How to write a press release for a small business, with a free template
How to write a press release when PR isn't your job: the seven parts, a free press release template, a full example, and how to send it.
You've got news (a new location, a product, an event, a grant), there's nobody on staff whose job is PR, and somehow the press release has landed on your desk. Here's how to write a press release a reporter can use, no agency required. A press release is a one-page announcement written like a short news story, so a journalist can understand it in one read and borrow from it freely. Every good one has the same seven parts, in the same order: headline, dateline, lead, quote, details, boilerplate and media contact.
Below: each part explained, a free fill-in template, a full example, what changes for an event, and how to send it.
What is a press release, and when do you need one?
A press release is the official written version of your news. Reporters check facts against it, borrow your quote and copy the spelling of your name from it, and it keeps answering questions on your website long after the day you send it.
Write one when something has actually happened, or is about to: you're opening, moving or expanding; launching a product, service or program; holding an event the public can come to; winning an award, a grant or a big contract; or reaching a milestone people can picture. Skip it for things that are only news to you, like a sale or a refreshed website. A newsletter does those better.
The seven parts of a press release
Reporters read from the top and stop as soon as they have what they need, so every part puts the most important thing first.
1. The headline
The headline says what happened, in plain words, in the present tense. It isn't a tagline. "Fern & Field Blossoms Into an Exciting New Season" says nothing; "Fern & Field opens its flower farm to beginners with an eight-week growing course" says it all.
If one more detail makes the news matter (a date, a price, a local angle), put it in a subhead. Above the headline, write FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, or an embargo line if reporters are getting the news early. The product launch press kit post explains embargoes.
2. The dateline
The dateline starts the first paragraph: the city the news comes from in capitals, then the state and the date. "PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 2, 2027:" tells a reporter at a glance whether this is local to them, and how fresh it is.
3. The lead
The lead is the first sentence or two, and it carries the whole story: who, what, when, where and why. If it were the only line anyone read, would they know what's happening? Put the news first and the history later. "Founded in 2019 out of a lifelong love of flowers, Fern & Field..." makes a reporter wait. "Fern & Field will open its farm to beginners this spring..." doesn't.
4. The quote
One quote, from a real, named person: the founder, the director, a partner, a customer. Use it for what facts can't say: why you're doing this, and what it means for people. Write it the way that person actually talks.
The quote reporters skip: "We're thrilled to announce this exciting new offering." The one they use: "Almost everyone who comes to a workshop tells us they've never kept a plant alive. By the last Saturday, they're cutting flowers they grew themselves." It's normal to draft the quote for the person named; just get their OK.
5. The details
The next two or three paragraphs answer the reader's next questions: dates and times, prices, where, who it's for, and how to sign up or buy. Then the background: how it came about, a number or two with dates, partners, what's next. A short list of key facts at the end is a gift to anyone writing a calendar listing.
6. The boilerplate
Under a heading like "About Fern & Field" goes your boilerplate: the standard paragraph about who you are, the same at the end of every release. Write it once and reuse it word for word. Our guide to company boilerplates, with 12 examples has a formula and a fill-in template.
7. The media contact
End with a named person who will actually answer: name, role, email and phone, plus a link to your press kit, where reporters can download photos and logos. Then put three hash marks (###) on a line of their own. It's an old newsroom sign for "the end", and plenty of releases still finish with it.
How long should a press release be?
One page. Aim for 300 to 500 words, including the boilerplate and contact details. If yours runs longer, the extra is usually background that belongs on your website or in your press kit. Keep the paragraphs short and the words plain, so it reads easily on a phone.
A free press release template
Copy this into any document, replace everything in braces, and delete the optional lines you don't need.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
{Headline: the news in one plain line}
{Optional subhead: one detail that makes it matter}
{CITY, State}, {Month Day, Year}: {Company} {what is happening},
{when and where}. {Why it matters, in one sentence.}
{The most useful details: dates, times, prices, who it is for,
and how to take part, sign up or buy.}
"{A quote that says why this matters or how it feels, in
plain spoken words}," said {Full name}, {title} at {Company}.
"{Optional second sentence.}"
{Background: how it came about, a number or two with dates,
partners, and what comes next.}
Key facts
What: {one line}
When: {dates and times}
Where: {place, or online}
Cost: {price, or free}
How to take part: {website or booking link}
About {Company}
{Your boilerplate, 50 to 120 words.}
Media contact
{Name}, {Role}
{Email} | {Phone}
Photos and logos: {link to your press kit or press page}
###
A press release example
Here's the template filled in for Fern & Field, the made-up flower studio we use across this blog. Everything in it is fictional, including the course.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fern & Field opens its flower farm to beginners with an eight-week growing course
Saturday classes start March 6, with two free places in every class for school garden volunteers
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 2, 2027: Fern & Field, a small botanical studio that grows seasonal flowers for weddings and gatherings, will open its two-acre farm to beginners this spring with Grow Your Own Cut Flowers, a new eight-week course from its teaching arm, Field Workshops. Classes run on Saturday mornings from March 6 to April 24, and sign-ups open today.
