News Release Distribution Review 2010

This is the third installment of my running review of online news release distribution sites. If you’re finding these reviews for the first time, you should know that I’ll update this post as best I can throughout the year as sites change their offerings.  Previous editions of my review can be found here and here.

This post has been a long time coming.  Client work and family life keeps getting in the way, but the online distribution universe changes so fast, and I’ve received so much goodwill as a result of the previous two versions of my online news release distribution reviews that I had make the time to write this update.

Let’s take a look at a some good reasons to distribute your news releases online:

1. By including a link in your release, you’re building inbound links to your web site.
2. Your news is being spread beyond the boundaries of your web site, increasing the odds of it being seen by your audience.
3. There is the possibility that it will be seen by new media or traditional media, leading to coverage from these outlets.  This isn’t something I ever count on, but it does sometimes happen.

Disclaimer: There have been occasions where I have been given free “try out” release distributions. I do accept these because they allow me to sample different services, but I do my best not to let them sway my judgment in the review.  I consider it the same as a product reviewer accepting a sample product.  Disclaimers about specific services can be found within their reviews.

So, which is the best place to distribute your news releases to reach your goals? Below is a review of what I consider the best of the best, both free and paid. Feed free to add your own via comments!

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Three Speaking Dates in the Next Week

It’s going to be a busy week for me!  I have three speaking engagements booked in the next seven days, starting tonight.  During each of my presentations I’ll be discussing traditional PR and/or social media.  If you’re able to attend one or more of them, please stop me to say hello!  Here’s a rundown of the events:

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10 Newborn PR Tactics

Last week I realized that this is my 10th year in PR.  This was a shocking realization. The first thing I thought was that I’m getting old.

As I got over that thought, I started pondering all of the ways that PR has changed since I started in the industry.  This pondering led to my post last week, 10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics, about common PR tactics we practiced 10 years ago that aren’t practiced anymore.  I decided to write this sequel on common tactics practiced today that weren’t even thought of 10 years ago.  If the tactics I wrote about last week are dinosaurs, these are newborns!

Please add your own suggestions in comments!

10 Newborn PR Tactics

10) Reputation Monitoring: I understand this isn’t an entirely new tactic, but who could have imagined the WAY we’re monitoring reputations today?
10 Years Ago: In existence, but in a different form

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10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics

This summer I’ll mark the 10th year since I abandoned journalism to become a public relations professional.  I was recently thinking about the changes that have taken place since I made that switch, and that led me to think about all of the tactics and tools that we used to use regularly that are now dead or nearly dead.  Being a blogger, I had to make a top 10 list!  They’re ranked from “alive but perhaps outdated”, to “dinosaur”, to “dead as a doornail”. I’m sure I’m missing a few, so feel free to add your own in comments.

So, at the risk of sounding incredibly old, I present:

10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics:

10) Newspaper-based Media Relations Strategy
Newspapers are dying. Circulation is down. You can’t wrap your media relations strategy solely around trying to get print coverage anymore.
Status: Alive, but poor strategy

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Horrifying Media Relations

I’m appalled, but unfortunately I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  PR Guru Peter Shankman posted a link yesterday on Facebook to a release with the following copy:

COULD A BEDSIDE SHOTGUN RACK HAVE SAVED JENNIFER HUDSON’S FAMILY FROM TRAGIC DEATH?

Chicago, IL (MMD Newswire) October 28, 2008 — Tragedy strikes in a Chicago home leaving 3 people dead and an Oscar winner forced to identify the bodies of her family.

Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother were gunned down in their home Friday.  Could an invaluable device have saved their lives?  It’s called The BackUp and it is a bedside shotgun rack.

Nevermind that the murders took place at the front door and a shotgun in the bedroom wouldn’t have done any good at all.  The pitch is horrifically offensive.  If you’re a PR person reading this blog — please don’t do this.

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