I dont get what most people call a press release. Since a press release to me is going to newspapers, radio and T.V. But lets say i launched a new site what would my press release include and what do i do with it? Post on forums etc
Press releases are useful for any organization that creates news, in the broad definition of what is news as anything that might interest a reader long enough to be exposed to the publisher's advertising. That means that adding a new staffer is news in his home town and perhaps to your industry. Releasing a site upgrade is news if there are technology issues, improved services, or some other reason a person might want to read about it. Newspapers nowadays have websites, and these websites will provide links to your site. Google indexes news sites and therefore indexes links to your website. Basicly, news is good and press releases are the first step in making news reporters realize that there is news to report.
Press release should almost read like a story that you would see in the newspaper. It needs a catch, needs basic info about your product or company, needs something about why it's so awesome. At the same time it should be very professional and concise. No longer than 1-1 1/2 single spaced. Should be written like an article too, short paragraphs. Go in any major serach engine and type in "write a press release" and you will find hundreds of tutorials. When you have written yours if you still need advice pm me, I can throw you a real example and edit yours.
I've got a press release template, how to article for writing one, writing tips, and online distribution tips, plus 25 ideas for reasons to write a release over at www.allinfoaboutmarketing.com - I think they're all still linked to directly from a blog post on the main page. Otherwise, you can post it here or PM it to me if you want someone to take a look at it. I run a PR firm, and write them practically day in and day out lately. Jenn
That would depend on who you want to reach. You can submit pretty easily by yourself to newswires, or if you don't have time, you can hire someone. If you're doing things manually, you can find small numbers of contacts on your own relatively quickly (like for a local campaign), or again, you can outsource it to a PR professional or firm that has access to a media contact database like Burrelles or Gales. It mostly comes down to how much time you plan to invest in distribution, and whether or not you need someone with specific media contacts or connections that you don't have. Jenn