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Frills and fluff do not make a . Buy yourself some two-pocket folders at any stationery store. Buy a good median-priced folder; you don’t want the most expensive, but you don’t want the cheapest folder either. Inside the folder include copies of any articles or interviews you have appeared in, a fact sheet, a short bio about you and your company, a press release, and any visuals or photos that you believe are important. No fluff, only include the pertinent stuff. That is your press kit. First send a release, make a follow-up call. If a producer or editor asks for a kit, send one, but only to people who have requested it. Be selective. Be smart.

Also, modify your press kit to fit the media that you’re sending to. You may not want to send the same press kit to Time magazine that you would to Runner’s World or Forbes. Be discerning in who you send the kits to and in the materials you include. It will pay off in the long run.

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Gather Your Info.

The first thing you will want to include in your press kit is the biographical information of all the key players in your company (if that is you and you alone, that’s all right too). Keep the bio or bios fairly short, no more than one page each. In some cases you may want to keep it even shorter by creating one page that contains biographical blurbs. The key is to make this page (and all your pages, in fact) brief, attractive, and readable. You will want to include at photos that are at least thumbnail sized to go with the bios, of course.

On the best paper that you can get hold of, print all of your company’s recent press releases, any newspaper clippings, website printouts, or any positive attention your company has already received. If you have been covered in any magazines, include copies of those sheets, printed in color. You really don’t want to scrimp on appearance here. This press kit is meant to function, for all intents and purposes, as your representative. And as as we all know, appearances matter.

If you have a company newsletter, and you feel it is fit for public consumption, by all means include it. If you don’t you can create one pretty simply using some templates in MS Word or programs such as Illustrator and InDesign. Be sure to throw in some photographs, etc., and do whatever you can to make it look professional.

If you have sales materials like brochures or other such items that you might give to a sales rep to hand out to clients, include them in your press kit. If not, create some sheets that describe your product and/or services and that contain attractive photos both of the products and of people using them, if possible, in order to provide a clear picture of what it is that you do.

Putting it Together

The order you place these items in is up to you, but you will want to take your audience into account. Most likely you will be best off starting out with the bio sheet or sheets, followed by the company literature/brochures, then the press releases and clips.

Cover Letter

Printed on company letterhead and high-quality paper, a letter from the highest ranking officer in your company that explains the contents of the kit and provides contact information. Include a business card from your Communications Director or whoever it is that you would like to field interview or story requests.

Binding It

A simple pocket folder is one way to go, but you can probably make more of an impact using a simple 3 ring binder with a clear cover into which you can insert a custom cover or company logo. There are lots of options out there to choose from, so either take a good look online or at your local copy and print shop to get an idea of what will work best for you.

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A press booklet should always be a small but detailed printout. It should be comfortably fit into a press kit. It should have complete information about the company that a news person may need.
The size of the booklet in your press kit also matters and the size of the booklet shouldn’t be too large and it should fit in well inside the booklet.
Your booklet should contain complete contact details for the news person to make any clarification if they require it.
Your booklet should have graphics and charts to let people know the performance of your company. It should also have images which promote your business.
It should be printed on high quality paper as it carries along with it the impression of the organization. There should be no compromise on the quality of the paper.
Make sure that the image file that you take for printing is of very high resolution. This will ensure that the end product also comes out good.
Insist your printing agencies to use high quality ink for your booklet. This will ensure that your booklet looks good. You can also use metallic ink for your booklet as this makes it glitter.
Make sure that the booklet that you are printing is in full color. This will make it look attractive compared to a single color booklet.
Try a gloss coat on all your booklets as this will bring that element of shine and make your booklet stand out against others.

To print a booklet for your press kit you will need the services of a good printing service provider. This is where a printer like PrintPapa comes in handy. They have expertise in all kinds of printing and designing services. They use the state of art printing technology for the printing posters, banners, business cards, letterheads, rack cards etc. They have built a list of successful clientèle over the years due to their high quality service.

The first thing in a press kit is a biography. You don’t need to start at birth or wax poetic about your childhood. This kind of biography focuses on your musical life – the type of music you perform, whether or not you write music, where you studied music, venues you have played. If you have a web site, make sure to give the site address.

The next thing you need is a professional quality photograph. Do not include a snap shot or a picture taken by a friend in your backyard. Check around and get prices from photographers who specialize in headshots. You should be able to get a good photograph for under $100. The picture is more than just showing people what you look like. It should also be reflective of who you are as an artist.

If you have any good reviews or if there have been any articles written about you, make copies and include them in your press kit. But don’t include anything that is too old. You want the material to be current.

