Step 10 - How To Write A Press Release

You may know that Essentials for Health really took off when we were written about in our local paper. We got a full page article which resulted in over 300 phone calls!

I wrote a press release and followed up with phone calls and offers of free massages and workshops to the Health and Beauty Editor. I highly recommend you do the same looking at the freebie local magazines many of us get through our door, parish magazines and of course the local paper.

Yvonne Wilcox the Chief Executive of the ICNM (Institute of Complementary and Natural Medicine) had a career in PR and has kindly agreed to share the following with you.

The ICNM provides the public with information services for the safe and appropriate choice of Complementary Medicine.

The ICNM actively supports the regulatory process for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). At present the ICNM is assisting several Working Groups in the field that are considering both Statutory and Voluntary Self-Regulation.

The ICNM administers the BRCP (British Register of Complementary Practitioners), established in 1989. This is the longest-running major register for CAM practitioners.

For info: http://www.icnm.org.uk/

How to Write a Press Release

• Headed paper and/or logo.
• Make line spacing 1.5.
• Head it up Press Release.
• Date ? It can just be month and year.
• Title ? This should explain what the press release is about.  It should not go onto more than one line two at the very most.  Regional press are interested in local stories so if sending to your local paper mention an area or make a note that its local in some form as this will give it a better chance of coverage in the local media.
• First paragraph ? All of the following questions should be answered in the first paragraph ? Who? What? Where? When? Why?  This should be no more than a six to ten lines (not sentences).  Sentences should be kept short.  Only key facts should be mentioned in this paragraph.
• Next Paragraph ? A quote from someone directly involved or relevant adds interest.  It is also a way of expressing an opinion rather than a fact.
• Next make sure you have any other ?relevant? information. 
• This is where you can put details of your website link.
• When you have written everything relevant you finish with ?ENDS- on a separate line
• Contact details need to be added at the bottom.
• For further information please contact...
• If you are using acronyms spell in full first time and use the letters afterwards (Institute for Complementary and Natural Medicine (ICNM)). You may know what they mean but the person reading this may not.
• You are sending them a press release for information so do not be disappointed if they change your wording and title.  It should be possible to edit/cut a press release from the bottom up which is why it is so important to get the facts in the first paragraph.
• Ideally a press release should deliver a single message and should be no longer than a page two at most, using type size of 10 or 12 with a 1.5 line spacing (this is for easy reading and to allow enough space to write notes).
• If you?ve tempted the journalist they will contact you for more information, if they need anything else.
• Check how long before the publication appears they want the information.  This varies from publication to publication.
• If you are emailing the press release send as part of the body of the text not as an attachment as some organisations block attachments.
• Send information about things that are about to happen rather than things that have already happened.
• If you have photographs to offer ensure they are good quality, digital and that you are able to send them as a jpeg format.
• If you are writing about work you are doing with another organisation check with that organisation first before sending out the press release that they are happy with what you are saying about them.
• Remember they receive hundreds of press releases so keep it short and interesting and it will stand a better chance of being used.

HEADED PAPER OF COMPANY

                                                                                                                              PRESS RELEASE

DATE

Local Complementary Therapist REASON FOR RELEASE in AREA

Local therapist NAME is REASON FOR RELEASE ? INCLUDING WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHY AND WHEN. 

NAME, a member of the British Register of Complementary Practitioners (BRCP), says ?QUOTE ? THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN SAY SOMETHING SUBJECTIVE RATHER THAN OBJECTIVE.?

NAME has over NUMBER years of complementary practice experience.  Working with organizations such as ORGANIZATIONS.

NAME is a member of the BRCP which is administered by the Institute for Complementary and Natural Medicine (ICNM). The BRCP is one of the longest-running registers of its kind in the country.  Its members range from acupuncturists to aromatherapists, hypnotherapists and reflexologists, to name a few. In order to qualify to be a member of the BRCP, practitioners must prove their competence to practice by either completing an approved course or through an assessment made by the BRCP Registration Panel.

For more information on complementary medicine please visit the website at www.icnm.co.uk.

                                                                   - ENDS - 

For further information please contact:

NAME on CONTACT NUMBER THEY WILL BE ABLE TO REACH YOU ON

For information on the ICNM or BRCP please contact Yvonne Wilcox at the ICNM on 0207 922 7980

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