Learn the 19 things not to do on a press release – by the journalists you want to read it. From getting basic details wrong to sending the release as an attachment, these are the tips to read to make your press release successful.

1. 19 things not to do on a
press release – by the
journalists you want to read it

2. 1. Write “warbling” subject lines
“If your pitch is about robots, just say: ‘EXCLUSIVE:
Robots to replace humans within 5 years’, not
‘Robotic technologies to evolve to replace human
labour within a number of years if current trends
continue’.”
Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor,
The Telegraph

3. 2. PUT SHOUTY CAPITALS IN THE SUBJECT
LINE
“SHOUTY CAPITALS in the subject line annoys me!”
Emma Haslett, Online Editor, City AM

4. 3. Get basic details wrong
“I had an email the other day from a business
quoting Google’s motto. They wrote ‘Do No Evil’,
it’s ‘Don’t be Evil.’ Get it right.”
Gabriella Griffith, Assistant Commercial Editor at
News UK

5. 4. Not state what your business does
“When a release says ‘solutions provider’ I’m
confused, do they mean industrial chemical
solvents?”
Charles Orton-Jones, former Editor of
EuroBusiness and former PPA Business
Journalist of the Year

6. 5. Spray and pray
“My number one complaint is to people who
fire off press releases without considering if
they’re relevant to the journalists or not.
Much better is to target a handful of writers
you know for sure will be interested.”
Dan Matthews, Contributor to Forbes and
Editor of minutehack.com

7. 6. Send the release as an attachment
“This means I have to actually download and
open the thing to see what it’s about.
Rookie PR mistake.”
Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor,
The Telegraph

8. 7. Write “I know this isn’t your usual topic... ”
“It's annoying to receive releases that are
completely irrelevant to your beat”
Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor,
The Telegraph

9. 8. “Solution”, again
“Things that prompt me to click delete include
the word ‘Solution’ in the headline. Almost a
decade after the wretched word became
ubiquitous in business speak, it’s still
everywhere – and still meaningless.”
Scott Payton has edited international
business magazines and written for the
Financial Times, the Spectator and the
Independent among others

10. 9. Putting the wrong publication in the greeting
“If you want to really p*ss me off, put the wrong
publication in your greeting. That lets me know
that I am just one of many journalists that you’ve
pitched the story to – and that my publication
wasn’t even your first choice.
Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor,
The Telegraph

11. 10. Use “Urgent”
“Please don’t put “Urgent” in the subject line
when it’s really not.”
Emma Haslett, Online Editor, City AM

12. 11. Verbose intros
“One software firm insists on sending me releases
which begin with seven lines of boilerplate blather
before getting to the point.
“Each time they mention their company name they
append it with Nasdaq ticker data, ® and TM copyright
information, share price, disclaimers and tonnes of
other assorted junk. Meh. Delete.”
Charles Orton-Jones, former Editor of EuroBusiness
and former PPA Business Journalist of the Year

13. 12. Omitting survey numbers
“The biggest thing press release writers miss is
the number of people taking part in the survey. If
it’s 2,000 I might write up the story, if it’s 50 I
might not. But if I don’t know, it’s just an excuse
not to progress the piece.”
Dan Matthews, Contributor to Forbes and Editor
of minutehack.com

14. 13. Putting “profits not released”
“I need to know how big the firm is. Staff
numbers, turnover, number of offices, all help
me understand the market position of a firm –
telling me ‘profits are not released’ is absurd.
Companies House has a public record of all
this data.”
Charles Orton-Jones, former Editor of
EuroBusiness and former PPA Business
Journalist of the Year

15. 14. Tenuously latching onto a news item
“I hate it when PRs try to make something
completely unrelated relevant to a news story.
Like ’10 reasons why tampons are a bit like the
World Cup’.”
Emma Haslett, Online Editor, City AM

16. 15. Start with “Story for Monday”
“ A ‘story for Monday’ is a story for the bin. I often
read them as ‘We know this is a bit weak, but you
might be desperate to fill some space over the
weekend so this might do.’”
Scott Payton has edited international business
magazines and written for The Financial Times,
the Spectator and the Independent among others

17. 16. Call up 30 minutes after you’ve sent the release
“Following up too fast after you send the release is
very irritating. Give me a chance to read the email!!”
Sophie Hobson, Editor of
LondonlovesBusiness.com

18. 17. Fail to make the embargo clear enough
“If you’ve got an embargo, put “EM-BLOODY-
BARGOED” in giant red bold letters”
Emma Haslett, Online Editor, City AM

19. 18. Attach massive files
“If there are good pictures for a story, tell me,
and maybe attach one tiny low-resolution one,
but no massive files please.”
Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor,
The Telegraph

20. 19. Always include a mobile number
“Always include a mobile number. If I can’t
get you on a landline, I want an alternative
contact.
“Yes, this means I might call you on a
Sunday morning but, hey, your client will be
in Monday’s paper so that’s kind of your job.”
Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor,
The Telegraph

21. Want to know more? Get in touch with us at the
Nutcracker Agency...
Jenny.Knighting@nutcrackeragency.com
@NutcrackerSM