By Chris Jonathan

Every online business should have a marketing and advertising plan. While paid advertising - especially Internet advertising - can drive highly targeted traffic to your site, many online businesses overlook a key component of any marketing and advertising plan: press releases and press release distribution. A great press release can garner the kind of exposure that money can't buy; in essence, it's free advertising. Press release distribution is an extremely cost-effective way to get the word out to thousands, hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions of potential customers. Many business owners might respond, "But I've written press releases and haven't received a single response." If that's the case, the lack of response is most likely either due to either a poorly written press release or poor press release distribution.

If you're wondering how to write a news-worthy press release, here are some top tips to help.

KEEP IT TO ONE LINE: More than one line and you are likely to lose a busy journalist who would receive hundreds of media releases a day.

To get your press release noticed, you should ensure that the release is noteworthy. It should not sound like it is hyped. Instead, it should supply information that would seem like something that has been written by a reporter.

DON'T TRY AND BE TOO SMART: Writing headlines for the print medium is a real art form. Leave it to the professionals, namely, newspaper sub-editors. Remember that newspaper headlines have to sell papers, your headline has to engage one reader - a cynical journalist or editor with a 'so what, who cares' attitude.

WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF THE STORY: The headline should summarize the story and answer the who, what, why, when and where.

Always ensure that the length of your press release is not more than one page. A lengthy press release can often turn down the editors. The point is that readers are definitely not going to take much time to read too much content in a press release.

Adding your contact information and a brief profile of your company is important as well when writing a news-worthy business press release. This is especially important if editors and readers are not familiar with your company. You'll give them some background information that is useful, and of course you want the contact information included so that people can contact you for more information or even visit your website. - 18098

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