Mansfield businesses can press ahead with getting media coverage

The Mansfield and Ashfield News Journal receives and welcomes many press releases from businesses every day. The releases come from companies of all shapes and sizes, from small start-ups and one-man and one-woman bands to medium-sized concerns in the hearts of our towns and villages, and also those with a national and international presence who employ thousands of people. 

Editor Tim Morriss writes The news can be anything from the launch of a new business to expansion, winning significant new contracts, winning or being nominated for awards, charity work by employees and the business as a whole – in fact, anything that you feel people would be interested in reading about and should know about.

But how can you get your new message and news featured in the News Journal – a monthly free newspaper that concentrates on showcasing the many good news stories and success stories in our communities?

We are always interested in featuring the news, achievements, progress of local businesses and the tips below will help to make sure we notice your message. 

Localise your email label

As I mentioned, the News Journal receives hundreds of emails every day, and you need to make sure your release immediately stands out as being relevant.

The quickest and easiest way to do that is to put the location of your business in the e-mail and a quick resume of the content. For example, if you are opening a hair salon in Mansfield an email label that says ‘Mansfield hair salon to launch’ shows us that your email is relevant to the News Journal and exactly what we will be interest in featuring.

Don’t try to be too clever or creative with the label. For example, a ‘clever’ headline for the hair salon story might be ‘A Cut Above’, but would not stand out to us among a deluge of emails as being relevant and could get missed.

Make sure the main point of your press release is in the first few lines

Once an email has been opened, newspapers/journalists need to know as quickly as possible if it is relevant to them and what they are looking for.

Yes, you may have got the email label right to attract our attention, but now you need to make the first sentence/paragraph is succinct to make sure the rest of the email is read and your message/story published.

The all-important first paragraph/sentence simply needs to be a quick summary of your news and the important point of the email before you then go into further details.

Structure your press release / Keep it concise / Add quotes / Photographs

I was always taught as a journalist to use the five Ws as a base for every story – who, what, where, why and when.

So try to follow that rule when telling us your story, your news, your celebration or new development.

Ideally your press release should be no more than around 400 words and it should include quotes from someone at your business. The quoted person does not have to be the owner/managing director/chairman particularly, unless they are immediately relevant to the story.

A quote from a head of department or an individual employee if they are the point of the story is equally relevant. But make sure that the quotes are not just repeating what you have already said and that they add something to the story – such as an opinion or insight – and are not full of jargon that a newspaper reader would not understand.

Also, do add at least one photograph, if possible one that features people or a person and not just a building. Ideally photographs should be able to be cropped to a landscape shape that would fit into most newspaper website admin systems. 

Background information

If you feel it would help, add a paragraph of information about your company at the end of the press release,  explaining what the company does, where it does it and for how long – a sort of potted biography.

If you can write your press releases, that’s fine. But, if you do need help then there are professionals around locally who can help. My former colleague Wayne Swiffin is worth talking to, email him wayneswiffin@mandatumpr.co.uk. 

If you have a press release for the Mansfield, Ashfield and Warsop News Journal, email us at news@news-journal.co.uk