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Module 13 - Press Releases
1
Module 13 – Press Releases
Important Learning Advisory:
To experience better learning, it is recommended that you print and follow this transcript
while listening to the MP3 audio. There is ample space at the bottom of every page for
you to write your own notes and jolt down ideas. Happy learning!
Module 13 - Press Releases
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Hello and welcome to Press Releases. In this course, you will learn how to get amazing
traffic exposure with Press Releases on top positions of Google.
This course will outline the methods that you can use to get your Press Releases written,
submitted and published on top positions on Google in a couple of hours.
Many marketers spend tons of money and countless hours trying to search engine
optimize their content to get on high Google search rankings. However, search engines
prefer certain types of content against any other websites and among the preferred
content of top search engines lie in Press Releases.
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With that said, we will dive into this course and learn how you or anyone can easily tap
into this method to drive tons and amazing traffic exposure to your website.
So let‟s begin. Let‟s start by explaining:
What are Press Releases? A press release is basically a type of news story intended to
get the attention of news reporters. In other words, press releases are meant to inform.
Just like how you have live news media releases on newspapers, magazines, radio and
television, online press releases work the same except that it is via the Internet.
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Press releases are written or recorded communication directed at users of the news
media for the purpose of announcing something that is of news value. This means that if
your press release is newsworthy enough, members of the press will pick it up and
subsequently use it to advertise to help you spread your word even further.
The reason why we should leverage upon press releases is because search engines like
Google love press releases content and award high Page Ranking for them.
Press releases are also targeted towards a large range of Internet newspapers and
magazines. As a result, this will attract media attention from the public and generate
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huge publicity for your product or event.
Press releases are of great exposure and you can potentially reach hundreds of
thousands if not millions of people. Your press release can announce a range of news
item such as your personal promotions, awards, upcoming launch, product or services,
accomplishments and etc.
It is extremely effective in Internet marketing terms to send in a featured story for the
purpose of announcing your upcoming product or launch.
Furthermore, publicity is more believable than advertising because people view publicity
as a piece of news that is information and of value. On the other hand advertisements
sometimes turn people off because they have the notion that advertisements are often
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trying to sell them something.
Press releases also have a multiplier effect. With press releases, you may send out to
different press release websites to gain interests of reporters who will help you to
promote if your story is of newsworthy. The means that member of the press are
constantly looking for stories that will interest the viewers, readers and listeners. With
that said, if they pick up your press release, it is very likely that they will help you
republish your content.
Press releases are also written in order to highlight an important event, program or a
piece of information that describes the:
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
and How?
…of the story.
The press release will then be sent to journalists who will then develop articles on the
subject. With articles and announcements running all over the Internet about you can
make you famous and build amazing credibility and reputation for your name and your
website.
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Now let‟s go through step by step on how to execute press releases effective. In a
nutshell, there are 4 simple steps:
Step 1. Keyword research
Step 2. Headline and copy
Step 3. Link your Press Releases
Step 4. Finally submit them to press releases directories
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In order to rank in top positions of Google to gain maximum exposure of your press
release, you must optimize your press releases. How you do this is to target long tail
keywords which are of 3 words or more. Find keywords, which are of low competition
and have relatively high number of searches.
The optimization is similar to that of article writing. How you conduct keyword research is
to go over to Google Keyword Tool, which you can easily access by typing on the
Google Search Engine, “Google Keyword Tool.” You can then type in the root word of
your niche and generate keywords idea from there.
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After that, export this list of keywords and go over to Google Search Engine and find the
exact competition of these keywords. How you find the real and exact competition is by
searching your keyword on Google Search Engine with quotes (“”).
Target keywords, which are of less than 10,000 in competition. When you target these
keywords, you will almost be guaranteed to be ranked on top positions on Google for
your keyword.
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Once you have found your main targeted keyword, be sure to insert your desired
keyword into your title and also the first and last paragraph of your press release. Try to
also repeat your keyword within your press release with a keyword density of 1-3%. This
means that your keyword should show up 1-3 times for every 100 words of your press
release.
To make your entire press release keyword-rich, you should insert related keywords
within your press release as well. However, make your press release sound as natural
as possible. Do not force your keywords into your press release. Focus on your readers
first and then only insert your keywords.
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So for example: If your main targeted keyword for you press release is „How to Lose
Belly Fat‟‟. Your related keywords could be: remove stomach fat, get rid of tummy fat
and etc.
The next step to optimizing your press release is link optimization. How this is done is to
anchor text link your keyword in the first paragraph. So if you are targeting keywords on
„How to Lose Belly Fat‟, be sure to anchor text link the keyword „How to Lose Belly Fat‟
in your first paragraph and have it linked to the website that you intend to send your
readers to.
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Within the site you are sending your readers to, make sure the keyword anchor text link
appears in the header or tags of the page you are linking to. So for example, if you are
linking your press release to XYZ.com/losebellyfat.html, be sure that „losebellyfat.html‟
consist of the keyword that you intended to optimize (preferably in the header or the
meta tags of your page).
Now let‟s talk about writing perfect headlines. It has been tested and proven that four
worded headlines are the best. Again, make sure you remember to insert your keyword
into the headline and make your headline as attention grabbing as possible.
Try to use words that generate curiosity. Words such as:
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Little Known Secrets
Discover
And also phrases such as How to Achieve X in Y Days
If possible, also try to use symbols because they are eye catchy and stands out from text
written headlines. Make use of symbols such as:
The Numeric Characters (from 0 – 9)
Percentage Sign (%)
Question Mark (?)