The centerpiece of a press kit is your music.  If you have a website with videos, you can use that if need be but the best way is to include a demo CD with the press kit. You want the demo to be professional quality so your music is presented with good, crisp sound quality.

Decide whether or not you want the press kit printed out and snail mailed, or if you want to send the press kit via the internet. If you go for the printed copy, jazz it up by using subtly colored stationary and making a label for the CD. You want it to be eye-catching without going overboard.

Whether you’re dealing with Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, Oprah or your hometown TV station and newspaper, having an online press kit is the key to getting media coverage. Why? Because the media is, and always will be, busy!

From the smallest to the largest outlets, the media is hammered daily with experts, authors and business owners vying to be sources in their broadcasts, blogs and in the pages of their newspapers and magazines. Having an online press kit gives you an edge by making the media’s job easier. Journalists don’t want attachments; they want everything organized and at their fingertips. When you link to your online press kit you can easily — with a click of a button — show the media just how newsworthy you are, while making their job easier.

Here’s how an online press kit will make the media’s job easier and help you increase your book’s sales:

Organization— When journalists visit your online press kit, your “Home” page tells them why you are important and why they should be interested in you. Your “About” page provides three different biographies for three different media purposes.  Your “News and Story Ideas” and “Questions to Ask” pages give them interesting angles they can cover on you and your book. An online press kit organizes everything the media may need to use you as an expert source and makes the media’s job easier.

Professional presence— You’re an expert and you have to present yourself as one in every way. Journalists don’t work with sources they think aren’t professional no matter what they have to offer. Do you wear flip-flops and cut-off shorts to an interview? Of course not. An online press kit shows the media that you’re the go-to person when they need information on a topic, whether it’s breaking news, product or academic reviews and analysis, or a source for human-interest features.

Story ideas— The media serves their audience, so you have to show them how you differ from the competition and how your story fits in with trending topics. Story ideas help the media see how you and your book fit into the latest trends, conversations and breaking news.

When you’re building relationships with the media you need to use everything at your disposal to give yourself an edge. With the advent of the Internet, it’s become much easier to put yourself and your ideas out there for the media and public to see. But if you want to shape your image in such a way that can boost exposure for you and your book, you have to position yourself as an expert with a unique perspective with something different to offer. An online press kit allows you to do this in a way that’s professional and easy for the media.

L. Drew Gerber is CEO of www.PublicityResults.com and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media tool that connects journalists and the highest rated experts. Gerber’s business practices and staffing innovations have been revered by PR Week, Good Morning America and the Christian Science Monitor. His companies handle international PR campaigns and his staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies with Online PressKit 24/7, a technology he developed (www.PressKit247.com). Contact

]]> http://acspresskit.org/using-online-press-kits-to-increase-book-sales/feed 0 http://acspresskit.org/what-is-a-press-kit-from-a-beauty-company http://acspresskit.org/what-is-a-press-kit-from-a-beauty-company#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:13:46 +0000 http://acspresskit.org/what-is-a-press-kit-from-a-beauty-company Continue reading →]]> I have a company I am starting and they have asked me for a press kit and samples of our line. Samples I have no problem but what about the press kit …. hmmm…How should I do it and the person who asked for it is from another country.

]]> http://acspresskit.org/what-is-a-press-kit-from-a-beauty-company/feed 3 http://acspresskit.org/making-a-press-kit-for-my-band http://acspresskit.org/making-a-press-kit-for-my-band#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:48:09 +0000 http://acspresskit.org/making-a-press-kit-for-my-band Continue reading →]]> I need some help. How do I make one? I know the basic idea of it, but can anybody give me the specifics please. If you’ve made one for your band, please help me out! My band wants to start booking shows and I want to send press kits to venues to get shows. Help please

]]> http://acspresskit.org/making-a-press-kit-for-my-band/feed 1 http://acspresskit.org/how-to-create-your-own-small-business-press-kit http://acspresskit.org/how-to-create-your-own-small-business-press-kit#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:03:42 +0000 http://acspresskit.org/how-to-create-your-own-small-business-press-kit Continue reading →]]> In last week’s article, we talked about why your small business needs a press kit. Because they’re not just for the press, I prefer to call them small business information package. To recap, you need a small business information package to augment your business card, which has only limited information about you and your company.

Your small business information package is the printed materials to give or send to prospective clients to tell them who you are, where you are, how to contact you, what you do, how to buy, and why to buy from you instead of your competition.

