The press release (and PressRelease Grader)

This overview video at the PressRelease Grader site explains how effective Internet press releases can be in promoting your business.

If you are a SMPS member, you have access to a weekly e-letter with some useful tips and resources. This week's newsletter includes a link to an intriguing tool, The PressRelease Grader, and assorted information from Hubspot.com, outlining methods to use news releases to accelerate your presence and web-based marketing impact.

Hubspot advocates that you frequently issue news releases, not primarily for the news media's interest, but to help your search engine status. And it suggests certain formats and styles are most effective. In other words, you shouldn't wait for something really newsworthy -- something you think the mainstream media will find interesting -- before you issue a news release.

Well, how does the news release issued here fare with the Press Release Grader? It is the Construction News and Report Group of Company's announcement of an agreement with Tree Canada to plant a tree for every advertisement in each issue of our publications. We posted this on the Canada News Wire Service since obviously the news release is only really relevant in Canada.


Attention News Editors:

Construction publishing company becomes first in Canada to plant more trees than it consumes

    OTTAWA, Nov. 21 /CNW Telbec/ - The publisher of a group of Ontario
construction industry newspapers will plant at least 70 trees for every 11 it
consumes, making it the first Canadian print publisher to produce more forest
life than it consumes.

"We have made arrangements with Tree Canada to plant a tree for every
advertiser in every issue of in our publications," says Chase, who
co-ordinates the initiative for the Construction News and Report Group of
Companies(CNRG). "Our printers tell us we consume approximately 11 trees per
month - we expect to plant 80 or more each month in return."
The CNRG publishes Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report,
Ontario Construction Report, as well as speciality publications under contract
for associations such as the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA).
Tree Canada, established in 1993, has planted over 75 million urban and
rural trees, potentially sequestering more than 58 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide.

Further information about Tree Canada is available at
http://www.treecanada.ca.

"We believe this initiative will make a significant contribution to
improving forests and urban life - and make us 'net positive' with
environmental and global warming issues," said CNRG President Mark Buckshon.
"We are hopeful that other businesses will follow this example for their own
communities."

For further information: Construction News and Report Group of
Companies: Chase, 888-432-3555 ext 211, chasemarketing@sympatico.ca or Mark
Buckshon, 888-432-3555 ext 224, buckshon@constructionnrgroup.com; Tree Canada:
Michael Rosen, (613) 567-5545, tcf@treecanada.ca.

The PressRelease Grader gave this effort a truly failing score -- 25 out of 100. Ouch! This release is too short, doesn't have suitable clickable links, and fails to include the boilerplate company description and links required for the best results. The reason for some of these rather significant failings is that the company's corporate website is still under construction in a rather major rebuilding project -- when things are done in the next couple of months, the links here will work much more effectively.

The PressRelease Grader documentation also provides insights into why you should be striving for a high search engine placement. It of course is part of the most effective methodology in online (and for that matter any) marketing: Give away lots of useful stuff and clients will be attracted to you -- and you'll sell a whole lot more than by pushing your product or service in their faces.

Still, be cautious in rushing to implement Hubspot's strategies or implementing their services. Many people are trying a variety of techniques to game the system; to push up their organic search engine rankings, but you will find nothing works better than sincerely doing your best and relating and connecting to your current and potential clients.

The press release and the website designer

Marty Thomas of nookweb.com, a recently established web design organization focusing on the construction trades, asked on The Contractors Club forum for advice on issuing and distributing news releases. I can claim 'expert' status on this topic -- Now a publisher, I worked as a journalist, and for five years as a public relations officer for the Canadian federal government. So I know something about news releases and how they work (and their limitations as well as strengths).

I asked to see a copy of his draft news release. He responded:

Hi Mark,Thanks for your help with this. I have subscribed and have been reading your blog. I like what you have to say and look forward to your thoughts here. I am a retail contractor by day. However, This particular press release was written for my web design & Internet
marketing business that I started with a couple other web developers in Chicago.Thanks again:)

And he sent me this news release text:

Contact:
Martin Thomas, Founder
NOOK Web
(888)
689-3144
XXX@XXX.XXX

www.nookweb.com

Nook Web Introduces Skilled Trades Specialized Internet Marketing

Bridging The Technology Gap
Chicago, Illinois
- December 17, 2007 – NOOK Web, a website design, development and Internet marketing firm based in Chicago, Illinois and serving clients nationwide, introduces specialized turn-key services for the skilled trades industry. The company’s unique strategies bridge the gap between skilled trades professionals who rarely need or use the Internet and their diverse customer base encompassing business professionals, home owners and individuals who use the Internet as their principal means for finding service professionals.

Experts foresee a 50 percent drop in Yellow Pages use during the next five years. In addition, Business Week reports that 70 percent of homeowners use the Internet to make their purchase decisions.

