Longstanding advertising vehicle can connect you to key industry figures

You can contact hundreds of newspapers and digital sites through a press release distribution company such as PR Newswire, EIN Presswire, or PR Distribution.

BY DON DEBELAK

Most trade magazines and websites—which target retailers, distributors and salespeople in a particular industry—have new product sections with press releases. Many consumer magazines and sites dedicated to a pursuit or hobby also feature new product sections full of these releases or “advertorials.”

Press releases are a great tool for inventors because editors may publish information about your product in a new product section that might be read by key industry people. Often you will get inquiries, particularly from manufacturers’ representatives, that might help you promote your product.

The best news is that you typically don’t pay anything to get listed in a new product section of a trade magazine or a product-specific consumer magazine.

You can contact hundreds of newspapers and digital sites through a press release distribution company such as PR Newswire, EIN Presswire, or PR Distribution.

Find the right trade magazine for your product by looking in the Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media at larger libraries, or search the internet for your product category or industry and the term “trade magazines.” After finding the names of the magazines you want to send information to, find the name of the editor on the magazine’s web page and then prepare and send a press release. The website fitsmallbusiness.com/press-release-examples/ has 34 sample releases you can review.

Keys to a good press release

  • Have an angle. Every good news story has something to get people’s attention: an example of people using the product, improving an existing product, or something fun and exciting.
  • Write a good headline. This should grab the attention of your audience while giving an idea of what the invention is. Write four or five possible headlines and show them to friends and relatives. Ask if they can think of something better.
  • Focus on your lead paragraph. This paragraph needs to have a compelling reason for people to read more. Again, it pays to write three or four lead paragraphs and then get input from friends and relatives about which one they find compelling. Do this before writing the body of the release, as you must know what angle you will follow. Check this site for more details: work.colum.edu~amiller.leads.htm 
  • Add strong supporting details. Write two to five strong body paragraphs in which you document your points with actual examples of how it works. Focus group testing, consumer tests and real-world examples are the types of documentation you want.
  • Get exciting quotes. They should be from real users, or from people in the distribution chain. This could dramatically increase the number of publications that will use the press release. Don’t just provide empty praise for the product; explain a problem that was solved or the benefit that your product gave.
  • Include quality photos. Preferably, these should be of your product in use by an actual user. Make sure the photos are high-resolution photos suitable for publication. You can also send lower-resolution photos but refer editors to a website where high-resolution photos are available.
  • Set up a high-quality web page. Interested editors who go to your site will be turned off by a poor-quality web page.
  • Include contact information. At the least, this means your name, phone number, email and web page.
  • Give company boilerplate copy. This entails a few paragraphs of text about the company that goes at the bottom of all its press releases. This text describes the company, its purpose, and often its size, presence and chief locations. Go to criminallyprolific.com/company-boilerplate/ for information on writing boiler plate information.