This week, we’re going to discuss what you should put inside your information package. For all intents and purposes, anything that promotes your company can go inside it. Some of the more common things include:

• Business card

• Small business brochure

• Letter of introduction

• Product or service review

• Price list

• Press releases

• White papers

• Recent articles written by you or about your company

• Biography of key officers

• Flyers, coupons or direct mail pieces

• Information pamphlets

So, let’s talk a bit about each. And let’s start with the big one—your small business brochure. Your small business brochure can stand alone. If you decide not to have a complete small business information package, at the very least, create a tri-fold brochure so you have detailed printed information to give clients.

If your prospective client reads only one thing in your whole information package, it will most likely be your brochure. Why? Because it captures the reader’s attention better than any other item in your information package. Most of your other items will be letters, articles or reviews. They’ll look good, and they’ll all match because they’re on your letterhead, but they won’t jump out at your readers like your full color tri-fold brochure will.

So, you want to make sure it’s the first thing people see when they open the front cover of your information package. If you can capture their interest with your brochure, they’re more likely to read the rest.

The first page of your small business brochure should have your business name and logo, and possibly a photo or some graphics. Make it colorful. Make it interesting. Add a slogan or motto on the front that will make people curious as to what’s inside. You don’t want them to just look at the front cover and put it aside!

Inside, try to introduce yourself and review your product or service briefly. If you can, keep the introduction and review to the length of the first inside page or so. Adding a few graphics or photos throughout the whole brochure, together with informative text helps keep your readers’ interest. And, make good use of your headings, remembering that most readers will scan from left to right, stopping at graphics and headings, and sometimes reading the last paragraph.

Now, this part is important, and is possibly the biggest mistake most small businesses make with their brochure—at least some of the other two inside pages could be better used to show prospective buyers how your product or service can benefit them, rather than to describe your product or service features.

I cannot stress this enough. Too many times small business brochures are used simply to talk about you, your company or your product/service. Most of your readers simply won’t care who you are, what you do or how you do it. What they really care about is how you can benefit them. How you can save them time or resources. How you can make their lives just a little bit easier.

Often, the last outside page of your brochure summarizes the inside pages, or lists products or services in point form. You could even add a price list, if you have one.

The next several items in your small business information package are all written on your letterhead, and the sky’s the limit as to what you can use.

You could put the letter of introduction just behind your brochure, or you could include it outside the information package cover if you’re mailing it. Usually this is just a short, one-page letter introducing yourself and your company, and thanking the recipient for taking the time to look at your information package.

Your product or service review could be long or short, depending on what you’re offering. This is not the place to stress benefits, but simply to list and describe your services or products. You can combine a product or service review with your price list very effectively.

Include any press releases about your company, and articles written by you or about your company. If you don’t have any, don’t worry. You can write some specifically for your information kit. Include announcements of your grand opening, for example, or a new line of products, or your new location. Or write an article about one of your products or services.

White papers are becoming increasingly popular. Are you an expert in a particular area? If you are, you might want to write a white paper to include with your information package. A white paper discusses specific business issues, products, technology or other such topics. It usually summarizes information about the topic, and then suggests a proposal for action, referencing research data to justify the reasons for the action. It explains your topic in terms most people can understand, with the goal of educating consumers and marketing your product or service. White papers help establish the writer as an authority.

The biography of your key officers is basically a resume. Include short one-page biographies of key officers to highlight areas of expertise and level of experience in your industry.

Fliers, coupons and direct mail pieces can also be included in your small business information package. Fliers and coupons emphasize current specials or discounts. Here’s a few tips. When you’re thinking about specials or discounts, try to create a sense of urgency with them by making them time- or quantity-limited. And, consider the 10/10 rule, which theorizes that people are most likely to buy when they see discounts of 10% or $10. Or, better yet, offer something extra free.

Recent direct mail sales letters can also be included. There’s simply too much to say about them to really give justice in this short article, but some things to remember are: to stress benefits, create a sense of urgency, the 10/10 rule and a bolded P.S. including a call to action.

Keep direct mail sales letter simple and relevant. Be enthusiastic, know your product, use your imagination and understand your target audience. Establish trust and credibility. Include testimonials. Give free nuggets of information. And, just like in your brochure, write your direct mail sales letter for how people will read it, scanning left to right, and stopping at graphics and headlines, and the P.S.

Now that you’ve gotten all your information package items written and printed, it’s time to put them all together. You can buy covers in your company colors and have your logo and business name printed on them. Put your business card in the front slot and your information in the inside pockets, making sure your brochure is the first item they’ll see. Then send it out, and sit back and wait for responses you’re sure to get!

Eve Jackson owns Details Small Business Solutions, a company dedicated to helping small business do big business with communication and image consulting. We write business plans and design corporate identity packages, press kits and small business web sites. We’re copywriters too, writing copy for press kits, web sites and direct mail sales letters.

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