5 Steps to a Perfect Press Release

For Immediate Release – In response to recent questions about how to write effective press releases, the staff at Wonow Media Ltd. in Nelson, BC, have decided to divulge five important secrets that will help any business produce material guaranteed to be read by publication editors.

“The word has gotten out that we write excellent press releases and so people have been asking what our secret is,” says Vince Hempsall, co-owner of Wonow Media. “My immediate response was, ‘Would you ask a surgeon how to perform a tonsillectomy at home?’ But then I realized that, as a magazine editor for the past 16 years, I know what my colleagues are looking for and it’s time to share some secrets.”

Wonow Media has created the “5 Steps to a Perfect Press Release” guide and it includes the following:

STEP #1: Making Contact. Collect the contact information of as many media people as possible and then send your press release to all of them. Even if you’re a small business in the arctic circle, don’t assume The Globe and Mail won’t be interested in your news because most editors are always looking for good stories outside of main city centers. Of course, there are thousands of publications in North America so you’ll want to get started now collecting their contact details…or hire Wonow Media because the company already has them all.

STEP #2: Lose the ego. Editors are not interested in helping you sell more product or lasso you more customers. They want stories that will be interesting to their readers. Which means your press release needs to present an objective view of your company’s exciting news. Stick to standard reporter prose and avoid “I” and “We” except in quotes.

STEP #3: Just the facts. As with all news articles, the lead (ie: first) paragraph of your press release should stick to the facts. Save the hype and the “sell, sell, sell” for your ads and provide the information that will not only catch an editor’s eye but will also sum up the entire point of the press release in 50 words or less.

STEP #4: Short and sweet. The perfect press release is one page. You could waste time writing more but take it from a busy editor, we won’t read anything beyond one page.

Step #5: Making Contact Part II. The last paragraph of a press release should always include the phrase: “For more information contact…” and list your phone number and e-mail address. Following that paragraph, there should appear four characters that will ensure an editor will take the press release seriously. Want to know what those characters are? Hire Wonow Media and find out.

For more information, contact Vince Hempsall at Wonow Media Ltd., 250-352-0921, info@wonowmedia [dot] com.

Kootenay Climbing Association Coverage in the Nelson Star

My article about the KCA’s AGM and fundraising efforts for a new climbing gym was picked up by the Nelson Star. It garnered a full-page spread in today’s hardcopy issue and an online spread in their sports section: http://www.nelsonstar.com/sports/197674301.html

Money Can Buy Happiness

Report from Kootenay Climbing Association AGM

Nelson is one step closer to having a rock climbing gym again after the first Annual General Meeting of the Kootenay Climbing Association last night. Over 75 people came out to the meeting at Selkirk’s Mary Hall, hosted by KCA, the non-profit organization that took on the task of building a new climbing gym in the city after Gravity closed its doors last Spring.

Attendees ranged from families with young children to hardcore climbers and mountaineers from all over the Kootenay region. Everyone from Mirek Hladik (the former owner of the Gravity) to Golden resident Dave Jones, author of the new Rogers Pass mountaineering guidebook, were in attendance.

Aside from choosing Directors at the meeting (local climbers Shawn Tasker, Scott Jeffery, Larry Bickerton, Ico de Zwart, Cam Shute and Nate Smith), the group also discussed the fact the City approved its proposal to use a portion of the Mary Hall gymnasium to install a climbing wall. The KCA is now negotiating with Selkirk College regarding the facility.

Currently, the group’s financials includes approximately $20,000 in 0% loans from members of the climbing community and about $100,000 is required to build the wall. Intentions to apply for grants through the Columbia Basin Trust were shared along with other fundraising ideas including a $50 “Wall Sponsorship” program and a “Founding Investor” plan. Also, new memberships, donations, investor loans and the silent auction at the event have raised a total of $4,500.

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Guide and Nelson resident David Lussier was also in attendance and he presented a slideshow about his climbing history in the region, which includes numerous first ascents such as the first free ascent of Mt. Dag in the Valhallas, which he did with Alan Jones. He also discussed his adventure in Patagonia last month when he climbed Cerro Torre, one of the most visually stunning and yet technically difficult peaks in the Southern Hemisphere.

For the past four months Dave trained at the tiny bouldering cave at Selkirk College in Castlegar and on the 5-metre-high ice falls on the side of the road going up to the Whitewater Ski Resort. He then flew down to Argentina but because of the infamous weather in the Patagonia region he and his climbing partner (Canmore guide Carl Johnson) didn’t have a lot of expectations. They lucked out with a good weather window, however, and decided to attempt the 3,100-metre Cerro Torre. The approach took them two days of hiking across rivers and over glaciers and, when they reached the tower they only had a few hours rest before they began simul-climbing the lower half of the route in the dark. (The duo climbed the 1,500-metre West Face route on Cerro Torre a free line that involves rock, ice and mixed climbing skills with a rating of M4 and grade 5+ ice.)

To make the adventure even more interesting, Dave dropped one of his ice tools half way up the route and was facing the prospect of somehow trying to finish the technically demanding upper ice pitches with only one tool. Luckily, there was another climber on the tower who had soloed the route earlier in the day and was rappelling while Dave and Carl were still ascending. In a moment of extreme generosity, he loaned Dave his ice tool and Dave managed to finish the route, reaching the summit in perfectly sunny conditions.

“It was a climb of a lifetime really,” said Dave, who’s celebrating his 40th birthday this year. “We went there not expecting to climb that route but when we got the weather window we went for it and everything worked out.” Dave went on to say that having an indoor climbing gym in Nelson is integral to ensuring others enjoy similar adventures. “It’s really important for our community, our families and individual climbers to have a climbing gym in Nelson,” said Dave. “

There are four ways to become a member of the Kootenay Climbing Association:

1. Fill out a form at Valhalla Pure Outfitters on Baker Street in Nelson

2. Go to the KCA web site, print out a membership form and mail it to the address on the form

3. Call Ico de Zwart at 250-505-3479 and make arrangements

4. Email info@kootenayclimbing.com
For more information, log on to the KCA’s facebook page.

For more images of Dave Lussier’s adventure, log on to the Summit Mountain Guides facebook page.

Donors for the silent auction event included: Valhalla Pure Outfitters, Ridgeline Metal Works and Kootenay Glass and Mirror, Whitewater Ski Resort, Summit Mountain Guides, NRG, ROAM, Oso Negro, G3, Kootenay Bakery, Otter Books, Red Moon Gallery, Gravity Therapy, Kootenay Allergy Solutions, Shelley Adams, Brad Winter, Dave Jones and Wonow Media Ltd.

Amazing Gimli Peak Video

Feast your eyes on this great video of the classic South Ridge climb on Gimli Peak in the Valhalla Mountain Range. It was put together by photographer Paul Lapides and it documents his ascent of the route in July 2012. For more about Paul’s adventure check out the Paul Lapides Blog.