Marketing Your Home-Based Business: Press Releases

The sixth way you can market your home-based business is with press releases. Sending a press release to a news organization can generate positive coverage of your business, event or product.


Make sure you have news that will interest readers. For example, appropriate press release topics include the launch of your new business, or your involvement with a local charity or an event that’s open to the public.

A press release should answer the questions who, what, where, when, why, and sometimes how. The headline should tell what’s in the release, and the first sentence should give more details. Don’t make the reader guess what day your event will be held or the name of your business.

Press releases do not need to be clever but they should be grammatically correct. Read your press release over carefully before sending it out, enlisting the help of family or friends to make sure it’s as accurate as you can make it.

Check the masthead (the listing of the editors and writers of a print publication) or online staff listing to see who should receive your release. When in doubt, call or e-mail the editor or managing editor to ask to who should receive the release. Getting your release into the right hands can help ensure your release is read and not ignored.

Find out the publication’s deadline. Most provide general guidelines for calendar or event listings, as well as due dates for copy to be considered for those sections. Follow the guidelines, as sending the information exactly as requested will be much appreciated by the editor or writer.

If you don’t have anything newsworthy to write up in a press release, offer your services as an expert. Send the appropriate editors a brief bio and a list of topics on which you could provide quotes or background information.

Many newspapers—both large and small, print and online editions—are cutting back on staff reporters and are looking for authoritative outside sources. Submit articles for free that relate to your business. For example, if you have a pet-sitting service, write an article about how to teach a dog to heel properly. If you have a catering service, write an article about how to prepare a simple but elegant Valentine’s Day dinner for two. I recommend not even mentioning your business in the body of the article at all; just put it in your author bio.

The most important thing to remember when working with the media is to stay on topic, keep focused and provide newsworthy content. Let your expertise speak for itself.

Until next time,

Sarah