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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Hi guys,
I decided to post here my press release I have rewritten for use in promoting our upcoming theater magic show on May 6th. I have talked more about this show and the marketing we are doing for it in a thread marked Theater Show Marketing. I want to thank many of you for your valuable information and help you have given my wife and me. Thank you. I am posting the press release here at the request of several folks and I hope that people can read it over and tell me what they think about it. If you would like background information on the show, please check out the other thread or go to the show website at: http://fantasyofillusion.white.prohostin......_1x.html I look forward to hearing your comments and ideas on the release. Thanks in advance. PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Magic Show to Benefit Area High School Arts and Magic Club: Two Families Team up to Present a Night of Unforgettable Magic! Contact: Kyle S. Peron Address: 700 Lower State Road Bld. 15 / Apt. A-6 North Wales, PA 19454 Phone: 215-793-6697 - Home Number 610-879-8079 - Daytime Work Number E-mail: Magic4u02@aol.com URL: http://www.kyleandkellymagic.com Spring time is upon us once again and the season is filled with rebirth and magic. Flowers are blooming, grass grows greener and leaves start filling the trees once more. Two families of magicians have teamed up to present a family show to benefit the Hillsborough High School's Association of Magicians Club. The Hillsborough Association of Magicians (H.A.M) is a one-of-a-kind magic and theatrical arts club that meets at the high school and teaches high school age students theatrical arts through the use of magic and illusion. The club has been in existence for well over 25 years and is unique in that it is one of few clubs in the United States that promotes and teaches students magic through demonstrations, lectures and live performances at the High School level. After a year in production, the award-winning “Fantasy of Illusion” magic and illusion show breaks new ground at the Hillsborough High School Auditorium in Hillsborough, NJ. The show combines the talents of Kyle and Kelly Peron along with Bill and Nadine Dickson, two families of magicians who have won numerous awards for their own unique brand of family style magic. Fantasy of Illusion is proud to be working with the H.A.M club to promote a family-style magic show to raise money and funds for the organization and its students. The show also features a special guest spot by Hillsborough’s own John "Constantine" Mitsopoulos. John will be presenting an act called "Abra-ca-doo-wop: Bringing Back Those Magical Years". John is also the group leader of the Hillsborough Association of Magicians for well over 25 years now and has won numerous awards for his unique brand of theatrical magic. Fantasy of Illusion is a one-of-a-kind show. It is the first time two families of magicians have combined their talents to produce a fun-filled magical experience aimed at giving families an alternative to spend a fun evening out together. Fantasy of Illusion is a full stage production show featuring: Paradox; a new illusion that is a big twist to the classic sawing a lady in half; Animal Magic; an award-winning magic act themed around the magical production of live birds and more, Wiz-Kote: A comical routine where a child from the audience gets his or her shoe washed in the most magical of ways and Lighter Than Air; where Kyle and Kelly will attempt to float a child from the audience in mid air right on stage - LIVE! Kyle and Kelly, along with Bill and Nadine, are two of the few husband and wife magic teams in the tri-state area performing together as magical partners. Combined they have performed for such vast clients as the Philadelphia Flyers, Eagles, Phantoms and Phillies sports teams, as well as can be seen this year performing at various resorts in the Poconos and Catskill regions. Their magical skills and showmanship help create a delightful atmosphere full of fun and laughter. An outstanding show of magic, music, illusion and fun, will leave viewers delighted, amazed and most of all entertained. The people who participate in the show are the real stars, as Fantasy of Illusion delights with numerous magical surprises. The audience is kept on their toes as one magical feat after another is performed in front of their very eyes. SHOW INFORMATION Fantasy of Illusion continues their theater tour, and will be performing at Place: Hillsborough High School Auditorium City: Hillsborough, NJ Address: 466 Raider Blvd. Date: May 6, 2006 Times: 7pm TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased in advance by calling 215-793-6697, or by contacting via e-mail at fntsyofillusion@aol.com. Tickets are $10 Adults / $8 Students / $6 Children 12 and under. For more information, please visit the Fantasy of Illusion website at: http://fantasyofillusion.white.prohostin......_1x.html (Additonal photos available upon request) END
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
Kyle, I like it.
