Press Release Service

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by IcePoster, Aug 23, 2006.

  1. #1
    Have you ever used Press release to advertise your site?

    I heard about PRWeb service. Do you know any other?

    Thanks to all.

    Sincerely,

    Ann
     
    IcePoster, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  2. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #2
    There are a ton of them. I write a lot of press releases for clients, and aside from distributing manually or via AP, I usually go with this mix:

    www.PRweb.com (need to upgrade to get in Google News and live links)
    www.PR.com (will get you in Google News even w/o upgrading)
    www.PRleap.com (most of my releases get into Gnews through this one free too)
    www.i-newswire.com (no registration and posts w/in 12 hours)
    www.free-press-release.com (no reg and posts instantly)

    You can find another list at http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=1217281&postcount=6

    Jenn
     
    jhmattern, Aug 23, 2006 IP
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  3. delrivo

    delrivo Guest

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    #3
    Press releases are an excellent way to get visitors to your site and an even better way to get backlinks.
     
    delrivo, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  4. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #4
    Just remember that press releases are a "media relations" tool, not a backlink tool. You'll get enormously more visitors and more exposure, and even potentially more backlinks from quality sources covering your news, if you use the tool properly and follow a few simple rules:

    1. ONLY send a press release if you have something newsworthy to say. Saying "I'm launching a new website" isn't newsworthy. Websites are a dime a dozen. You better be able to tell the media why your site is unique or an improvement over all others in the niche, or have something else going on to tie the launch into (whether it be something in the news, you getting a charity involved, or you partnering with a much larger site/company, as some examples).

    2. Worry more about writing your press release for the media (answering who, what, when, where, and why in the first paragraph, making sure your headline is more descriptive of the actual news than just catchy garbage - a combination of "catchy" and descriptive is best; just don't make it read like fluff, providing adequate contact information, providing a decent boilerplate with general company info for the media to get background, and be sure to speak to the audience actually likely to read your release: the media; not your general target readership. Worry less about creating yet more wire spam by thinking only about things like keyword density. Leave that for your website. Focusing on one or two won't hurt you, but the second the media senses you're writing for a machine and not for them, you'll likely immediately lose great publicity opportunities.

    3. Always submit manually to as many relevant places as possible (which can range from local papers to niche blogs and major industry sites), even if you still submit to newswires. The best coverage usually comes from personal interaction and relationship-building with the media, not a shot in the dark.

    Jenn
     
    jhmattern, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  5. pfreferral

    pfreferral Peon

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    #5
    jhmattern,

    I may look you up at some point. I'm working on a couple projects that will need press releases. Since I don't know the nuts and bolts on how to write and submit them, I'd love to use your expertise. :)

    Have a great day,

    Paul Falardeau
    http://pfreferral.payitforward4profits.com/
     
    pfreferral, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  6. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #6
    Thanks Paul. Feel free to get in touch if you need help. The sale I've been running for DP members ends on August 31st, but I have some free resources available from the link in my sig that can give you a lot of background. :)

    Jenn
     
    jhmattern, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  7. britishguy

    britishguy Prominent Member

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    #7
    Good solid advise from Jenn

    We have sent PR out many times they bring in results but you need good content and also best to send on a day that you can get your targeted viewers.

    Many other factors not least you need a 'text differentiator' to all the other PR that are released at the same time

    ie your PR needs some 'buzz & sizzle' so you will bring in the readers to the PR
     
    britishguy, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  8. Blanket

    Blanket Peon

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    #8
    is it a bad idea to submit to more than one PR news source? If i submit to the AP should i send the AP te PR the same day the PR is sent to the internet sites (prweb) ?
     
    Blanket, Sep 15, 2006 IP
  9. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #9
    Yes, news (by its nature) needs to go out at one time. You can't call it newsworthy if you can trickle it out over distibution outlets. Send it to wherever you plan to send it, Newswires, Distribution sites like PRweb and PR.com (my personal favorite of them), or manually.

    Jenn
     
    jhmattern, Sep 15, 2006 IP
  10. Blanket

    Blanket Peon

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    #10
    so your saying that its ok to send to PRweb and the AP?
     
    Blanket, Sep 15, 2006 IP
  11. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #11
    Yes, of course. You can send to as many as you want and it won't "hurt" you. AP is less likely to pick things up, b/c it has to really be newsworthy. PRweb takes all sorts of things that aren't really newsworthy as long as you follow their writing guidelines and/or pay them their fees. I usually submit to a set of five distribution sites, and then send out manual ones if there are certain outlets I want to hit. Combining them is perfectly fine.

    Jenn
     
    jhmattern, Sep 15, 2006 IP
  12. anbee

    anbee Peon

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    #12
    I'm a copywriter and send out press releases with PRWeb constantly for clients.

    I also use them to promote my own ebooks and products. Excellent resource, especially for bloggers, because they offer trackbacks.

    Cheers

    Angela
     
    anbee, Sep 15, 2006 IP
  13. GTech

    GTech Rob Jones for President!

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    #13
    Hi Jenn,

    Can you direct me to this post please (see bold in quotation)?

    Thanks!
     
    GTech, Sep 17, 2006 IP
  14. phd

    phd Active Member

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    #14
    phd, Sep 17, 2006 IP
  15. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #15
    jhmattern, Sep 18, 2006 IP
  16. dotcomguy

    dotcomguy Peon

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    #16
    Its also worth noting http://www.majornewswire.com/ I've used these and would rate them. They helped me make a rather un-newsworthy story newsworthy.
     
    dotcomguy, Sep 18, 2006 IP