1. Be honest - Is it really news?

Be absolutely honest and ruthless when considering news value. The vast majority of press releases are either appallingly written, badly targeted or just plain irrelevant. Ask yourself this - ‘Who cares?’ if the answer is just you, don’t bother with a press release - you’re probably wasting effort.

But, if you’ve got a story which adds something new to a topic, discussion or industry - go for it.

2. What’s your angle? Refine, tailor & personalise

Take the readers’ perspective - what do editors and journalists want to see from a news story targeting their publication?

This is where experience can really count. Many authors fall into the ego trap of writing about themselves, where somewhere down the release is what really matters - the wider implications of their announcement. Try to think about what’s going to make it work as a piece of news rather than purely how great it makes you look.

The more you can tailor your news to your most important targets, the better you’ll do.

3. Include data & research

Original research and the insight that brings can be one of the best ways to grab some great headlines. For one thing, a research project is all your own work, and it can be anything from a single big stat to a range of findings.

Stats help make news more interesting - for instance, if I told you that two of the main press release distribution services each send out upwards of 1,000 releases every day then you get an idea of the volume of news out there.  And these guys only deal with a tiny fraction of the total news traffic. It’s an interesting stat, and original data is especially good for news.

4. Add images & graphics

Adding some decent photography or an infographic can really lift a story, done well, they can become a story in themselves.

5. Distribution, distribution, distribution

Sending an irrelevant press release to an editor is not far short of sending spam email, so consider carefully your distribution. It’s tempting to send a release out to as many people as possible, in the hope that among all the misses, something will hit. Don’t do that - it’s way better to build your distribution list over time, refine it, understand where news should and shouldn’t be sent and work hard to get it right. If you’re not in DIY mode, your PR supplier should do this job, or you can use one of many press release distribution services.

Author David Tutin is managing director of three/six communications – www.threesix.co.uk