Press Release Masterclasses: the challenge and the opportunity!

Let me present you with a challenge:

To find effective ways to develop and promote stories in the media about the following businesses:  a health products website, an outsourcing sales company, a Harley Street fertility clinic, a parenting coach, an organisation setting standards for vocational qualifications, and a support programme aimed at helping young people fulfill their potential.

That was the challenge presented at this morning’s Press Release Masterclass – as these were the businesses run by those who attended.

I’m sure you’ll agree, a pretty diverse group.

But having such a wide range of businesses is what makes our masterclasses so vibrant  and productive. It’s fantastic to see the creative juices begin to flow, the connections being made, and the brainstorming and discussions that take place round the table. 

It’s from this that the seemingly inconsequential details of each person’s business begin to emerge – which then might become the ‘top line’ of a potential story, press release or pitch.

The mechanics of how to write, the formula for writing a successful press release (and it is generally a formula), the best way to present your idea, those, are of course vitally important.

But for me, the most valuable thing about our masterclasses is that creative energy which emerges when you’ve got a group of people who’ve never met, with different personalities, different backgrounds, different prejudices, talents and knowledge, sitting round a table, talking about their businesses and thrashing out the most interesting facts about them.

For some time I’ve been considering running Story or Media Thinktanks – half day sessions where we gather a group of businesspeople get together and do exactly as I’ve just described, with plenty of time to determine the best approach to the media for each idea – and the freedom to ditch those that don’t make the grade!

I’m trying to gauge how much interest there might be, so what do you think? Would you be interested in drilling down into your business with a journalist and a group of people you don’t know and work out how to really raise it’s profile in the media?

Ann

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