This is an interesting topic. It’s also very personal. But, today I received the kind of email that made me want to respond. You see, I get between 5-10 press releases emailed to me every day by PR professionals. Most are just that: press releases. Some are about drugs announcements, others are about new manufacturing innovations and some even have something to do with what I’m actually interested in.
It’s rare, however, that I get a press release or announcement that I am happy to receive.
So, what do I like in a press release / announcement?
1. Make it personal: Make it sound like you actually know me, know some of my interests and have (at the very least) a cursory understanding of who I am.
2. Make it applicable: Don’t send me stuff about other industries than the ones I’m interested in. For the record, anything on blogging or tech will get my attention. Other areas of interest can be found by simply reading up on who I read.
3. Make it short and sweet: Generally, the shorter and more concise, the better. I don’t need your full 500 word press release. Tell me why I should be interested in 50 words or less, and then link to it. If you can’t communicate why this is worth my time in 50 words, you’re unlikely to be able to do so in 500 words.
If an email can fulfill 2 out of the 3 of these, it’s highly likely that it’ll get a read and a response.
One such email came today from Kevin from TalonPR. It was long, but it was both personal and applicable. It’s not actually for a service I coudl use (I don’t own a digital camera yet), but it’s not like it’s a big leap to imagine someone like me would be interested in what he’s talking about.
Here’s an excerpt:
Hi Jeremy. I wanted to let you know that next week we will be announcing a new “photo blogging” solution from SplashData. Users can now not only capture pictures with their camera phones, but can instantly publish photos to a “photo blog” for friends and family members to see. The initial version will be for Palm OS devices, such as the Treo, but versions of SplashBlog for other handheld platforms (Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Symbian Series 60 and Symbian UIQ) will be released in Q2 2005.
[...]
Would you like to get a preview of SplashBlog? I’d be happy to send you the link and code you’ll need to download and install it.
Now, truth be told, this already sounds like a few other services out there. But, he did offer me a free preview, and he was personal and applicable. All good things. Kudos to Kevin. Next time, keep it shorter and sweeter and you’re almost guaranteed that I’ll blog it.
Oh wait… 
#1 by Mike Hillyer - February 10th, 2005 at 13:21
How About This:
For Immediate Release:
Noted speaker and author Mike Hillyer challenges noted speaker and author Jeremy C. Wright to an online game of his choice, during which Mr. Hillyer claims he will “p4wn J3r3my’s W33K @ZZ!”. Mr. Wright was not immediately available for comment.
#2 by Mike Hillyer - February 10th, 2005 at 13:22
Well I had one, but I think the filter caught it.
#3 by Mike Bourne - February 10th, 2005 at 13:40
I agree Mike, let’s stomp Jeremy