Hey guys, If I want to keep my name/address/phone confidential whats the best way to go about this when sending out a press release. All of the good and reputable PR dist companies want all your info and I just really don't want to give it to any of them. Can I give fake info? or for all the contact fields can I just enter my site contact email address and then the site name? Thanks alot for the help!
Easy. Don't send a press release. If you're not prepared to give out full contact details, you shouldn't be using them. Never lie. Some of those sites do check (I've had some call the number for example). If they don't catch it, you'd better believe a journalist will - real easy way to destroy your site or company's credibility. Either way, the whole point of press releases is to get the media to contact you! If you can't handle that, stick to article marketing instead. If you're that paranoid about your contact info going out, then you need to get separate business-oriented contact info: separate phone number (even if a cell or virtual line), email address just for media releases, and a PO box or business address through a mailing service.
it is advisable to use a valid address and phone when sending a media release for distribution. who knows? you might even be called for TV interview.
I think I'm just going to make up a person's name, call them my Press Manager. Put my address on there, but without my apartment number. And for the phone number...well I'm not sure, guess i might just have to make that guy up. If journalists want to contact me, they can use my email address. Trust me, by the nature of the site they will probably assume that i won't be wanting to give out my real contact details anyway. Sound good? well, really, i just want to make sure I won't get sued or something
No, it doesn't sound good. It's dishonest (precisely the kind of thing that gives those of us in the actual PR industry a bad name), and yes, you can end up in trouble if you misrepresent your company in any way. PR needs to involve a level of transparency. If you can't give that, you shouldn't be using it. As much as releases are a tool for building credibility, false information amounts to PR spam, and can kill your credibility.
kkkk gotcha. I'll sign up for a skype phone number....$18+$6 voicemail...not bad! Thanks for the advice.
If you are releasing material information (publicly traded company) you legally have to have contact information on the release. At the very least, you need to have: Company Email I believe in the states, if you are just doing a media release then you don't have to include any contact information (though still not advisable). This experience is coming from working for two years as an Editor with Marketwire.
Hi there, I always make a separate email address per press release so I can track enquires. PM me if you need more info.