Each class is limited to 12 people. Students plant, tend and harvest their own row of spring flowers, from ranunculus to sweet peas, and take home bouquets from that row in the final weeks. The course costs $240, including seeds, tools and morning coffee. Two places in every class are free for volunteers who run school garden programs in the area.
"Almost everyone who comes to a workshop tells us they've never kept a plant alive," said Maya Ortiz, founder of Fern & Field. "By the last Saturday, they're cutting flowers they grew themselves. That's the part people remember."
Field Workshops has taught one-day arranging classes on the farm since 2024. The new course grew out of the question students ask most often: how do I grow these myself?
Key facts
- What: Grow Your Own Cut Flowers, an eight-week course for beginners
- When: Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon, March 6 to April 24, 2027
- Where: the Fern & Field farm (directions sent on booking)
- Cost: $240, including seeds and tools; two free places per class for school garden volunteers
- Sign up: fernandfield.example/workshops
About Fern & Field
Fern & Field is a small botanical studio growing seasonal flowers for weddings, gatherings and quiet Tuesdays. Everything it arranges is grown on its own two acres or sourced from nearby farms, and its Field Workshops teach flower growing and arranging to beginners each spring. Learn more at fernandfield.example.
Media contact
Maya Ortiz, Founder
press@fernandfield.example | (555) 013-2026
Photos and logos: fernandfield.example/press
###
What makes it work: the headline makes sense on its own, the lead answers who, what, when, where and why in two sentences, and the quote sounds like a person. The free places for school garden volunteers give a community reporter a second angle, the key facts can be pasted straight into a calendar listing, and the boilerplate is the same paragraph Fern & Field uses everywhere else.
What changes for an event press release?
An event press release follows the same seven parts, with a few extra jobs:
- Put the practical facts up top: the date, start and end times, the exact place, the price (or "free"), who it's for, and whether people need to book.
- Offer a photo opportunity. Tell reporters when the most picture-worthy moment happens: "The first harvest is at 10 a.m."
- Mention access: step-free entry, parking, transit.
- Send it earlier. Two to three weeks ahead suits most news desks; community calendars and monthly magazines fill up sooner.
- Send a short reminder the day before to any reporter who said they'd come.
How do you send a press release?
Writing the release is half the job. Here's the other half.
- Make a short list. Ten right people beat 500 wrong ones: the reporters who've covered news like yours, the editor of a newsletter your customers read, the host of a local podcast. Our guide on how to pitch journalists covers finding them.
- Email one person at a time. No giant BCC list. Write two or three lines for that person (why this is a story for their readers), then paste the release into the body of the email, so they can read it without opening anything.
- Link, don't attach. Large photo attachments clog inboxes and can land in spam. Link to your press kit or press page instead.
- Use the headline as your subject line, trimmed to fit on a phone screen.
- Time it. Send on a weekday morning, a few days to two weeks before the news. If reporters should have it early but hold it until a set time, that's an embargo, and you ask first.
- Publish it yourself on your own website the same day. An online press room gives every release a permanent home.
- Follow up once, a few working days later, with something new. Then let it go.
What about paid newswire services? They send a release to many outlets at once, which suits some news, like a public company's results. For a local opening, a new product or an event, a short list of the right people usually does more, and costs nothing.
Keep the boilerplate and press contact ready
The parts of a press release that never change (the boilerplate, the press contact, the logos, the photos) are the parts people hunt for every time. In BrandTab, they're saved once, with the rest of your brand.
Here's what that looked like for Fern & Field. Maya's website had a lovely story page but no paragraph a reporter could use, so she gave the address to Tabitha, BrandTab's assistant. Tabitha read the home page and a few others, then came back with the logos, the Moss and Wheat palette, Maya as founder, the press email, and a short boilerplate marked "Drafted by Tabitha". Maya cut one adjective, ticked it, and it became the brand's media kit boilerplate. Now, writing a release, she presses ⌘K on Mac or Ctrl+K on Windows, types "boilerplate", and pastes the approved version under "About Fern & Field". A search for "press contact" fills in the last lines.
Tabitha drafts the boilerplate, not the release: the news, the quote and the details are yours. On the Creative and Studio plans, the boilerplate also flows into your press kit, which you can share as one link at the bottom of every release. Save each release as a PDF under Links and add it to the kit's Press releases section, so reporters find it beside the photos. Not sure which kit you need? Start with press kit vs media kit.
Questions people ask
How long should a press release be?
One page: about 300 to 500 words, including the boilerplate and the media contact. Anything longer usually belongs on your website or in your press kit.
Should I attach a press release or paste it into the email?
Paste it into the body of the email, under a short note written for that reporter, and link to your press kit for photos and logos.
Do I need a newswire service to send a press release?
Not for most small business or nonprofit news. A short list of the right reporters, emailed one at a time, usually does more.
What's the difference between a press release and a pitch?
A press release is the formal announcement, the same for everyone. A pitch is a short, personal email to one journalist explaining why the story suits their readers. You often send both: the pitch on top, the release pasted underneath.
