Do you guys think its better to submit a press release to a bunch of free press release sites for backlinks and traffic or do one of the semi expensive paid press release submissions to one site?
Why not do both? We use PRWeb a fair bit, but it costs a lot of money. But it has the power of being picked up by major networks, so there is a definite plus to using it that freebie sites won't give you.
Use PRWeb, but go with their cheapest package. It's $80, and it works. I think I have a decent report or book on doing PR. I'll look for it. If I do have it I'll come back here and post a link where you can download it.
I found one that I can give away. Just go to my site in my sig, and scroll down the orange column on the right. You can download it from there.
If you want quality go for Paid PR such as a few PR 6 websites. If you want quantity for for free PR websites although they won't be very high PR
I pay PRWeb then submit to the free sites there is a list at: http://www.webmaster-elements.com/submit-press-releases.htm