Press Release, a great way to get the news out there

I've been doing a lot of research in the area of PR writing. I found one website that goes into the effectiveness a press release can have on a company. Publicity is a very cost-efficient marketing tool for businesses to use, and press releases are a great way to increase sales, expose your company, and build credibility.

Press releases are a great way to get a story out there for people to read about. They also lay a great path for a follow-up on the full story. However, the press release has to be very well-written for the outcome to be successful. There are many aspects to consider when writing a press release. The most important- is your story newsworthy? If yes, you must begin with a really strong start, a headline, that will make readers want to read your story. The story basically needs to be told in the heading and in the first paragraph. The details can follow, but you only have a few seconds to grab the readers' attention in the beginning. Throughout the release, stick with a strong voice, from a specific angle. Also, make sure you stick to the facts. The media can pick up your release quickly, so make sure it follows these guidelines and is ready to be seen by people.

It seems as though a press release is something everyone should be able to generate, because it really is a very cost-efficient way to market any company.

writing in the workplace

In my "Strategies for Writing in the Workplace" class, I was just given an assignment to pick a particular category of workplace writing to learn more about. One of the options on the list provided is promotional writing. Promotional writing includes brochures, scripts, newsletters, and press releases. I think it would be great to learn more about promotional writing, because it is definitely something I could see myself doing in the future.

When I first decided on being a Professional Studies major, my advisor told me that a lot of people end up in some not-for-profit work environment. While that may not seem glamorous to some, I actually find it very appealing. I would love to work for an organization that is dedicated to a cause and helping people and the environment. So, promotional writing is something that I am going to start investigating because I think it ties in nicely with not-for-profit organizations in that they need to put out newsletters and press releases to bring awareness to the organization.

If you could pick some sort of workplace writing to investigate, which would you choose? Ever wonder who writes the company newsletter or who thought of all the details to go into the company handbook?

What can you do with that?!

Every semester starts out the same: you're sitting in class, looking around, trying to find someone you can talk to. Well, every semester pretty much starts out with the same conversation for me. It goes like this: "What's your name?"; "What year are you?"; "What's your major?"; "What is that?!", "Oh, so what kind of job can you get?"

Well, I was really curious in the beginning too because this is slightly unconventional and a program that most other colleges don't offer. But, I think it is actually really great. I went into a few different job search engines and just plugged in a 4-year degree, with interests in each of the minors I have. The latest one showed 530+ jobs within a 30 miles radius of my house.

I recently started an internship for a small company in West Chester. It is a computer company, but I was hired to do their billing and accounting work. So, every 2 weeks is billing and I enter all accounts payable and receivable (knowledge I've gotten from my accounting minor). Part of billing is sending out invoices with details of all the work we have done for the clients. It is my job to proofread those documents and make sure they sound professional (knowledge from my business & technical writing comes into play here). All of this work is done on the computer and in Excel spreadsheets (knowledge from my information technology minor makes this easier).

I feel really luck to be a part of this program because I feel so much more confident at work with having this broad range of knowledge that comes from being able to study in a few different fields at once. If you could pick any 2 or 3 fields to study in, which would you pick?

writing and computers go hand-in-hand

I realize more and more everyday how much the writing I do is connected to the computer. A prime example would be this very blog. One of my minors is in the business and technical writing field, another is in information technology. These are two fields that were once very separate and distinct, but on Friday I was given the same assignment in two different classes. One class was in the BTW minor, the other class was an IT class. The assignment is to create and build my own website. While some of the details are different, the overall goal is to put myself and my ideas out there in cyberspace. That just shows us how much of an influence the Internet has on our lives and if our ideas are out there, we will be heard (even if it is in written form).

Background Information

I am using this first truly official post to lay the foundation of understanding what I hope to accomplish with this blog. I am a Professional Studies major, meaning that I am working toward a minor in accounting, business & technical writing, and information technology to achieve a Bachelors Degree. This is a new program that was recently started at West Chester, and as a completely indecisive person, it is a perfect fit for me. I am fortunate to be able to study in 3 different fields and I hope that will work to my advantage when it comes time to find a job because I will have a broad range of knowledge. So, I am dedicating this blog to posting information about the 3 different areas, and perhaps even search through some potential jobs that will allow me to incorporate all these skills.

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