8 steps towards writing an Amazon-style press release for your next breakthrough product innovation.

1. A
PRESS
RELEASE
8
STEPS
toWrite
Startingattheend

2. Amazonhasasecret
weaponwhenbegining
anewinitiative.
Theystartby
consideringwhat
peoplewillsayabout
theprojectwhenallis
done.
Bydoingso,theyforce
themselvestoconsider
outcomesandneeds
beforeshortterm
priorities.

3. Myfavoriite:
Any Book
Anywhere
In 60 seconds
(hintKINDLE)

4. Tostartwithapress
releaseweforce
ourselvestoconsider:
ouraudience,
ourusers
theworldinthefuture
metricsofsuccess
andmostimportantly
credibility
Solet’sreviewhowto
writeapressrelease

5. 1.
PUBLICATION

6. Startbyconsideringyour
audience.Whenyourinitiative
achievesit’sultimatesuccess
peoplebothinsideandoutside
yourcompanywillnotice. Itmay
notseempracticalnowbutgreat
projects,doeventuallygeta
mentioned.
Whenconsideringwhomust
knowabouttheproject,consider
whatpublicationstheyreadona
regularbasis.
Hint.Thiscanbeeitheradigitalor
physicalpublication

7. 2.
DATE

8. Inordertomakeheadlinesand
catchyourreadersattention,you
willhavetoachievesomegreat
featortransformationthatothers
havenotseen,orthought
impossible
Consideradatewhenyou:
A.coulddeliver
B.willhavecompetition
C.publicacceptance
Isit2,3,oreven5year.s.?

9. 3.
THEWORLD

10. Theworldwill change,
(potentiallydramatically)bythe
timeyoulaunchyourinitiative,
andthisarticleispublished,.
Inoneyearfacebookmadesocial
photosharingthecommon
practice.HadKodakconsidered
this,theymayhavestillbeenthe
bigplayer.
Whenconsideringafuturestate,
whattrendscouldcompletely
changethelandscapeofyour
companiesindustry? Whatcould
becomeasocialnormthatseem
sillytoday?

11. 4.
OLD PROBLEM

12. Fortheusersyouintendedto
delivervalue,whatistheroot
probelm /opportunitytheyface
today,thatifyoudoagreatjob,
maynolongerexist.
ForAmazonthiswasbeingable
tohaveimmediateaccesstoany
bookyoumightbeinterestedin.
Whiledownloadingabook
seemedunrealisticpre-Kindle,in
thepost-KindleeraIdon’tthink
wewouldconsideranyother
way.

13. 5.
3OBSTACLES

14. What3majorobstacles will
overometodeliverthepromised
valuetostakeholders&endusers
Keepingto3obstaclesforces
onetoprioritizefocusanddeliver
thebiggestbangforourbuck.
ForAmazonthiswas:
1.Digitizingthelibraryof
congress
2. Allowingausertoreadabook
anywhere&inanylight
3.Creatinginfrastructureto
transmitbookdatain60sec.

15. 6.
HEADLINE

16. Greatheadlinescatchattention
anddriveeyeballstocontent,so
keepthembrief,audacious,
concreteandcontroversial.I
suggestnomorethan7words
Yourwritingaboutthefuture,so
speakinpasttenseregarding
whatyoudid. Keepthetone
relateabletoyouraudeinces
valuesandbonuspointsfor
metrics.
example: Turning10xprofitfrom
customersupport.

17. 7.
STORY

18. Isuggestusingtheinverted
pyramidtechniquetostructure
yourarticle.Seeonlinefordetails.
Iusethe3obstacelsasthe
subjectforeachbodyparagraph.
Iopenwiththeobstacleandthen
covertwokeyactivities,I (would
haveto)usetoovercome.
AdditionallyIsprinkleintarget
stats,anddesiredquotesfrom
subjectmatterexperts.
Thisprovidesaroadmapof
activitiesmyteamandIwilltarget.

19. 8.
…ANDNOW

20. It’shardtopredictwhat’snext.It’s
evenhardertosuggestwhat
comesafterthat.
Concludeyourstory,givingthe
audienceaglimpseofwhatyou
mightaccomplishnextasa
business.
Thisisreallywhattheyarecoming
tosee.Yourarticlegivescrediblity,
whichyouraudiencewantsto
parlayintoaprediction.

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