A primary goal of any press release should be to make it easy for a reporter to write the story.
So include this information and these items:
Tell…
1) Who — The principal players and their titles
2) What — What exactly is new or has taken place?
3) Where — Your company headquarters and the location of your news.
4) When — The date your news occurred, your product was/will be released.
5) Why — Why is this news important to your company/the industry. why this event took place [perhaps relayed in a quote from a company principal].
6) How — Delve into details about the event, how it came about. Or how a new product works or what it looks like.
Add…
7) A human voice — Include a quote or two from a company principal about the product or event or new hire. Here you can feel free to boast, make value statements or get emotional.
8) Hyperlinks to additional information available elsewhere online
Attach…
9) Artwork [jpeg files] to illustrate your story. If the files are above 3-4 megabytes, sign up for Dropbox and share the file in the cloud. BTW, don’t send pdf files as graphics–the resolution is too low. [IMO, including artwork with your release increases your chance of getting coverage.]
PS: Write simply and clearly. Don’t lard your prose with superlatives or big words when small ones will do. The ‘unbiased media’ is going to edit those phrases out anyway. If you want to say you’re better than competitors or make other value statements, best to do that in direct quotes from company principals.
Connect with Barbara at Google+
What Evernote is, and why I love it
This cloud app lets you save everything in one place, file it and search it all easily. It’s like having your own personal Google for all your own personal stuff.
Excerpt from Inc magazine, “Say hello to your new brain”:
Libin began to think about what a better electronic memory would be like. You could put in information in any form, be it a typed document, a handwritten note, a photo, a webpage, a spoken conversation. And you could instantly get the information into any of your devices on the fly without worrying about how to organize it. “When people want to capture a thought, they don’t want to stop what they’re doing,” he says.
More important, you would be able to find whatever it is whenever you need it, as effortlessly and intuitively as we now dig up stuff via Google.
Marc graduated today
Congratulations, Marc!
Pearl Harbor 70th Anniversary~Dec. 7, 1941
Pearl Harbor Survivors march in 1995 Veterans Day Parade | New York
The attack precipitated U.S. entry into World War II, “the deadliest conflict in human history.”
The United States suffered 2,459 casualties during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. More than 50 million people are believed to have perished during World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history.
San Jose Mercury News: “Pearl Harbor attack, 70 years ago, still fresh in the memories of old sailors“
Reindeer sightings in Greensboro, N.C.
Daisy reindeer hound
Scott reindeer Jew
Did you know that today’s youth is so adept at texting, they do it in their sleep, involuntarily? Read the BedPost blog at Typepad for all the latest news on ‘sleep texting’…
He’s a second generation American of 100% Armenian stock–and true to the Armenian archetype has a really superior mechanical aptitude. He was born in Upstate New York in 1922 to parents who had narrowly escaped the 20th century’s first genocide. In the U.S., they owned a farm and were doing well till illness and the Depression took it all away. 
As the sole support of his widowed mother and siblings, my dad didn’t sign up for duty till a couple of years after December 7, 1941.
When he did, it was into the Army Air Corps [precursor to the Air Force], where he was stationed in Hawaii. To this day he can’t stand the taste of coconut or pineapple.
As a sergeant in charge of a repair crew, he was tasked with maintaining and repairing the newest aircraft in the American arsenal, the B-29 “Superfortress,” which was built for high-altitude, long-distance bombing missions in the Pacific Theater.
My father’s B-29 repair training consisted of being handed a product manual “the size of a phonebook.” He figured it out.
His crew didn’t do a maintenance check on the Enola Gay the day in 1945 it landed at the base. “No one was allowed near” the bomber, which was closely guarded on a distant part of the airfield, and the crew sequestered–till the day it took off to drop its cargo hold of atom bombs on Japan.
When the war ended, my dad got married, moved to the suburbs and had four daughters.
We never had much money. But he was and still is a master of mechanical invention. He fixed everything at the house himself–or it didn’t get fixed. He drove a succession of beater cars, always secondhand. The ones he took long distances to work at a factory job in central New Jersey came to resemble battered tin cans before he was done with them. But he kept them running for 250,000 to 300,000 miles each.
Long may you run, dad, as you drive your latest “beater” to deliver Meals on Wheels each week to the old folks.
Love you, dad, happy Veterans Day!
–Barbara
Marc interviews grandpa–transcript
Sleep Tips from the Better Sleep Council
Thirty percent of women take sleep medications to get to sleep every night?! That’s awful. Don’t get dependent on drugs. Exercise, meditation, a comfortable mattress and a really dark room can help you sleep better. I’ve dimmed my digital clock and covered the glowing blue light on the cable TV box, too.
Sleep Tips from the Better Sleep Council:
It’s important to make an overall commitment to healthy, restorative sleep. Here are some tips from the Better Sleep Council for maintaining a healthy sleep cycle and ensuring the best night’s rest:
- Make sleep a priority by keeping a consistent sleep (bedtime) and wake schedule, including weekends
- Create a bedtime routine that is relaxing. Experts recommend reading a book, listening to soothing music or soaking in a hot bath.
- Transform your bedroom into a haven of comfort. Create a room that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool for the best possible sleep.
- Evaluate your mattress and pillow to ensure proper comfort and support. If your mattress is five to seven years old, it may be time for a new one. In general, pillows should be replaced every year.
- Keep work materials, computers and televisions out of the bedroom; it should be used for sleep and sex only.
