Santa Clarita small business owners and the public can learn secrets of writing a perfect press release at the “Mind Your Own Business” workshop, hosted by the 25Score Membership Discount Card and award-winning Santa Clarita journalist Stephen K. Peeples at The Boys and Girls Club in Newhall on Thursday, March 30 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

In the “Secrets of Writing a Perfect Press Release” workshop, Peeples will review examples of great press releases, deconstruct them, and show the nuts and bolts of writing a press release.

“It will be hands-on, and you’ll learn just what you need to know to walk out of the class with a press release or at least a draft you can actually finish and send to local media outlets for publication,” Peeples said.

“Writing press releases for your organization or business is one of the best-kept secrets for promotion, because editorial sells if it is relevant,” said Ed Bernstein, who with his wife Marlene co-owns 25Score and hosts the “Mind Your Own Business” workshops.

“Stephen is one of the best press release writers in the business, and in this ‘Mind Your Own Business’ class he’ll take you behind the curtain and give you actionable tools to get you published often,” Bernstein said. “A must-go event for Santa Clarita Valley small business owners and managers.”

Raised by newspaper journalists and a writer since childhood, Peeples has written, re-written and/or edited thousands of press releases in his 40-plus-year media career, for print, radio, TV and the web.

That includes more than a decade as a Santa Clarita journalist. He worked at The Signal, SCVTV (SCVNews.com) and KHTS-AM 1220 (Hometownstation.com) as a writer, reporter, editor and producer from 2004 until he retired in 2015.

In the first segment of the “Secrets of Writing a Perfect Press Release” workshop, Peeples will show examples of a few press releases he’s written recently that were published by The Signal, SCVNews.com and KHTS, and shared on the media outlets’ respective social media posts.

“Then we’ll break down the parts, and I’ll show you a simple formula you can use to fit them together,” Peeples said. “I’ll also show you how to use basic newspaper style and SEO (search engine optimization) techniques for press releases you send to print and online media.”

In part three of the class, Peeples will work with the students one-on-one to help them write their own press releases, about something newsworthy going on with their companies.

“It’s not just an exercise – the goal is to empower attendees of MYOB to write something they can actually use,” Peeples said.

25Score is the largest discount membership card company in the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys, with more than 1,000 participating merchants, all offering discounts to card-holding members for goods and services. The card costs $25 a year and is available at http://www.25score.com.

“Secrets of Writing a Perfect Press Release” is part of the 25Score’s latest “Mind Your Own Business” workshops designed to bring local business owners and managers and mentors together for everyone’s benefit. The “Mind Your Own Business” mission: “To raise the tide with education that can take a business person from where they are, to where they need to be.”

Peeples and 25Score will host a follow-up MYOB workshop, “Secrets of Getting a Press Release Published in Local Media,” also at The Boys and Girls Club in Newhall on Thursday, April 20, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

“Writing a perfect press release doesn’t help very much if you don’t know how to send it to the local media and get it published, so in our second class, I’ll show you how to do that,” Peeples said.

To RSVP for “Secrets of Writing a Perfect Press Release” workshop, or to view other workshops being offered through the Mind Your Own Business (MYOB) program, visit http://www.myobmixers.com/events/secrets-of-writing-a-perfect-press-release/, email info@MYOBmixers.com or call the 25Score office at 661-257-2673.