Press Release Template With Guiding Notes: Fill & Download for Free

Here’s the comprehensive one I use.A couple notes:I’m a SaaS product marketer. If you’re in a different industry, adjust accordinglyNo single product announcement will require all of these. This is meant to be a comprehensive list. Pull only the relevant items for each individual product announcement.That said, here goes:PRE-LAUNCHMock press release to get the story rightProduct/feature name finalized and approvedMedia outreach and pitchingAnalyst relations and briefingPricing and packaging defined and clearProduct is ready and field tested with customersCustomer problem, value, use-cases well-understood via interviews, resaearch, beta testing, etc.1-2 Customer testimonial quotes securedTarget audience and market persona defined and clearLaunch goal/metric is definedBrainstorming of all launch marketing tactics that could be used for the launchINTERNAL PREPARATION DOCUMENTS TO CREATEProblem statement/solution story (product management will often do this one)Buyer persona use case and jobs-to-be-done matrixCompetitive analysis frameworkPositioning guideMessaging map/one-pagerINTERNAL CONTENT TO CREATE FOR LAUNCH DAYProduct demo/demo scriptsProduct battlecardSales talking points / content kitEXTERNAL CONTENT TO CREATE FOR LAUNCH DAYProduct screenshots/GIFsKnowledge base contentBlog contentIn-App message copyEmail announcement copyProduct videoLanding page / product page1-2 customer quotes and testimonialsSales deckData sheet(s)Social media status copy (to use for company profiles)Social media status copy (for employee individual use)Sales email template to send to prospectsCustomer success email templateSDR email templateFAQ pagePress releasePRE-LAUNCH INTERNAL TRAINING & COMMUNICATIONTeach out positioning and messaging to customer facing teamsSales training: positioning, messaging, tools, content, enablementCS training: positioning, messaging, tools, content, enablementCustomer support readiness (updated help center articles, talk track for reps)Team launch meetingTraining content / decks / handoutsCommunications team / PR positioning prep meetingPRE-LAUNCH LOGISTIC / EXECUTIONCalendar invite sent internallyWebsite update in stagingSchedule of events for launch day outlined and communicated, as Derek Pando outlined in this threadLAUNCH DAY EXECUTIONWebsite updates deployed to production including home page scroll barDeploy landing page/product page/FAQSend email announcementEnsure PR piece is published (if you’ve secured media)Publish press releaseEnsure customer-facing teams have access to all content and toolsPublish knowledge base contentPublish blog contentDeploy In-App messageEnsure video is functionalEnsure company profile social media updates are published across all channels (w/paid promotion if necessary)Send social media update copy to employees to useSend email template copy to internal teamsGet everyone in the company to add hero video to email signatureMonitor resultsHave celebratory beer

I remember the days when you could submit your site to a handful of directories, create a mediocre microsite with a blog roll, submit a few releases, comment on a few blogspot blogs and suddenly strike gold with your Google Ranking. Those days are far behind us and while it's difficult to stay up on the ongoing changes to the Google algorithm as a professional; you can't deny the changes are beneficial as a searcher.The most effective link building strategy is simple. Get high authority websites to link back to your site. Now making it happen, is where the challenge lies. I've highlighted some examples of how to do this but I've also highlighted the second most effective (much easier to implement) strategy for building back-links; targetting influencers and blogs. There are also a wide variety of other approaches that can drive links but they aren't as effective.The Most Effective:Strategy: Use Your InfluenceApproach: If someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson (astronomer) asked me to link back to his site do you think he would have to ask twice? Do you think he could send a note to Pete Cashmore and get weekly article in Mashable? I'd assume yes. At the end of the day, if you can establish yourself as a thought leader or an influencer within a specific niche; you'll have the ability to use your influence to your advantage. Not only does influence present you with leverage to ask people to give you a backlink; it also gives you an opportunity to write guest blogs for high authority websites. An example of someone who used their influence for a guest blog is Ann Smarty, she wrote these posts for Mashable and linked a handful back to her content: Ann Smarty Blog Posts on MashableStrategy: Do Something Worth Talking AboutApproach: Ah yes, my favourite strategy of them all. Do something that is worth talking about. Whether you've raised a seed round for $5M or just launched a new cereal to promote the presidential candidates (Airbnb (product)); do things that will turn the heads of high quality publications and websites. Whether you've launched a unique ebook or have published a video that tells an inspiring story - You've got an angle to pitch. You've established a story and can now approach media outlets with something worth talking about. Too often are websites like TechCrunch met with pitches saying the same story, time and time again. Think outside the box and I'm sure you'll be able to develop a story or concept that