Have a business news tip or announcement of a local company?  We’d love to hear about it.

Submit your press release using the following terms to help you get the most out of your submission.

Press Request Guidelines

The article below outlines how to write a press release so that SDN will be more inclined to publish it.  Please read it carefully before submitting a press Request.

Remember, SDN does not make any guarantees that your story will be published.  These guidelines are put in place to help us select the best stories that are most pertinent to our readers.

How to tell your story to the news media

by John Freeman.

1  Every Springfield Missouri based business gets a free business review. What does this mean? It means that you submit your business for review and our editor will come out to your business, do a video walkthrough, write an article and publish it to the SDN website, and Google reviews, as well as any other reviews service that you use to help grow your brand.

As editor of SDN, I’m in a unique position to observe the position of two truths. Nearly every business has a compelling story to tell. Very few businesses tell their stories well. And it all begins with the news release.

Since I’m in the business of writing about business, I have an ambitous drive to promote the quality and quantity of news releases I receive.  Moreover, it helps fulfill my goal of providing SDN readers with news, views and advice they can use. But there’s a lot more involved than making my job easier. Even in an age of Web sites, blogs and tweets, old-fashioned media coverage still affords businesses an important opportunity to connect with potential customers as well as establish name recognition and credibility. In addition, media coverage is only as costly as the time and expense involved in writing and sending out a good news release and then cooperating with the media doing the story.

Since I own SDN I can afford to offer this free of charge. As we make our revenue in Ads, Marketing services, Business services and more. We never charge a subscription to our readers. Readers should not have to pay to stay informed.

Perhaps the best first step in the process is to gain a better understanding of the basic operations of news media. Business journals, magazines, newspapers, radio stations and television stations inform and entertain readers, listeners and viewers.

But they’re also businesses that sell advertising as a means to reach those readers, listeners and viewers. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Content attracts the audience advertisers want to reach. Advertising pays for providing the content and the reporters wages.

It’s important to remember the distinction between news and advertising in writing a news release. Editors and news directors look for information that interests readers, listeners and viewers.

A pitch to buy a product or service is better suited for an advertisement. I relish the opportunity to publish information about new businesses, new hires and new products because readers consistently tell me they’re interested in those things. A release about an upcoming sale or discount? Not so much. Those who aren’t sure if a news release is actually newsworthy should ask themselves this question: Who cares? If they weren’t involved in the business themselves, would they care enough to read, listen to or watch the story?

It’s also helpful in writing a news release for a particular media outlet to become familiar with that outlet. If you want to publish something in the SDN, it’s a good idea to read the SDN. It’s far easier to tailor a news release to a media outlet if you’re familiar with the kinds of news that outlet prints or broadcasts. Moreover, it saves considerable time and effort in writing and sending news releases to outlets when there’s no chance those outlets will ever use that information. I review hundreds of news releases on a weekly basis, but publish only those related to businesses and business operations in the Springfield Missouri area. Most of the emails I Receive are SEO services trying to sell me services we already have and simply get deleted as spam. While others get promoted city wide. 

There are still other news releases that I would love to run. They don't all have to be related to the business world. That’s why it’s important to know the publication or broadcast schedule of a media outlet, particularly print outlets that don’t come out every day. It does little good to submit a news release about an event that occurs the next day to a journal that doesn’t publish another issue for a week. Timing is an even bigger deal for magazines, which often prepare content months in advance of publication.

In writing a news release, keep in mind the two objectives involved. The first objective, of course, is to communicate through the media the basic facts at hand: a new location, promotion or change in ownership, for example. The second objective is to sufficiently arouse the interest of editors and news directors to make them want to pursue a story in a more in-depth fashion. Many of the best stories published in SDN originated as short news releases. I didn’t want to just run the news release. Rather, I felt compelled to interview those involved, shoot photographs or Videos and publish a more thorough release.

To that end, it’s essential that news releases include contact information — preferably both a telephone number and email address. And when an editor, news director or reporter calls, respond promptly and accommodate their requests in a timely manner.

News people are busy, too, and quickly move on to other stories if they encounter too much difficulty. I’ve lost count of the stories I haven’t published because a business owner or manager wouldn’t return a phone call. It kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

Marketing firms and advertising agencies offer assistance in writing press releases and handling media relations. SDN is both a News Media outlet and AIO Marketing Firm which makes the process easier. But for small companies that can’t yet hire such professionals, there’s still hope. For the little man struggling to keep the doors open and non-profit organisations we cater ourselves to helping them first and billing later.

Try not to get caught up too much in the wording or format of a news release. Focus instead on conveying important facts. The old journalistic convention of the five Ws still works. Describe the who, what, when, where and why. In fact, there’s nothing wrong with submitting a news release containing only those five statements.

Our email is newsroom@springfieldbroadcasting.com  for submitting a news release that follows that basic format. If there’s something new or unique involved, though, make sure to include that information as well. That’s the very essence of news and likely to pique the interest of an editor or news director. Title the email as outlined below so we can sift it out of the mountain of spam we get. That email goes out to every reporters inbox. it is a system-wide email address that everyone sees.

I can’t speak for other media outlets, of course. As for SDN, I’m anxious to share your news. Send me your news releases. Tell me a story.

OUTLINE

SUBJECT:  PRESS RELEASE

_______________________________________________________

Your Email: myname@email.com

Your phone number :417-my-number

Your business or organisations name

Body

1 Describe the who: who you and your business are.

2 what you and your business do.

3 when you and your business are opening, holding and event or when the specifics of the release are taking place

4 where your business is held or holding the event of the promotions subject.

5 why you want your business featured.

Now not all 5 subjects are required.

We will call you asap to discuss a time to meet at your business and when the release will go out. We usually need at least 7 days advance notice. 

You can contact us on the contact page at https://springfielddailynews.com/contact 

Thank you and Sincerely CEO/Editor John Freeman.