I see nothing wrong with submitting it as is. But if I had to change something, maybe this: I would include an action photo. Begin the story with a paragraph that sort of explains the photo and gets right to the point about the show. Using your same paragraphs but rearranging them a little so that one leads to the other, possible avoiding any cut points from the editor. (Begin under photo) After a year in production, the award-winning “Fantasy of Illusion” magic and illusion show breaks new ground at the Hillsborough High School Auditorium in Hillsborough, NJ. The show combines the talents of Kyle and Kelly Peron along with Bill and Nadine Dickson, two families of magicians who have won numerous awards for their own unique brand of family style magic. Fantasy of Illusion is proud to be working with the H.A.M club to promote a family-style magic show to raise money and funds for the organization and its students. The Hillsborough Association of Magicians (H.A.M) is a one of a kind magic and theatrical arts club that meets at the high school and teaches high school age students theatrical arts through the use of magic and illusion. The club has been in existence for well over 25 years and is unique in that it is one of few clubs in the United States that promotes and teaches students magic through demonstrations, lectures and live performances at the High School level. Fantasy of Illusion is a full stage production show featuring: Paradox; a new illusion that is a big twist to the classic sawing a lady in half; Animal Magic; an award-winning magic act themed around the magical production of live birds and more, Wiz-Kote: A comical routine where a child from the audience gets his or her shoe washed in the most magical of ways and Lighter Than Air; where Kyle and Kelly will attempt to float a child from the audience in mid air right on stage - LIVE! Fantasy of Illusion is a one-of-a-kind show. It is the first time two families of magicians have combined their talents to produce a fun-filled magical experience aimed at giving families an alternative to spend a fun evening out together. Kyle and Kelly, along with Bill and Nadine, are two of the few husband and wife magic teams in the tri-state area performing together as magical partners. Combined they have performed for such vast clients as the Philadelphia Flyers, Eagles, Phantoms and Phillies sports teams, as well as can be seen this year performing at various resorts in the Poconos and Catskill regions. Their magical skills and showmanship help create a delightful atmosphere full of fun and laughter. An outstanding show of magic, music, illusion and fun, will leave viewers delighted, amazed and most of all entertained. The people who participate in the show are the real stars, as Fantasy of Illusion delights with numerous magical surprises. The audience is kept on their toes as one magical feat after another is performed in front of their very eyes. The show also features a special guest spot by Hillsborough’s own John "Constantine" Mitsopoulos. John will be presenting an act called "Abra-ca-doo-wop: Bringing Back Those Magical Years". John is also the group leader of the Hillsborough Association of Magicians for well over 25 years now and has won numerous awards for his unique brand of theatrical magic. SHOW INFORMATION Fantasy of Illusion continues their theater tour, and will be performing at Place: Hillsborough High School Auditorium City: Hillsborough, NJ Address: 466 Raider Blvd. Date: May 6, 2006 Times: 7pm TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased in advance by calling 215-793-6697, or by contacting via e-mail at fntsyofillusion@aol.com. Tickets are $10 Adults / $8 Students / $6 Children 12 and under. For more information, please visit the Fantasy of Illusion website at: http://fantasyofillusion.white.prohostin......_1x.html (Additonal photos available upon request) END Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
YIKES!
WA-A-A-A-AY too long! A press release is NOT supposed to be the final story (so, Tom, you're-off base on a few points, particularly the "cut points" commentary.) The purpose of a press release is to whet the editor's/reporter's appetite to find out more! I feel I know a little bit about this topic -- in the past month alone, I got 6 newspaper stories that had their start with my press releases. A page, double-spaced, is the goal. Editors get a lot of these every day... do you want him to read yours? If so, TRIM IT DOWN! Paul Hartunian is one of the leading authorities on *effective* press release writing. I subscribe to his "Who cares?" approach to press release revision. There are a LOT of yawns in this one, Kyle. Read each and every line and ask yourself, from an unbiased reader's POV, "Who cares?" I don't want to do it here out of personal consideration... and I don't want you any angrier at me than you may already be <G>! I know you like to write, Kyle, but a press release is NOT the place to be verbose. |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
That is why I posted it here in order to get feedback and ideas. I have not delveed into the press release market and am relatively new at it. This is why I posted for feedback such as yourself and Tom's as well. I respect all of your comments and I will take them all to heart for sure. I am certainly not angry at you at all Mark. In fact, I thank you for your honesty. That is what I want and I respect you for it. So thank you.
I will try and go through it and re-read it and make some edits. Please feel free to PM me or post here if you like. However, since I am new to this aspect of marketing, I really could use some examples and some ideas as to how to make this better and how I could trim it to make it mor enticing. So please help in any way that you can either here or in PM. Which ever way you feel better doing is fine with me. I know I love to write and God only knows that. hehe I hope that I can take this and make it work and get it working better. I look forward to your advice as well as any others that would like to read it and chime in with their comments and ideas. Tom: thank you also for your kind words and advice. I like the reorganizing of the paragraphs and will take that to heart as well. I would love to hear others' honest opinion on this. What do others feel about this? What are your comments and suggestions. I would appreciate hearing from others who have done this more than myself. I do plan on including a photo with the press release. Do you guys send a black and white or a full color photo work better? Any ideas on this? Thanks again. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
I agree, if the goal is to get them to contact you for a story, the shorter the better, just enough to get them interested.
