This month I resolved to stay on top of my inbox. This meant reading and filing (as opposed to my tried and tested method of ignoring and deleting) emails as they come in.
This has meant, over the past month I’ve read a LOT of press releases and there are some phrases that need to be stopped – asap.
Source: bitznpieces.tumblr.com via Stefanie on Pinterest
This isn’t a PR bashing exercise, that’s not how I roll, after all I used to work in PR myself but rather a little advice guide for anyone thinking of writing a press release to promote their business.
Stop The Press (or any variation) – I’m sorry, this is probably the most annoying phrase you could EVER start communication with. You’re not in Press Gang, your fashion line/travel company/online boutique really isn’t important enough that ANY editor is going to stop presses for you. Therefore that phrase is totally redundant. If I see this in the title it gets immediate trash bin treatment.
BlahBlah-preneur – ENOUGH with the “preneur”. I can cope with Entrepreneur (although aren’t we all? So really, its not gripping) but adding “preneur” to the end of everything just grates. Mummypreneur or Mompreneur is the absolute worst – you are a freaking female in business and you are NOT defined by your childbearing skills so just own it!
Embargo: If I see the word embargo then I assume it isn’t urgent so I just ignore it, but 9 times out of 10 I don’t ever go back to it and it ends up in the bin!
Going forward: This is a phrase that should be banned full stop, not just in press releases. It’s one of those pointless statements like “at the end of the day”.
And finally, it’s not a word but it’s something that you need to keep in mind…
Last minute events – Don’t expect us to drop everything and rush to your event – no matter how good it is. We have deadlines and lives, we need a decent amount of advance notice for any event we attend. Especially, if you’re expecting us to travel.
Seriously, it’s tough to promote your business and getting it in front of journalists, writers and bloggers etc is even tougher. If you want attention be straight to the point and quit using buzzwords because buzzwords = bullshit.
What words do you hate to see pop up in your inbox?