for one of our customized feeds.

Business Wire & NAPS Team for Enhanced Feature News Distribution

Business Wire is bolstering our industry-leading feature wire service! We’re combining our exceptional online distribution network with the reputation of longtime leading mat release distribution provider NAPS to offer the best service possible.

Mat releases have become increasingly popular in recent years because they are written in a special editorial format and provide camera-ready artwork that newspapers and special interest magazines can print with very little editing. Business Wire and NAPS will send lifestyle stories such as consumer interest, health, food, home and holiday to more than 11,000 media outlets.

Our partnership with NAPS will guarantee clients a minimum of 100 placements for each article. This unique service is intended to allow members to share their feature news with a widespread audience, but also to add value by assuring placement.

To learn more about our partnership with NAPS and to view upcoming subjects for our Feature Topic Series, please visit http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/features.

Consumer & Lifestyle Media Panel Recap

We recently hosted a live media panel in New York for PR professionals looking to connect with high-profile consumer and lifestyle editors in the industry. Listen to the archived event and find out the latest on what top consumer media editors are covering

The panelists included Darcy Jacobs, articles editor, Family Circle; Kristine Kennedy, east coast editor, Better Homes and Gardens; Susan Avery, senior editor, Grandparents.com; Jenifer Braun, weekend entertainment and consumer lifestyle editor, The Star-Ledger; Sharon King Hoge, editor, Verdant; and Tracy Saelinger, lifestyle editor, Every Day with Rachael Ray.

The event covered an array of topics that proved to be insightful and very candid. The panelists addressed some of their own personal stories and offered details on how they prepare for upcoming sections, the latest trends they are monitoring and tips on how to pitch a story for better placement.

PR Week also covered the event (post one) (post two) and offered some handy tips discussed by the panelists.

Google Comments Offers New Opportunities for Communicators

  

One of the goals of our Business Wired blog is to provide readers with better tools for communicating their messages in the ever-changing media landscape. Today we are happy to highlight a service we’ve been following with much interest that we and our friends in Google News thought would be of value to Business Wire clients.  

Earlier this year Google News launched a comments feature that allows individuals or organizations that are mentioned in news articles to add their own comments. Comments are then served up alongside those articles on Google News.  

Josh Cohen, Google News’ Product Manager explains: “Google News has always tried to present as many sources as possible to give our users a wide spectrum of views on the news.  Comments is an experimental feature that we believe will continue this goal by letting readers see exactly what people in a story think about current news.  We think this will help us increase the number of diverse and meaningful points of view on the news.”  

So how is this different from any comment section or discussion board? Well, on Google News only persons or organizations who are specifically mentioned in the story can comment. Google News then contacts the person submitting the comment or others in their organization to verify their identity. As a result, each story is expected to have only a handful of highly relevant comments that give readers a more in-depth look at topics in the news. Cohen adds: “their insight will both help readers understand the news, and cover views that may not be well-published or well-understood within the current coverage”. 

For PR professionals and marketers, this is an excellent opportunity to provide greater detail or clarifications when their press releases receive media pick-up. Also, it creates a new channel to follow-up on a press release with updates, success stories, or links to other relevant stories. Finally, it is another form of reaching out to your audience and participating in the conversation. While these comments differ from commenting on blogs or engaging in social networks, they can be a valuable part of the new communications mix.  

So how can you comment on a story that is relevant to your company or client?  According to the instructions on Google News you should send an email to news-comments@google.com containing the following information:

1. Your comment (hyperlinks allowed, but no attachments)
2. A link to the story you are commenting on
3. Your contact details: name, title, and organization
4. A way to verify your email address

Verification is one of the central components of Google’s comments feature. Therefore it is highly recommended to provide as much information that Google News staff can use (for example adding contact details of persons who can verify your credentials, or, if you are submitting a comment on behalf of a client, demonstrating that you are indeed authorized to speak for them). Keep in mind that Google News will not edit comments once the sender is verified, so they will be posted exactly as you emailed them. 

So the next time your press release or related articles are shown on Google News and you feel you have more valuable input to share, this can be a great new outlet. Please look at the Google Comments instructions page for more details. 

As usual, we’re happy to hear what you think. If you’ve already used Google Comments or would like to share your own thoughts about it, feel free to comment below.

Tips on Writing a Press Release for Features Editors

We’ve written a new tip sheet to help guide PR pros in writing an attractive Features press release. The piece provides a paragraph- by-paragraph breakdown on what to include for features editors. Or new Features Topic Series program just launched, with outreach to journalists with 2007 Features issue dates (pdf) and PR pros, with 2007 deadlines, and a new brochure with 2008 deadlines (pdf).