But beginners do get stuff printed every day by providing the full story when it’s only a couple of pages. The writers wade through stuff understanding that most are not writers like themselves. If they spot a story within the first few paragraphs they will continue to read. If enough information is provided, they then cut to fit. If they need more information to go with a bigger story, they contact you. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
Kyle -
If you have Rick's course Ultimate Publicity Secret Weapon System, or have even signed up for his free e-course, you will know that you should cover the "who", "what", "where", "when" and "why" all in the first paragraph of a press release. Then expand out from there. Or they should be covered within the release (throughout the paragraphs in an interesting way), and not tacked on at the end. It comes across in its current way as too much about "who", and a little about "why". But you're missing the other 3 "Ws". Also, the press release style is not the standard accepted format in other ways, too. It might need to be re-written. Strive to look like a pro who understands their needs and their business. - Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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noumena Regular user Orange County, CA 136 Posts |
I am in the middle of my own theater show run. Nearly all the shows have been sold out and I have gotten a lot of great press. Prior to this I had my own dinner theater show that sold out for two years. That show got a lot of great press as well. One of the many tools we used was a press release.
I won't offer my own press release on an open forum. Such things should not be given away for free. However, I would suggest hiring an experienced writer to write a press release as well as a calendar release for you. If you want a professional press release then hire a professional. It will make a huge difference. They will also have great connections for getting articles written on your show. If you have the budget you can hire a PR rep to pitch your press release to all the right people. - Brandon |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Thanks guys. This is all great stuff I am taking to heart and will make changes today when I get home from work. I greatly appreciate your feedback and advice as press releases are still relatively new to me. The best way for me to find out what works, is to listen to all your advice, take it to heart, make the changes and test it out for myself and track the results. I do appreciate everyones' comments and suggestions and they are appreciated. Now it is time for me to get to work on the editing of the release. Thanks again all. You guys rock.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Thanks again guys. While I am taking your advice to heart and editing and making changes I have a couple of quick questions to ask. Since I am sure that many of you have done far more releases that I, thought I would bring this up to get your feedback. As always, it is greatly appreciated.
My question is this: have any of you received better results by sending the press release over to the contact person via mailing, faxing or e-mailing or online via their website? Is one method better than another or have any of you done a combination of the above? Where might you mail and fax? I am just throwing this out there so that I may get some feedback and ideas from those who have more experience than I. I look forward to hearing back from you all. I GREATLY appreciate it and thank you all so much for your time and willingness to help me out. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
I would think that unless a fax or e-mail is asked for, mailing would get better results with most anything you do.
Like Donald said, try to get the 5 W’s in the first few paragraphs. Keep in mind, unless they see a story, it’s an ad. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Tom-
Thanks again. This sharing of infrmation has been a huge help to Kelly and me and we greatly appreciate all of you who are chiming in here. I am currently rewriting the entire thing this afternoon with everyones' thoughts in mind and will rework the first paragraph to answer the 5 Ws we are talking about. It is beginning to make more sense to me now and I see how what I had read more as a long story than an informative press release. I think I can rewrite ot to get it a lot better then what I had. I also thought that mailing it would be a better way to go and more professional if they seek them that way. This way I can print it out on the show stationery and include our full-color action photo to go along with it. I guess I probably should call to find out for sure which ways they prefer to receive their press releases? Would that be the best thing to do at this point? Just want to ask those who have done this more then I. Again many thanks. This help is so valuable to me. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
It really wouldn’t hurt to call.
Also, if you get a friendly voice on the other end, it wouldn’t hurt to say, “I’m trying to help a non profit group get a mention in your paper, exactly what do I need to send, and to whom do I need to send it?” For the past ten years I have done something like what you are doing with the local club. Each any every year we have gotten a write up in the local paper. All from asking the right people. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
Also, there is some information about writing press releases in David Ginn's book, "Promoting Me and You II". If you have access to that book instead of Rick's course, it might help you.
Don't forget to have a good "hook". Much better than what you have. Right now, you start the first paragraph in a certain way, and then do a 180 degree turn half-way through the paragraph to an unrelated subject. You start by talking about spring, and then talk about the show, with no bridge. Also, the talk about "spring" is a weak hook. Quote:
Kyle: - Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Tom: Great information and I like what you said about calling and mentioning the benefit to the person on the other end as a way of also getting the right decision maker. Thank you for that idea.