can build backlinks along with your brand.The approach for this depends on your industry but this example is meant to represent the things you can do that are worth talking about.Following the opportunity that exists with high authority websites is generating back links from influential websites and blogs in your industry.Strategy: Use Your RelationshipsApproach: Before Noah Kagan joined Mint as employee number 5; he presented them with a plan to get coverage and backlinks from a variety of key personal finance, young professional, mom and tech related blogs. Luckily, he had a solid network and relationship within the personal finance crowd and was able to leverage that during his outreach. Beyond the obvious importance of building a relationship; it's also important to reach out differently. Don't just send a random email to a blogger asking for a backlink; be original. Here's a few examples of templates you could use from Neil Patel: The Link Builder’s Guide to Email Outreach.Strategy: Guest BloggingApproach: Before diving into guest blogging, it's crucial that you have something already existing online that demonstrates you have influence, knowledge, writing skills or a high quality product to offer. This could range from a personal blog, a few answers on Quora or a fancy title that provides you with a bit of leverage to look like an expert. From there, identify the high-influence blogging opportunities that would provide you with a chance to not only create valuable backlinks but also put your brand in front of an audience you may not typically get in front of. Once you've identified the opportunity; build a relationship by sharing their content (mention them) commenting on their posts (provide solid feedback) and exchanging organic dialogue. After a month of relationship building, look for the right opportunity to make your guest blogging pitch. Keep your email short, share links to existing content and attach the most kick-ass blog post you've ever written.Strategy: Focus on content that ties to (1) Value and/or (2) Ego.Another way to generate links from influential websites and blogs is by creating content that will provide value, spark controversy or stroke the ego. An example of a valuable blog post would be one that provides a detailed answer to a question they may have asked on Twitter or Quora. It could also be a blog post or resource that is built to evolve something they wrote or created in the past. Let them know you created it and they may link back to your content at the end of that original post. Ego driven blog posts are extremely successful in generating back links. If you can create a list of the "Top 50 Bloggers using Quora" and follow up with each of them saying congrats on making the list and here's (1) a link so you can read it and (2) here's an HTML snippet you can place on your blog that acts as a badge of honour; you'll have at least 10 back links.These approaches are what I'd consider the most effective. While they aren't going to happen over night; tactics like this require deep analysis into identifying the appropriate keywords, influencers and what sites are linking back to your competition. Recently, Matt Cutts expressed that submitting a consistent stream of releases to PR Syndicates would no longer generate the kind of results they did a few years ago (See here: Why You Should Forget Press Releases). As a searcher; this is awesome. As a digital marketer; it puts us in a spot that requires us to create great content.Generating back links are easy but generating quality back links is very hard. That said, Twitters Founder Evan Williams said it best: "It's pretty simpe: hard things are valuable; easy things are not so valuable." The strategies highlighted above are definitely hard but they also work.

Please note: This is a repost off another question I answered recently. I don't think your ready to get an investor yet, because you most likely haven't tested to see whether people want your product.If this is the case, you have a lot of work to do before you talk to investors. You will need to create a business model, market segment, validate your product, create a pitch deck and a lot more things. I hope these links help you out. It pretty much covers the basics before you can find investors and get an introduction. I've been working on my concept for about 6 months now, and I am not ready to talk to an investor. I still need to find an advisor and do more work on validation and product market fit.The answer to this is really simple. If you don't talk to people, you cannot validate it. If you don't hit the right product market fit, your doomed. That's why you have to validate it. If you haven't done surveys and gone out to talk to people about your idea- investors will probably not talk to you.All startups, begin at your stage. They don't want to tell people about their idea. They believe they have the next big idea, and are too scared to tell people about it. I was one of them, and now I know how things work.There is nothing you can do about people stealing your idea unless are protected legally, either by patents or NDAs/Non compete - but NDAs don't really provide much protection.If you are looking for an investment, investors will not invest in you if you don't tell them your idea. It is a red flag, signally your a rookie, they will walk away from you pretty quick.On another note, a true startup should be able to be able to deal with competition, because if you do get