ME: Hi Audry, I've attached a Jpg with callouts for each element of the PRWeb Press Release Control Panel. This page will also be added to the current PRWebQuickstart on Monday, along with some additional clarifications. Thanks for posing the question... it's so easy for us to get myopic and forget the subtlties of the system, and the many elements that make up the complete PRWeb experience. Let me know if this is helpful, and enjoy the weekend! best, ME
Whoops! Sorry AmCy, I was in the middle of editing this entry and missed YOUR entry above. Maybe I should refresh once in a while, eh?! Best, ME
My latest release about my free domain name contest went live a few minutes ago. Comments are welcome! I like weekend releases: it's so easy to get pole position ! I'm working on a release for my boycott site now. I think I'll do another Sunday release. A bit risky, since there are posts that rich and powerful companies like Wal-Mart won't like . But I'm actually looking forward to some fireworks AmCy
Thanks for that, I didn't realize that and only had chosen one category. I now went back and found 10 relevant categories. AmCy and eAgent - You've provided a wealth of knowledge! I will be increasing my donation to $80+ . Cheers
Yes, I do like the graphic. I had forgotten to get into my control panel. But having something clarify what's there is also helpful. I've used PRWeb only once. As an editor, I don't do much that is newsworthy but I do suggest that clients use the service. I've found this thread particularly helpful. Thanks to all who have made it so.
THanks for everyones help. We are at Position 15 with 3 stars (I won't reveal my exact bid amount until after today) Take a look if you like: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb255213.htm Are there any added features between $80 and $200? I believe the only extra features once you pass $80 is the live link at $200. Can anyone confirm this. Cheers
Is this just as effective if you don't pay for most of them? Maybe feature one (by paying) every 4 weeks? I would be interested in hearing more about this as we can have our Press Releases written in bulk on a range of Products by our current company. PS. I read the PRWeb .pdf, there is definately some good info in there
Here are my stats for the first 24 hours Monday Release $128.79 Starting Position - 15 Ending Position - 18 (Although I held onto 15 for most of the day - It would have been at least a $100 to move up) Reads 84,022 Estimated Pickup 460 Prints 21 Forwards 0 PDF Downloads 24 If I paid that same amount for a release Today (Tuesday) I wouldn't be in the Top 20
ME: Hi again! And what a great banter we get to share! Here's the short "it's 1:30 AM my time, what the heck am I still doing up?" response... 1) I've only posted a dozen free releases on PRWeb since 1987, so my results are weak in that area. I originally started contributing because I was also a dot-com survivor, and thought it prudent to help another "brother" keep the fire bright... and they DID add a bunch of services in 2001-2002 to make the contribution feel like a real value-exchange. 2) Live links is a key part of the strategy, but also keyword-tagged and visible images/thumbnails, which for me means at least $40 per release. 3) One of the coolest features at $200 is an inline image in Google news and PRWeb's home page. This means that not only do you count the stars on PRWeb's home page, but you see an image as well. On Google, it can make a big difference in traffic (if that matters to you...;-) 4) You also receive really detailed visitor stats (far beyond the basic stats on the basic listings). I've included an attachment image here as well. 5) One caveat: if you have a rockin' press release, and can ALSO get it in the physical world, like what happened with our Susan's healthy Gourmet client, then you can throw all the stats to the wind, because it will skew the numbers big time. (see attached). That's it for this evening! And thanks for the eBook kudos (it's still in beta, but getting there...;-). I'll make sure you have the Online Visibility Engine eBook when it's released as well... it's much deeper on the stuff that matters to hardcire traffic builders. Best, ME
I have to say that it is probably $80 well spent, as PRweb are probably one of the best distribution companies around. I have just done a recent PR with them and their basic definitions are: Reads - This number tells you how many times your press release was accessed from our site and other distribution points where we have the ability to measure a click through. This number does not include the number of journalists that have received your release through email. In addition there are online distribution points that we currently have no ability to track. Estimated Pickup - This number estimates the number of times your press release was picked up by a media outlet. This does not tell you how many times your story appears in the media. It simply attempts to estimate media interest of your release. Prints - This is the number of times that someone has printed your press release. We measure this by the number of times that the "printer friendly version" link is pressed. In reality, only a small percentage of users actually click this link before printing a release. Forwards - This is the number of times that someone has forwarded your press release to a third party using the link on your press release. PDF Downloads - The number of times your release was downloaded as a PDF document. PDF Downloads may be reflected in "Reads" and "Estimated Pickup" statistics. Your stats look pretty good to me.