Donald. I totally agree. Now that I am reading it, after hearing your and others' comments, that first paragraph makes no sense at all. I have totally rewritten it to answer more of the 5 Ws and it reads much better. I also have changed the headline and the copy to highlight a better hook as well. I will try to make adjustments here at work during lunch and try and post the changes I have made and repost what I have. It certainly is a great learning experience for me and I can not thank you guys enough for your help and support. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
Hey, Donald, I heard there are press release samples in "Money In Your Pocket" (heh-heh)
Lots of newspapers, radio, and television stations prefer fax or email. I use lot of fax and email sources to relay releases, as well as the old-fashioned snail-mail. Check out the websites of the news sources, and most will list the email addreses for the newsroom and various departments. News is NEWS ... a day or two later, it's often no longer news. Get it there ASAP. I've sent via FAX and email at times to the same outlet. And Donald is correct ... a good "hook," or at least an intriguing headline, helps. But in smaller markets, they are DYING for new stories, so just get it out. A B&W photo is always acceptable, as it can run regardless of the format. A color photo does not always reproduce well as B&W. If they want color, they'll ask. Also, NEVER write in ball-point pen on the back of a photo. Instead, attach a sticker with a suggested caption and other details. |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Mark-
Great stuff, my friend. Thank you so much for posting it here. This is wonderful and a huge help to Kelly and me as we continue to work on the press release and get things ready to send out. I have a black and white version of the photo already created as well as a few photos that are being printed out on my photo printer in the event they can be snail-mailed to the places. Do you find that these places prefer a certain file type if you e-mail the photo over as an attachment? Just curious on that. I would think a Hi-Res JPG file would be good, have all the information while keeping the file size down for them. I did not think about the idea of giving them a caption or caption information for the photo. Thank you for that great advice. I can certainly add that as a sticky note to the photo or mention it in the e-mail or fax if I fax over the release to them. This area is a smaller community so I think you may be right in the fact that this area may be dying for newsworthy stories and things of interest in their communities. Is there a right time and a wrong time to get this out to them? We are about 7 weeks out from the event date. Thoughts on this? I am thinking of getting them out this week and into next week to just get them there ASAP. I have been calling the different media places to qualify the information and I am finding what you say is right on the money. Most are saying they like to receive it either e-mail or fax or both. Is it OK to send the release out in both formats? Is it OK to fax it over AND e-mail it as well? Thoughts on this? Thanks so much guys. I seriously can not thank you enough as I dive into learning more about press releases and how best to go about them. I look forward to your additional help and info. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
I'd certainly not send something any further out than one week. They just don't have the time nor the inclination to save press releases. Send it about the time you expect it to run.
I've had papers request all sorts of formats. Again, check their websites. I've been pretty safe sending jpg files at about 300 dpi and it's always worked. But, again, it's always best to ask. That's the nice thing about getting interviewed; you can talk casually to the reporter and take advantage of that time to ask these types of questions. Unless yours is simply something you want to list in the "events" section of a paper, always shoot for the interview (which, of course, is why you don't want to provide an entire story. More about stories later, or PM for details.) |
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keithmagic Veteran user 375 Posts |
Kyle and others,
If you are trying to get major publication to help sell tickets, having that story and a few faxes and emails I don't think are going to cut it. The magic community doesn't seem to have much of a clue (nor did I till I got out of magic-boy mode and got educated about this stuff by people who did this for a living) about this stuff (even published "magic marketing" authors!). Go to your hometown newspaper, ask for a junior reporter who has experience with the PR newswire or other similar submission service to help you with the release. Pay them to write the release (it won’t be much, these people are woefully under-paid), and pay the fee to have it professionally formatted and sent. There are special codes (aside from ### and end) that will help place your article and get the proper attention and distribution). You are a magician, not a media guy, so if you are really trying to get attention and make money on a theatre show, hire a pro. It's not much, and if you think it is cost prohibitive you're probably not making enough on the show for it to be worth your time in the first place. Keith
Author of "The Festival Entertainer" The Professional Entertainer's Guide to Booking and Working Outdoor Fairs, Festivals, and Events.
Available at http://www.howtobookfestivals.com |
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magicguy67 Loyal user mEL.fLORIDA 287 Posts |
Seems like your pretty much set to me.
they thought it was impossible until they met me.
theres no reality in magic did the magician come before the assistant or the other way around. |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
Keith makes a good point about asking the newspaper for help. When you want your car fixed you take to an auto place not to the plumber.
One of the best things I ever did was getting to know some of the newspaper folks. The first couple of years that we had our club show, I wrote it out myself. About half of it did make the paper, not in the idea section, but still I was pleased that it did make it. Now my situation is a little different, through my daycare I got to know a few of the news people. A couple years ago I had one of the writers bringing her child to my daycare. I got to be friends with them, so come show time for the club, I wrote out the date, time, etc on a napkin telling her that was my press release asking if she could redo it a little. She laughed and took it. She called the next day to set up a date for the photo people to come out. We ended up with a picture on the front page and a complete story inside of the Sunday entertainment section. It’s not that hard to get to know the local press especially when it’s a small town paper. And once you do, it’s just a matter of asking for help. That’s their job, to make stories. Not saying you can’t or shouldn’t do it yourself, I think you got a shot with all the suggestions above. Just wanted to share that about the napkin, and say get to know them if you can. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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