Press Release Writer

This morning I moderated a panel on SEO and organic search at the eMarketing conference in San Francisco. Content was the over-riding theme of our SEO panel. Which is music to my copywriter and content marketing services ears, right? 

There was plenty of talk about Panda too, again, getting us to look at content. Here's the thing about content and content marketing: You can create all kinds of content, but it must be good content. As the panelists said, the content must educate, entertain and enlighten (the three Es). 

After the panel, I checked my email and read the following (with specific company names removed to protect the sender).


I smiled when I read this because of all the discussion about Panda that happened during the panel. Here's my reply to him:


Honestly, $150 per month spent on good content is going to do this small business more good than all the free repurposed content he's going to grab from other places. Because it's not just having the content. It's about having good content. Period.

Last week I was asked to write a press release.

For $100.

At the last minute.

For a business I've never worked for before.

And this press release was going to be a critical piece in getting word out about a big move on the part of this company. It was meant to be the one means by which this company is going to get all kinds of free publicity for their expansion. No other marketing effort, only this press release.

All that for $100. 

Offered by a CEO who should know better.

Let's not lose sight of the real value of compelling content, OK? A few dozen quickie blog posts used for SEO might cost you just $100, but a critical press release? That requires skill and experience and insight to craft in a way that will do you any good? And when everything is riding on that one communication? What is the real value of that, I ask? 

To do that right would take me several hours, and even then, I don't know if it's possible to write a compelling enough press release, one that would do the standalone, heavy lifting this company is hoping for.

Just because we've entered the age of content marketing, and content all over...so much content we now need content curation, for goodness' sakes...just because all eyes are focused on creating content (if not on reading it), let's not forget that there are still pieces of content, copywriting if you will, that require a level of experience and expertise that is not a cheap commodity.

I'm sure this company was able to find a flunkie or newbie to work for peanuts as their press release writer. I'm equally sure they'll be disappointed with their results.

I love words. I know words. My whole business is based on words! But I know the true value of words too, as written and verbal communications meant to drive action as opposed to empty words on a page.

$100 for a press release? No thank you.

The best salespeople can sell snow to Eskimos, as the saying goes. Even so, you can imagine my surprise when an enterprising Eagle Scout showed up at my front door in our new home in Eagle, Idaho selling…potatoes. Yes, potatoes!

My first reaction was to laugh and he laughed right along with me. I liked this kid and his chutzpah on a cold November evening. He and his mom had a minivan loaded down with huge, Idaho-grown spuds. Turns out, his troop sells them every year. And they do a brisk business.

Which made me think about this from the perspective of a marketing writer. How often do companies really embrace their quirks? Mostly, it seems, corporations want marketing copywriters to spiff up their image with slick press releases, sparkling brochure copy and eye-catching web writing. All of that is well and good. But there’s also something lovable and appealing about a company that knows itself and puts that personal quality out to the buying public.

It’s a little like Les Schwab Tires with its fresh-scrubbed mechanics and sales folks running to greet you, selling you some new snow tires, and yep, rewarding you with some free beef! After all, Les Schwab was from Prineville, a Central Oregon town whose denizens know plenty about cattle and cold-weather tires.

Here in Idaho, the potato is more than a vegetable: it’s an emblem of state pride. Heck, Famous Potatoes used to be on many an Idaho license plate. So when I bought some of those potatoes from the Boy Scouts I was embracing a little of what it means to be an Idahoan. And because the Scout at my door is a natural at sales, he made sure to deliver a persuasive marketing message--as potent as any dreamed up by a marketing communications writer.  He emphasized these are “export quality” potatoes, meaning they were grown in Idaho but are a higher grade of potato than Idahoans normally get to eat. These were, in essence, gourmet potatoes!

So I bought a big bag of special potatoes—great for state pride, a nice contribution to the local Boy Scout troop and a starchy staple I needed anyway. Now I just need to find some way to use all these spuds!