Slashes (/)
And also… Inverted Commas (“”)
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For effective copy writing, try to keep your press release between 250 – 300 words. It
should be short and concise because you would want your reader to read the entire
press release and click through to your website. So don‟t get carried away with writing
too much. Instead focus on your objective that is to make your press release
newsworthy and get your readers excited to click through.
You should also approach your press release from a third party point of view just like
how most offline press releases are written. There are often written in a way, where
someone else is telling the story. In this case, the story is about you and someone else
is announcing your story or event.
An effective press release needs to be exciting because nobody will click through to your
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site if your press release is boring. So always focus on a newsworthy story and have in
mind that you‟d want journalists to pick up your content and have them republished. To
add on, you have to always remember that a press release is an announcement and not
a sales page. So, never ever try to advertise your product blatantly or be too sales pitchy.
Finally, always include a strong call to action with instructions. Your call to action should
always remind the readers of their benefits and how their problems can be solved.
Based on what you are offering, it could be a free report or a solution that will help him
resolve his problems in 7 days. Whatever your offer is, always draw them to your call to
action by telling them their benefits and how soon their problems will go away.
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The structure of your press release should consist of 3 main sections. Your:
1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Footer
Your introduction should be a short summary of what you are about to tell them in your
entire press release. However, don‟t spill the beans by over telling them because you‟d
want them to read your entire article. Instead trigger curiosity about what they would take
home from this press release to get them to read through.
Within your introduction of your press release, remember to hyperlink your keyword as
we‟ve talked about earlier in the keyword and link optimization slides.
Inside your body copy, there should be a detailed description of your endorsed product
or the story that you would like to be talking about. Highlight the benefits. Always focus
on benefits instead of features. Tell the readers what is in for and give them an insight of
the solutions that will help solve their problems.
You may also include any testimonials or endorsements within your body as well.
Testimonials are an extremely powerful word of mouth tool to win the trust and
confidence from prospects and there can never be a fixed price for this. So even if you
don‟t have any testimonials at the moment, try to get hold of them by offering to a
handful of prospects a free trial to your product and subsequently get a testimonial in
return.
In your footer, conclude in a few sentences of what you‟ve just told them in your press
release. In here, you should also include the keyword that you have targeted for your
press release and very importantly your call to action.
Finally, finish with your contact information. Let them know who you are, what you do,
your website and name. You might also want to consider leaving your e-mail address as
this could potentially attract news reporters who might be interested in your
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announcement. They might want to contact you about it so by offering basic contact
information would be helpful.
Once you have your press release crafted, it is time to submit them. There is no need for
mass distribution. Submitting your press release to 1- 2 PR sites will do. However focus
on top press release sites. Here are a few recommended ones:
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The 2 „paid‟ press release sites which has got very high PR ranking are:
1. WebWire.com
2. PRWeb.com
They cost a bit of money, typically between $10-300 depending on the amount of
exposure you want to get.
However if you‟re not yet ready to invest into press releases, you may start with the free
press releases sites, which works well too. These sites are:
1. PRLog.org
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2. EReleases.com
3. DBusinessNews.com
4. SanePR.com
5. PressBox.co.uk
6. Free-Press-Release-Center.info
Once you‟ve experimented with press releases and gotten your first press release going,
it‟s time to scale them up! This way you will get maximum exposure and it will certainly
help maximize your traffic to your website.
How you do this is submit 5 press releases to a different PR site everyday for 7
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consecutive days. Your press release should not be the exact same content but it could
be similar content. Each press release could talk about solving different aspects of a
problem that your product is offering.
By scaling your press release, it will give you maximum coverage from different sources.
From this you can expect large amounts of traffic surging towards your website in a very
short period of time!
If you want to take your press release to the next level and want to be extremely
successful with this traffic strategy, take the approach to get to know your journalist. PR
stands for „Public Relations‟ and that is exactly what it‟s all about. Try to connect with
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journalists who are writing related stories in your industry. Find them, connect with them
and see what you can do for them.
You can easily find journalists on publication sites, through their websites or even
through social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and even at Linked In. So
start browsing through the press release and social media networks. Extend your
existing network of contacts and build relationships with them.
Alternatively, if you do not wish to spend time browsing and finding them, you can pay a
fee to join some publication websites where reporters will find you instead.
Some of these websites include PRLeads.com (which cost $99 per month) and also
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HelpAReporter.com.
These sites are a press release resource network that will help you grow your publicity
by connecting you with news reporters. Simply register with them and they will put you in
touch with reporters who need to quote people like you in their stories.
Sites like these get 100s of requests per day from eager news reporters who wants to
interview experts like you for the stories they are writing. These reporters work for top
publications such as New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Investors Business Daily and
many more! When these press release resource networks find a lead that matches your
profile, they will hook you up with the reporters and get the ball rolling for you.
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By now, you should be armed with good enough tools and knowledge to get your first
press release going.
When crafting your first press release, remember to take all the necessary steps
highlighted in this course. Always focus on providing value, telling a story that is
newsworthy and scale up once you‟ve experimented with your first press release.
Remember that it is not what you write that is most important but how you write to them
that is the most important. If you are able to convey a story successfully and follow the
steps outlined in this course, you will be guaranteed to be seeing a swamp of traffic
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coming your way in no time!
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