- Exercise regularly, but complete workouts at least two hours before bedtime.
- If you sleep with a partner, your mattress should allow each of you enough space to move easily. Couples who’ve been sleeping on a “double” (full size) may think they have enough room, until they learn that each person has only as much sleeping space as a baby’s crib!
- Avoid nicotine (e.g., cigarettes, tobacco products). Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol (e.g., coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake.
- Finish eating at least two to three hours before bedtime.
All the pretty horses
One in particular was getting sick and tired of being photographed and video’d. I knew he was gonna slam into my camera…Or maybe he just wanted out of the corral.
My job is killing me
Drat. Sitting is a killer, literally. New research says that even if you exercise vigorously daily, the amount of time you spend sitting at your desk or in front of the TV is linked to the likelihood of your developing cancer.
Even people who exercise daily can increase their risk of cancer by remaining sedentary for extended periods of time, researchers said Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Institute for Cancer Research focused on food, nutrition and physical activity.
Story Karen Kaplan in LA Times, Nov. 4: Don’t just sit around — it may increase your risk of cancer .
Suddenly, everywhere I look folks and agencies are describing themselves as “inbound marketing” experts [social media marketing is too limiting a term, I guess].
See the inbound marketing infographic at Mashable and related story:
Inbound marketing focuses on earning, not buying, a person’s attention, which is done through social media and engaging content, such as blogs, podcasts and white papers. This content is interesting, informative and adds value, creating a positive connection in the eyes of the consumer, thus making him more likely to engage your brand and buy the product. So it costs less and has better a ROI.
Excerpt of story by Lloyd Alter:
Honourable mention in booth design has to go to Living Machine, a wastewater treatment system that will be the subject of another post. Their entire booth was a backdrop that fits into a little drum, too big for carry-on but the size of checked baggage, two iPads, and a pile of tiny 1 gig USB keys. I have personally set up exhibits in this convention centre, and it is just horrible; these guys can just walk their booth out the front door.
The iPad appears to be a serious trend in booth design; last year when it was new, it was just another presentation medium, often stuck on the wall. This year, exhibitors are using in in very innovative and unusual ways. I look forward to when manufacturers start giving them out instead of USB keys.
Click on Demi’s picture …
to see New York Magazine’s latest cover
future shock
My pdf file of the Sleep Savvy magazine cover didn’t convert to a jpeg too well, hence the gray boxes on the cover photo.
cover shot of the Sept. issue of Sleep Savvy
Don’t you want to know all about it?
Here’s an excerpt:
Today’s cash-strapped consumer is pragmatic about buying green. She won’t shell out more green to get green, as one researcher put it. But she does tend to favor products, services and stores with a sustainability story—as long as the price is comparable. In other words, your store’s sustainable practices and greener products can be the tiebreaker that makes the sale.
ISPA Insider excerpt
FYI, this excerpt from the this week’s e-newsletter “ISPA Insider,” which goes out to International Sleep Products Association members:
September issues of BedTimes and Sleep Savvy magazines are now available online.
Both BedTimes and Sleep Savvy feature photo albums of market trends and new products spotted at last month’s Vegas Market (and don’t miss the magazines’ fun video of market). BedTimes’ September cover story is about using LinkedIn to promote your company–see the digital edition at www.bedtimesmagazine.com.
Sleep Savvy’s spotlight is on appealing to the new ‘green’ consumer. Read it online at www.sleepsavvymagazine.com.
Finally got over to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Loved the daylighting and overall interior flow. Architect, Thomas Phifer. Wandered the permanent collection. Liked the famous Ben Franklin portrait.
The latest issue of the mattress industry news magazine BedTimes just posted at the BedTimes Magazine website.
Inside there is a helpful cover story by Lin Grensing-Pophal all about “Putting LinkedIn to Work” for your career and your company”. This feature story contains all original content, including interviews with LinkedIn gurus such as Bill Corbett Jr of Corbett Public Relations, Jacob Weinfeld with InktelDirect and Wayne Breitbarth, author of The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success.
For mattress industry members who missed the summer Las Vegas Market, turn to the BedTimes Las Vegas news coverage: “Showstoppers: Cool gels, flashy POP, plush toppers help wow summer marketgoers.” It’s written by me–Barbara Nelles! See what our news editors saw–View new products from Comfortaire, Tempur-Pedic, Spring Air, Therapedic, Simmons, Restonic, E.S. Kluft & Co., Gold Bond, Kingsdown, International Bedding, Comfort Solutions, Serta, Paramount, Stearns & Foster, Englander, Boyd Specialty Sleep, Natura, and Anatomic Global.
There is also a profile by Dorothy Whitcomb of luxury mattress maker Earl Kluft of E.S. Kluft & Co. Earl’s company produces the Kluft and Aireloom mattress brands. BTW, he was also the subject of a very good segment of “How I Made My Millions,” on CNBC last week.
Also find current news about Southerland, Spring Air, Hickory Springs and Mattress Giant on the BedTimes homepage and even more mattress industry news in the BedTimes digital edition and news archives.
PS: If you missed it, check out the Las Vegas Market video produced by BedTimes and Sleep Savvy:
Greensboro Farmers Curb Market
We love it
South Florida family vacation :)
Scenes from Sarasota and Siesta Beach, Lake Worth, the Atria in Lantana
Right now, in my garden
Yellow daylillies paired with periwinkle blue hydrangea:
