You have news that you are want to shout from the roof tops. So now what? How can you spread the word? The media is the best voice to attract a large audience. To get your news into the hands of the media, you can create a professional, high impact press release. It can be used to announce a new product, a new company entering the marketplace, a special event, something unique about your business, a local angle or some other newsworthy event or announcement.

It does not matter if you are a small start-up or a large corporation. Anyone can generate publicity from a press release. However, it needs to express enough excitement and interest to generate attention from the media. Announcing that a new accounting firm is opening in your neighborhood may not generate interest. But if the firm created a new software that could prepare your taxes in less than 30 minutes, that may peek enthusiasm in what you have to say.

Some key points to keep in mind when creating your press release:

1. Cut to the chase and don't get your reader bogged down in flowery or overly descriptive words. Since you are trying to tell your story in 1 page (2 at the most), be conservative with your words. If you've never written a press release, visit one of the top press release sites and view some of the popular/most visited releases to get an idea of the format and way it is written.

2. Begin your press release with the headline. This is what is going to grab their attention. Under the headline, a subhead can be used to further peak their interest. The media could care less whether or not you sell any products or services. They are only looking for a good story - so give them a good one.

3. The first few sentences should tell your story. If the reader puts it down after reading the first few lines, they should be able to know the message you are sending. As we learned in school, a story needs to include the who, what, where, when and how. These points should all be included in your first paragraph.

4. Tie it into a current event to help make it newsworthy. In the above example of the accounting firm, this topic would be timely early in the year since people are in the process of preparing their tax returns.

5. Include your credentials and why or how you are qualified in your field. And why your product or service is going to be a benefit to someone. Adding a quote from a customer that has used your product or service and how it benefited them will help add credibility.

6. The end of the press release should contain the boiler plate, which includes the information about the company or person in the above information. It should also provide the contact information and the name of whom the media should contact, address, phone, fax, e-mail and website. You can submit your press release directly to each media outlet or you can utilize news wires, which the media taps into to find newsworthy topics.

There are newswires that are both free and fee based. The following are a few examples of free newswires. You may also want to Google "free press release" to expand the list. (www.i-newswire.com) (www.prfree.com) (www.FreePressRelease.com)

A reporter may not contact you before they run your story. Therefore, tell your story the way you want it to be printed. You can find out if it has been used in a news article, by setting up Google Alerts that contain the title of your press release and any keywords you used. When the media talks about your product or service helps to validate your company and spread your news. It is a very cost effective way to get your word out to a large audience. Making it timely, newsworthy, and compelling will be the first step in drawing attention to your product or service. Hopefully this will result in step two - addressing the increase in business.