Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

"I'm not a total dunce," while I am, Phil, and that's why I'm asking the question. Ok, on a serious note, my simple mind is tell me:
a) First, the stuff needs to sound Interesting, otherwise why would I want to read it?
b) The stuff must be Relevant and of Value to my audience otherwise I'll be out of business tomorrow.
c) Timing, shoot, if you try to sell me a Christmas tree in summer, are you nuts?

Are we are on the above 3 for the PR (per URL) and how can we improve it if I may continue to steal a bit of you wit?

Don

Don, OK my analysis from your list and release:

1. Is the headline announcement or story-driven? Story
2. Any hook, angle or main story? Finals exams
3. Which newswire or distribution provider used? PRWeb
4. Free newswire or paid? Dunno...
5. Horizontal (broad) or vertical (targeted) distribution? Hard to say, but looks broad
6. The day the release is published? Friday, so what?
7. Was the release keyword optimized? Have no iodea
8. Was the release plain text only? Looks like...
9. Did the release feature images and video? Google image? Neither.
10. Was the release integrated with social media? Nope.
11. Was there a call to action? No.
12. Any latent awareness of past releases? Don't think so.
13. Was the release sent via other means: email, fax, snail mail? Cannot tell.
14. Was the release a “one-off” or part of a campaign? Don't know.
15. Slow news day or busy one? Have no idea.
16. Media room or no media room? None.
17. Was the release more than 400 words? No, 346 including headline and contact details.

So... Are you any the wiser?

What are you really looking for, Don, from the KHE community?

Try this test: If you take out all the commercial messages from the news release, does it still provide interesting, newsworthy and useful information for the reader?

If so, you're on the right track and can add mention of your product.

If not, then it's just a commercial and not likely to attract much interest. Or be of much value to PR Web (or anyone else, except perhaps you).

Why not an approach that gives 5 sure-fire tips for acing your final exam?

Then, after the 5 tips, you can let people know about your product, and how it makes 2 or 3 of the tips much easier.

A few years ago, to promote my book, The Potato Chip Difference, I created a booklet titled "10 stupid things job seekers do that guarantee they'll be looking for work again soon." Then at the end of the booklet I suggested that the book (The Potato Chip Difference) offers a much smarter alternative.

I offered the booklet free when people purchase the book from the publisher's website, or for $3.00 if they just want the booklet.

Would you believe I sold almost as many booklets as I did books? And the booklet was picked up by several partners and websites, and it got lots of publicity for the book -- more than any other single thing I did!

The publicity was all about the booklet and the "10 stupid things ..." not about the book itself.

You can still see the way we used the promotion and the booklet at: www.potatochipdifference.com

I'd bet that an approach like that would work for you as well.

@ASVP/ChrisB,
Good to hear from you! And thanks for your thoughts.
Yes, I paid PRweb 80 bucks and of course I want to get something out it... not yet...

@mgoodman,
A single phrase sums up your advice, use the RIGHT ANGLE.
Many thanks for the idea.

See follow-up for the revised PR.

Since English is my second language not sure how the following revised version sound to native ears? Many thanks.

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Three Sure-fire Tips for Finals Preparation!

Finals are coming but it does not have to be scary. The important thing is to know how to prepare effectively in a short time frame (even just a few days!). Read on.

Roanoke, VA – Three sure-fires tips for finals preparation from a pro who was a top student.

Tip # 1 -- Get Hold of Excellent Notes (not necessarily your own notes)
At times students study hard and other times they doze off, but one thing is for sure. Everyone wants to be able to get good grades on their finals. But students probably won’t read or re-read thick textbooks and lecture handouts alone won’t suffice. People will have their own notes, but since he or she may not be a good note-taker in the first place, they may or may not be useful. Spending lots of time digging for notes from websites is time consuming and the quality is uncertain. Therefore, the best bet is to find those few excellent note-takers from a class and ask them to share them or even buy notes from them.

Tip # 2 – Allocate Time Wisely
Not every hour is equal. That is, one may find his alertness and energy level fluctuates in a day and in the evening use the highest alertness time to review notes of the most difficult course and make an adjustment according to this rule for other courses and because of that do not stick to an inflexible schedule.

Tip # 3 – Ask the Best Peers When You Have a Question if your Professor is Not Available. Not just any other student.

Follow these three tips a student would do quite well for the finals.

Btw, starting next semester check out Knowledge Notebook, a simple note-taking and study tool that reflects the proven and best study strategy: Cornell Method.

Good luck!

https://www.knowledgeNoteBook.com

Press Contacts:

Don Chunshen Li
Virginia Web App, LLC
(Knowledge NoteBook)
Roanoke, VA 24018
540-765-2138
donli@knowledgeNoteBook.com
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Thank you very much, Michael.

Don