As a result, traditional print advertising media is no longer the most effective way to generate new business. “We’ve developed an intelligent, cost-efficient strategy that lets skilled trades professionals, whether a sole proprietor electrician, plumber, painter, HVAC contractor or major custom home construction businesses, reallocate marketing dollars into carefully targeted, local online advertising” states Martin Thomas, Founder of Nook Web.

Martin Thomas, founder of NOOK Web, grew-up immersed in the general contracting industry, helping his father in the suburbs of Chicago for more than 20 years. After earning his degree in Multimedia from Bradley University, he used his existing professional network to develop and fine-tune a highly sought-after and focused Internet Marketing technique. Since that time, Thomas has expanded his audience nationally, assisting skilled trades clients from California to the Carolinas.

To learn more about the company’s web design and Internet Marketing services, visit www.NOOKWeb.com or call 888-689-3144.

About NOOK Web

NOOK Web (http://www.nookweb.com/) is a specialized website design, development and Internet Marketing firm focused on the skilled trades industry. The company guides clients through all steps of the website introduction and advertising process.
# # #

This is a classic, conventional news release. It will be somewhat effective, I believe, but won't excite anyone. Certainly, publishers, especially "conventional print media", will not publish it -- it is essentially inviting advertisers to desert their publications; and no one in their right mind is going to encourage that. So the news release most likely will find its way into online systems, and thus be read primarily by the people who don't need the service the most -- the contractor looking for his first really good website.

Now, does that mean it is totally invalid? Not necessarily. News releases have many additional functions including collateral marketing. But what can we do to increase the chance of the news release turning into published news media articles (which are far more valuable in marketing collateral than the news release itself?)

I suggested two things. First, Marty should tailor the release in different variations to the different trades. This will increase its relevance to specialized trade media.

The second suggestion relates to testimonials, and here things get interesting and challenging. Can Marty provide examples of clients who have successfully increased their business, and quantify it? If so, he can achieve a one-two media-relations punch.

First, in co-operation with his clients, he would issue individualized news release to local media highlighting the clients' success. (The clients will probably be very happy with the publicity.)

Second, using the client stories as a basis (or perhaps the local media publicity as background material) the news release could be revised to show real benefit to the 'typical' trade in the field -- maybe reformulated into a ready-to-run print article (or possibly the ready-to-run article could be sent to the appropriate specialized media along with the news release.)

Finally, I would reiterate that it doesn't help your cause to say that conventional advertising doesn't work -- this will discourage any media from using it. Write the article and news release to suggest the Internet are complementary to the conventional media, and pick-up rates will be higher. (But you can of course take a shot at the Yellow Pages, since they are competitors to both the Internet and editorial print media, and of course, the Yellow Pages would never publish your news release, anyways.)

Oh, and I like the idea of a specialized web design service for the construction trades -- it is good that you can speak the industry's language, and connect with its participants.

A news release

We'll be distributing this news release to media outlets across Canada tomorrow. Media publicity of course is one of the most powerful tools in the marketing arsenal -- the challenge is deciding when and how something is newsworthy.

Of course we can't predict the results here but my 'sixth sense' that this announcement is worthy enough to justify our spending a few hundred dollars on the news release distribution service (we perhaps could use less expensive web-based services, but for a one-time expense, I don't see much downside in using a credible and professional service here.)

I expect the announcement will 'hit the wire' about 9 a.m.

For immediate release

Construction publishing company becomes first in Canada to plant more trees than it consumes

OTTAWA—The publisher of a group of Ontario construction industry newspapers will plant at least 70 trees for every 11 it consumes, making it the first Canadian print publisher to produce more forest life than it consumes.
“We have made arrangements with Tree Canada to plant a tree for every advertiser in every issue of in our publications,” says Chase, who co-ordinates the initiative for the Construction News and Report Group of Companies(CNRG). “Our printers tell us we consume approximately 11 trees per month – we expect to plant 80 or more each month in return.”
The CNRG publishes Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report, Ontario Construction Report, as well as speciality publications under contract for associations such as the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA).
Tree Canada, established in 1993, has planted over 75 million urban and rural trees, potentially sequestering more than 58 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Further information about Tree Canada is available at http://www.treecanada.ca/.
“We believe this initiative will make a significant contribution to improving forests and urban life – and make us ‘net positive’ with environmental and global warming issues,” said CNRG President Mark Buckshon. “We are hopeful that other businesses will follow this example for their own communities.”
For more information:
Construction News and Report Group of Companies
Chase, phone 888-432-3555 ext 211, email chasemarketing@sympatico.ca or
Mark Buckshon, phone 888-432-3555 ext 224, email buckshon@constructionnrgroup.com
Tree Canada
Michael Rosen, phone 613-567-5545, email tcf@treecanada.ca.