Never Add a Byline to a Press Release.

It is standard practice for PR firms and executives to write press releases or statements for companies or other executives and not take credit. They are very selfless people that way. They are also smart.

While we rarely see this with a major company, we did come across a major heavy truck manufacturer doing this just a few weeks ago. Every single press release had ‘Written by’ right below the title.

If you ever feel like taking credit for your masterpiece in this way, remember that the President has speech writers. Have you ever seen any President quote the speech writer?

Why is a byline on a press release a problem? Editors will assume it is an article instead of a press release. We might even think it is an article written by another publication. This means our editors will totally ignore it.

We are very open to having experts from a company write an article. And, we will publish it as an article. However, never place these in the Press Release section. You can do a press release about the article or article series. And then, link to the section of your site that has those expert articles. If you want the media to feel free to publish those with the appropriate byline and credits, that’s a really great idea.

As the PR executive, you should be listed at the bottom of the press release under ‘Contact Information’.