On the subject of PRweb, does it really make that much of a difference if you spend $40 or $140 for your press release distribution? Cheers.
ME: Hi Andy. This is an element I've been addressing with our own clientele for the last 2 years in detail. First, let me say that a good headline is extremely important in regards to pickups... as is the word count of your release, and the Summary you craft (the summery shows-up immediately below the headline in the PRWeb listing). Do those right, ensure there's some REAL editorial content in your message, and your release will get results. Period. But if we're talking ALSO ensuring that Google and Yahoo like your PR from a search, or search and display perspective, and if you want to take advantage of what the additional automatically generated PDF will do for you (and you can see this by doing a Google search for eXpertLingo. The results show a PDF even ahead of the URL, and a few results below, the PDF from PRWeb, both on Page 1), then the $80 level is the only way to go. Here are the quick elements that will show the greatest returns in terms of $$: 1) Mo' contribution = your press release gets a higher position on the front page of PRWeb.com. This can make a big difference as a visitor scans the front page seeking press to visit. 2) At $80, PRWeb has an editor scour your release AND the settings (distribution, keywords and other elements to ensure you achieve the very best distribution results) and contact you if they have additional recommendations. They also ensure correct format and if they can restructure a sentence, or catch a misspelling or something that effects your Score, they will update those elements for you, and fire back an email to let you know the changes. That can have a nice impact on further distributions. 3) Yahoo News (as well as the dozen additional SE feeds that come with the higher contribution) is a biggie, but expensive for PRWeb, hence the $80 minimum contribution level for those additional elements. If you search for your keywords a few days after your release, you'll see that Yahoo (and the resulting PR ranking you receive from Yahoo and Yahoo's distribution partners) adds to your backlink position. A cool aspect of a well formatted press release is that it's a WEB PAGE. It looks and feel just like you've added 350-750 words, phrases, links, head tags and backlinks to your web site in a single effort. Sure, it may take a few hours to generate a really rockin' press release... but definitely no longer than to craft a well-designed html page (usually less, because the formatting is pretty much standardized... just pour in your content, select from the limited number of variables, and viola! You have a new web page!). And we all know the SE's, and your potential visitors, love fresh content. I was working the numbers recently, looking at what it would cost me to pick up PR5 or greater backlinks using conventional methods, using a backlink tool or some other method. In the end, a well-designed and implemented PRWeb press release program creates this cool effect where the FIRST click is expensive (let's say you did a $100 contribution, so it cost $100, plus your time), but... The second click runs $50. The 3rd is $33.33 4th is $25... It scales down pretty quickly, never running to zero... but, as in the case of Susan's Healthy Gourmet (see below) or RichContent, or any of the releases that have been up for a bit, you're paying PENNIES per click... and you paid ONCE, up front, and never have to worry about it again. At least that's my take on it (we also develop AdWords and Overture campaigns, and find them extremely valuable as support or launch advertising elements). Did I actually clarify what you needed to know? Ping me back if I'm not clear enough. best, ME
Hello Again eAgent: I just submitted my latest release which will go live on Sunday. It's 434 words. In your opinion, is 434 words too short? OK? Just right? Your insights appreciated, as always. Also, I've put out 5 release in the span of 1 month. This will do great things for me because they were released relatively close together? They are all linked together in the same PRWeb "Group". AmCy
My latest release has received an editorial score of "5". This is my first "5", and I'm quite pleased. Drinks are on me! AmCy
Hi All: My boycott forum press release went live today, and so far the numbers have been pretty good. Any comment welcome! AmCy
How do you get the picture to show up in the article? I uploaded a small graphic with my release and it didn't show up - although I didn't upload it until the last minute. I thought it was automatic. My next question is how do you get the logo to show up next to your article on the home page.
Hiya NevetS! Well, I just used the "Attach Files" & the "Google Image Upload" links provided in the News Management Console. Note: I'm almost certain that these options are only available if you contribute > $80; It might be > $200 for the "Google Image Upload" feature. I've attached an image that you can refer to. AmCy