The PRMODE Compass

The PRMODE compass is a step-by-step process to build a press release experience that will help you build relationships with journalists and gain traction for your news story.

In order to have a successful press release you need to do FIVE things really well.

P – Press in on your story angle
R – Reliably create a solid foundation
E – Enhance an amazing story
S – Start with the right attention
S – Save the Date to announce at the right time

Each letter represents a stage in our process and within each stage are five tiny ‘engines’ that need to be built. When you execute all the engines in your business you’ll have created a lean, mean PR machine to make your news announcement special.

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P – Press in on your story angle

You know how people say, “Build it and they will come.” Not true! You can’t just ‘hope’ they’ll show up. All effective press releases BEGIN by identifying the right story angle.

Which is interesting because most entrepreneurs completely skip this step, a few get lucky and hit the jackpot when a major outlet writes about them. But if you could minimize the risk of failing before you even start, you’d take it wouldn’t you?

This allows you to customize the experience for your target journalists or bloggers. This is where design begins and without it, you’re just wishing for something to happen instead of knowing what to do.

Story Angle Research

How do we know exactly what will make your journalists go crazy for your product or service?

Messaging

Do your readers understand what you’re offering or announcing? Should they care? If they don’t… well that’s certainly good to know.

Distribution Analysis

To understand how effective your press release is, you need to know: Where is the release going to? Who will read it? How did it get there? How did it do?

Announcement Review

Know where you stand with your announcement by evaluating competitors: understand what works, what doesn’t, and how to be different.

R – Reliably create a solid foundation

Your team and your business represent the bedrock of a good news announcement. Without a system or brand guidelines each hire will create on a whim. Over time, this leads to stuff going all over the place. Confusion and disorganization is no place to be.

From story angle research to proper announcement timing and brand guidelines to coherence and journalist targeting, your business needs a cohesi1ve foundation that works for where you are and where you are going.

A system with well-defined guidelines ensures consistency and professionalism.

Vision

While it may seem boring, a vision is the “North Star” of your press release. It sets important parameters which enable you to outline a clear signal as to what your announcement should be and what it is valuable.

Structure

Strong writing structure gives your press release an unbreakable foundation for coverage, reduces confusion, and increases the probably of snowballing into wider coverage.

Style

By establishing clear brand and editorial guidelines, you ensure that your audience will recognize you and what you are trying to say.

Balance

We do PR outreach to journalists, bloggers and media influencers as the foundation because a diversified approach is the best strategy for success.

E – Enhance an amazing story

If you’ve read this far, by now you know we don’t treat press writing and journalist outreach like a game of peekaboo. For us, it’s not about just making something look big . It’s all about helping you achieve your business goals and realize your vision with your announcement.

You can’t design a system for building relationships with journalists unless you understand where their desire for a good story comes from and how the current system works in a newsroom. Designing an experience is not just about how something sounds, it’s about how it functions.

Once we’ve discovered the DNA of your announcement we are ready to communicate the essence of it’s personality through the lens of the media. When you match the right visual system with a well thought out user path for the journalist or blogger, you enhance credibility, build your reputation, and amplify results.

Conversion Copywriting

Most Important Element. Words are what establish you as an authority, how you connect, inspire, impart value and — at the end of the day — words are how you project your brand.

Branding

A good brand is a mixture of psychology and science; it conveys quality, purpose, personality, and most of all, it inspires trust.

PR Kit Assets

Do you want to connect with your audience or confuse them? When you use stock, you look like everyone else. When you use the wrong image, the meaning is lost.

Design

Smart press release formatting provide visitors with the right guidance to direct them where they want to go and where you want them to go in terms of the announcement.

S – Start with the right attention

Announcements about everything. However, is your announcement enticing enough.

Does it even make sense?

Many entrepreneurs get stuck here in what we call tactical hell. They keep trying tactic after tactic – wondering why they aren’t getting press coverage. Tactics are great, but until you have the fundamentals covered, journalists will read your story but show no interest.

To focus on getting written about before mastering the other other points on the compass is like flushing both your time and money down the toilet.

S – Save the date and announce at the right time

That’s why it’s important to take care of the initial steps before sending the press release simply to make an announcement. Once we’ve learned about your target audience, strengthened your ability to serve them with the right news coverage, we are ready to make the most out of the press release announcement.