Article writing and Press releases

How do press releases differ from article writing??

I am really comfortable with writing articles and submitting them to article directories? Can the same be done with Press Releases? What are Press Releases exactly? and does anyone know of a good Press Release writer?

 

As far as I understand it a Press Release is a newsworthy item, whereas an article can be almost anything. If you have a look at some of the info at prweb.com you should gain more of an understanding.

T

 

In my experience articles tend to have a longer life on other webmasters' sites.

 

Absolutely. After all, who wants to read yesterday's news in today's newspaper?

T

 

As was mentioned, PR's are news items. For example, if your company was releasing a new product, starting a new service, or merging with a new company, you would issue a press release.

 

I personally will not read press releases for fun, but I find myself looking through some categories in the article directories just to find out what are the popular topics which people would want to write about. Also get to learn some from these articles.

 

This is a great question, and I think it was answered well. It also runs across the little debate discussing the difference between marketing through direct response and copywriting.

 

Press releases were designed as a way of disseminating information to the media. Basically, it's how you make them aware of a news story, b/c otherwise they'd probably never hear about it. They can be distributed online like articles can be, but would go to release distribution sites and not article directories. They're much more effective however, if you take the time to put in some research to manually distribute and follow up with specific journalists who would have an interest in your niche. You can also distribute directly through real newswires like Associated Press by sending it to the editor/writer responsible for your relevant beat, or to your regional bureau if it's of local/regional interest.

Jenn

 

where is the best place to post press releases for free besides prleap?

 

I'd consider www.pr.com better than prleap for free distribution. While PRleap can get you into google news, PR.com gets all of their releases added there... more than what most free sites can/will do.

 

thanks for the tip

 

The press release turned 100 this month. The first press release appeared following a train crash in a spot that most journalists couldn't reach and on a new section of track that was very important to the financial success off the railroad company.

That first press release was praised by journalists who thought it was absolutely wonderful.

The railroad issued a second press release a day or so later that was universally dumped on by journalists for trying to spin the story so that the railroad company came out smelling like roses.

It obviously didn't take long for press releases to move from being informative to being full of spin.

 

That's not entirely true. The "spin doctor" image PR professionals get is because of some less than ethical PR people through the years, and isn't how most of us work... it's just what the majority of "talk" is about (b/c it makes for a better story), and how many of the DIY business owners handle things, b/c that's how they think it's supposed to be done. PR is still about disseminating information, and it's still about honesty. Putting an "angle" on something to emphasize timeliness isn't "spin" in the sense that you're talking about. I could give you great examples of corporate PR done right, simply based on complete honesty and transparency... the general public just doesn't hear about them and think of them in terms of it being PR. They just take a story however it's presented to them.

As for Ivy Lee's Pennsylvania Railroad release (the first), the 100th birthday was actually last month... it was issued late October in 1906.

Jenn

 

Press releases are supposed to carry something newsworthy. For example, it could the launch of new website, or service, the purchase of a website, etc...
If you try to submit an article that is not tailored as a press release, it will be rejected by the press release websites such as prweb.com. If you go to prweb.com, they will tell you how a press release has to be written.

 

Erm... is anyone aware that thread was started more than a year ago? I somehow have the distinct feeling that the thread creator got his answers by now.

But anyway given the general educational aura that such questions pose: press releases are newsworthy articles, following a certain set of strict rules which have a purpose of either attracting attention towards an issue (usually company images) or to alter the perception of a situation as seen fit by the writer. The most important rules are that you must have something newsworthy to talk about and the second is that you must avoid at all costs the temptation of choosing an advertising style and stick to a neutral one.

Hope this helps.

Regards, George

 

Was it really? My how time flies when you're busy writing press releases

 

Even though this thread was started a year ago, I have just joined Digital Point and on the hunt for quality places for article submissions. Thanks for the tip on PR.com! LOL, I see that I am a peon. This business keeps me humble

 

Don't submit "articles" to PR.com. They're pretty strict on what they let through... they actually seem to hold more up for questions on editorial review than even PRweb does. Misuse their site, and you can get banned pretty easily. It's a fantastic resource if you use it right though.

 

I use both articles and press releases. I have found press releases are good for a quick spike but then usually disappear. Articles tend to take longer to build traffic and attention but will last longer. I was recently doing some checking on one of my site's seo and found an article of mine that was ranked in the top 5 for the keyword phrase I was targeting (on EzineArticles.com)