Comments on: 5 Reasons Your Press Release Sucks

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:52:59 +0000

Alter Type, It bothered me at first, but now I just ignore them. If someone can’t take the time to address something to me, I just delete it. There are more great pieces of information for me to work with than I have time for anyway, so I prefer to work with someone who is more approachable and more likely to respond to me if I need to contact them. In effect, people sending out poor press releases do me the favor of eliminating their PR from my potential to do list before it even gets added.

By: Alter Type

Alter Type — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:20:28 +0000

I’m a professional writer. I actually learned how to write press releases from a veteran journalist, someone who knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of these things. To this day, I can’t thank her enough for her wisdom.

Funny thing though, once I got into Internet marketing, I noticed immediately how the accessibility factor lends itself to a lack of professionalism. I see horribly written PRs all over the place online. It’s nice to see I’m not the only one who notices.

By: Live for Improvement

Live for Improvement — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:49:33 +0000

I laugh at the emails sent from a common name, like “Mike Stevens” pretending to be
work related, but instead advertising some as “Seen On TV” gimmick.

-Dan Malone-

By: Wojciech Kulicki

Wojciech Kulicki — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:17:22 +0000

Never got a “Dear Mr.” which is hilarious, by the way. But my personal favorite is when I get the “I’ve been following your blog for years,” followed by “Fiscal Frizzle” or “Financial Fizzle” or some other mis-spell of the name. Ummm…delete.

By: Debt Kid

Debt Kid — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:38:56 +0000

This was awesome PATRICK.

The one that bugs me the most is the, “I’m a huge fan of yours….”

And you know they really think…

“but I’ve never commented or e-mailed you before, but because I say I’m a fan I think you’ll cover my company, really I’m just an overworked cog in a giant PR machine. I charge my clients 10K a month to do this crap…”

By: Lynnae

Lynnae — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:00:15 +0000

Thank you for writing this! I’m also a proponent of the “if it’s not addressed to me, delete immediately” system. Most bloggers are not pro-bloggers, and are thus trying to balance work, family, and blogging. In my case, homeschooling, family, and blogging. There are only so many hours in a day, and the well-written, personalized, well-targeted press releases are the only ones that are going to get attention. The rest will end up being marked as spam.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:22:05 +0000

I’m glad you commented, Craig. You are a marketer who really “gets it” and is concerned about working with bloggers and the media and being part of the community. I, and many others on the receiving end of press releases, are much more receptive to someone who isn’t just blindly sending out a press release and hoping it sticks somewhere. I’m almost always willing to give someone a minute of time if they reach out to me and add the human element you mention. I can’t guarantee a response or inclusion in an article, but I will at least read it.

By: Jason @ Redeeming Riches

Jason @ Redeeming Riches — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:16:20 +0000

This is classic! I’m a young site and am just starting to get these now! The first one or two I was thinking, “oh cool – someone’s contacting me, let me take a look”, but after a few of the same I quickly realized what was going on!