traction, you will get new people entering your market. Can you deal with that?My best advice, attend some startup networking events, watch how people network and talk to each other. You will find, most people are quite open about what they are doing. They will be too concerned on dealing with their project, then copying yours.I've said this a lot on Quora, but I'll say it again. Most startups believe they have a billion dollar idea. The truth is, if they don't have these 5 issues right that I've listed below, they have nothing but just an idea. It comes down to:Execution: Building it right.Validation: People want it.Segmentation: Choosing a small market in a big market.Team: Being passionate about it.Scalability: A way to grow it.Without validation, you cannot be sure that you have built it right. If your wrong, then you have wasted a lot of time. And your back to the start. If you don't have scalability, you will not be able to protect yourself from competition.I would just like to highlight on market segmentation: you need to choose a small market in a big market. Like what Facebook did, Harvard University, then the world. Or, YouTube musicians, then the world. Sam Altman from Y Combinator has an awesome quote: "build something that a small number of users love. Then expand and make a lot of people love it." Here's a link to his article, you really should read it: How to Start a StartupWhen I was working on my startup, it took a lot of time for this to sink in, I had a meeting with an accelerator to critique my startup, and his words were almost the same. I can't emphasize it enough, and a lot of people overlook this simple thing.1) Validating your idea + Product market fit:* A Guide To Validating Product Ideas With Quick And Simple Experiments - Smashing Magazine* The Startup Pyramid2) Conducting surveys:* How to Start a Startup* How do you design an effective survey for market validation (customer development)?* What are the ways to find & interview customers to validate a new product?3) Establishing networks:* Top 20 LinkedIn Groups ALL Entrepreneurs MUST Join* Find your people - Meetup* Startup Grind* Facebook Groups (search startup and your location)* Twitter (search for your target market and follow them)* Page on startupnation.com* Hacker News4) Growth hacking:* What can you do to market a start-up without any marketing budget?* After the Techcrunch bump: Life in the "Trough of Sorrow"* IAC's HowAboutWe co-founder: How to Avoid Delusional Thinking in Start-up Growth Strategy (Guest Post)* Elements Of A Viral Launch Page - Smashing Magazine5) AB testing:* I'm Joel Gascoigne, and This Is the Story Behind Buffer* How My Startup Achieved Huge Business Growth By A/B Testing* How to Run A/B Tests That Give Your Business Big Wins6) MVP:* Minimum Desirable Product and Lean Startups (slides included!)* Why You Should Take Noah Kagan’s AppSumo Course* How To Market Your Startup The Noah Kagan Way* How To Create A Minimum Viable Product | TechCrunch7) Forming partnerships:* How Startups Can Land Big Partnerships* When Startups Pair Up With Big Corporations, Everyone Wins--If You Make The Right Match* Newsletter8) Building a strong team:* How to Build Your Startup Team - The Startup Guide - Creating a Better World Through Entrepreneurship* What Qualities Make an Effective Startup Engineer* 5 Secrets To Building A Successful Startup Team9) Understanding metrics:* 15 great articles about SaaS product management* Your Startup’s 10 Most Important Metrics10) Burn and churn:* A High Churn Can Cause Your Business to Crash and Burn* ANOTHER TOP INVESTOR SOUNDS THE ALARM: When The Market Turns, A Bunch Of Startups Are Going To 'Vaporize'11) User acquisition cost:* How to calculate cost-per-acquisition for startups relying on freemium, subscription, or virtual items biz models12) LTV:* SaaS Metrics 2.0 – Detailed Definitions* Startup Metrics: Don’t Let Your SAC Get WACC13) Pitch deck:* Mint.com Pre-Launch Pitch Deck* Airbnb Pitch Deck* task.ly pitch deck14) Advertising campaigns:* 23 Campaigns Every Startup Should Run to Gain Immediate Traction* The ultimate guide to startup pre-launch marketing in 5 simple steps* Growth Hack Ideas: What is the smartest growth hack that Guidora can do to exponentially increase users and compete with Lonely Planet, Tripadvisor etc?15) Website copy + value proposition:* 7 Proven Templates for Writing Value Propositions That Work* Kopywriting Kourse* 20 Awesome Startup Landing Pages16) Press releases:* How I Pitched @TechCrunch And 13 Ways To Get Press When You Launch Your Startup17) Raising funding:* How One Startup Grew a $100M Business Without Spending Venture Capital* Pitching hacks18) Patents and legalities:* How to Choose the Best Legal Structure for Your Startup* 10 Big Legal Mistakes Made By Startups* Legal Checklist for Startups* Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Intellectual property for startups* Non disclosure agreement19) Social media content:* 9 Things to Do Before Launching Your Startup* How To Market A StartUp With Social Media20) Developing a business model:* What are the key questions that a startup business model must answer to satisfy the founders and the potential investors about the viability of a business idea?* How Business Models Help Generate Business Plans21) Great info on SWOT: A potential investor just asked to see my SWOT analysis. Is this normal?PS>>> If you want to drop me an email for advice, your welcome to email me at [email protected]