How to get a free Press Release?

beardybrewer

I'm working with a local Christmas charity which is trying to get Galway businesses to sign up and participate. We're having a time getting the word out and are looking for ideas.

Every week for a month we've been contacting the editors of the local papers to try and get a press release printed. The release was written by a volunteer who has professional experience in press relations so the content should be okay. We naively thought a charity with a good cause wouldn't have much trouble getting printed. To our surprise one wanted to charge us and the others haven't helped... yet.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'd love to hear any and all suggestions. Feel free to PM me.

jimbobaloobob

Have you tried contacting them to find out why it doesn't make the cut?

biko

Possibly contact all major companies in town by letter?
I know my company has had one of those giving trees before but not sure who arramged it.

Wompa1

newkie wrote: »

I'm working with a local Christmas charity which is trying to get Galway businesses to sign up and participate. We're having a time getting the word out and are looking for ideas.

Every week for a month we've been contacting the editors of the local papers to try and get a press release printed. The release was written by a volunteer who has professional experience in press relations so the content should be okay. We naively thought a charity with a good cause wouldn't have much trouble getting printed. To our surprise one wanted to charge us and the others haven't helped... yet.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'd love to hear any and all suggestions. Feel free to PM me.

Maybe you should contact the University. They are always getting sh1t put in the local news.

You could attempt something different and try to do a different form of marketing.

sammyjo90

They've already emailed NUIG, all the staff got an email about them today. So someone is definitely getting the word out anyway! No idea how you'd go about getting it in the paper though (sorry)

gordongekko

sammyjo90 wrote: »

They've already emailed NUIG, all the staff got an email about them today. So someone is definitely getting the word out anyway! No idea how you'd go about getting it in the paper though (sorry)

Try using twitter to contact them

Antifa161

A lot of people quite rightly see most charities as a scam. Not saying yours is but the perception could be there.

Mrs OBumble

There's no such thing as a free press release.

There are advertisements: you pays your money, designs your content, and book the space. The paper prints it.

And there are press releases: Two routes for these:
1) You write your release, submit it via the paper's preferred channel within their timeframe (eg by Tues am for a paper that publishes on Thursday), and take your chances. You have a better chance if you're submitting in a time that's not so busy, or if you can spin a good local line in it. If you're lucky, one of the journalists will pick up your PR, and put their name on top to get it printed. My experience has been that you're better off submitting via the standard route eg info@galwayWhatever.ie(*) rather than trying to bother the editor individually - the exception to this is if s/he is your friend outside of this exercise.

2) You hire a PR consultant, who does the above for you and also knows how to push the buttons of the decision-maker at the newspaper (perhaps she flashes her desirable attributes at the editor, perhaps she does a deal with them about one of their other clients). Even then, there are no guarantees.

Perhaps your volunteer needs to do more flashing? (It sounds crude, and I'm sure that the actual techniques used are a little more subtle .. but there's truth in the approach.)


Or perhaps you should forget about using general-purpose newspapers for the masses as a method of communicating with businesses, and look for more targeted, relational approaches. Remember - every charity in town is up to the same thing at this time of year.





(*) a fake address, modelled on the one on the city's favourite paper's Contact page

inisboffin

I'd even aim to get the release in the day after the prior week's publication was released (for example if the paper comes out on Wednesday, get the PR in Thursday the week before).
If there is a sports/arts/beauty link to any fundraisers or events, target the writers of these columns as well as the general info address. Be sure to bcc all recipients if you are sending a release.
But spin is the big thing, if you can make a press release that 'pops' in some way, something that Joe Soap reading the paper would take note of, even better.
That's why fundraisers are often 'wacky' or have celebrities attached - to get attention.
As Mrs O' B mentioned, a PR consultant (they are not just female :P) generally will have a relationship with local press, and will have a foot in the door, or the ear of a couple of journalists and can sometimes be worth the fee by garnering support for the cause.

beardybrewer

Thanks very much for the replies everyone. Some good ideas and hopefully you'll see us in the Advertiser soon.

nuac

What is the story on all this flashing.?

surely journalists and editors are professionals and behave as professionals

Mrs OBumble

nuac wrote: »

What is the story on all this flashing.?

surely journalists and editors are professionals and behave as professionals

If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Going real cheap.

And if you wanna argue about it - tell me the name of the professional body I could complain to about the behaviour of an individual one? Not the Press Council, that deals with the behaviour of newspapers and magazines. But the individual "professionals".

inisboffin

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Going real cheap.

And if you wanna argue about it - tell me the name of the professional body I could complain to about the behaviour of an individual one? Not the Press Council, that deals with the behaviour of newspapers and magazines. But the individual "professionals".

I think he was referring to the 'flashing' in particular...:D
I don't know if that was more disparaging to the Journalist or the PR person though.
Isn't there a Press Ombudsman?

There are the bad pennies but it's not everyone.

Mrs OBumble

inisboffin wrote: »

Isn't there a Press Ombudsman?

Sure there is: http://www.pressombudsman.ie/

"The Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman have been set up to safeguard and promote professional and ethical standards in Irish newspapers and magazines"

Nothing to do with individual journalists and their standards. All to do with their employers freedom of the press, and requirements to publish according to objective standards.

There is no registration system for journalists, no ability to get them thrown out of the "profession", like there is for doctors, nurses, accountants, lawyers, engineers, etc.

And there is a reason why PR consultants turn up everywhere looking the way they do.

civis_liberalis

nuac wrote: »

surely journalists and editors are professionals and behave as professionals

Not the ones I know!

inspireeire

Have you tried any of the online press release services? There are many websites that allow you to submit news articles for free, like inspirenano.ie - maybe you should try one of them (or more )?