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:
- By including a link in your release, you’re building inbound links to your web site.
- Your news is being spread beyond the boundaries of your web site, increasing the odds of it being seen by your audience.
- 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!
PR Learning to Bypass the Media Filter
Public relations has always included business-to-consumer promotions in its arsenal of tools, but a large portion of the PR business has traditionally involved attempting to get stories placed in the media, in the hope that the consumer will then see those stories. Even highly public promotional stunts were largely, in the end, designed to gain mass media coverage.
But, what happens when the media weakens, and there aren’t enough reporters to cover even the most fascinating stories?
I happened upon two different articles this week that say essentially what I’ve been saying for some time — the answer is to create your OWN media. Blogging, podcasting, web videos, online news release distribution, Tweeting, and Facebooking all can take your message to your customers in an unfiltered way.
>>Continue reading…
One of 100 PR People Worth Following
All day on Sunday, I noticed a flood of new Twitter followers. This is rather unexpected on a Sunday, as you might imagine. I couldn’t figure out what I could have possibly done to trigger it. Then, I figured it out. Valeria Maltoni, writer of the excellent blog Conversation Agent, named me one of her 100 PR People Worth Following on Twitter. I’m thrilled at this, of course, and want to thank Valeria … not only for naming me to her list, but for compiling the list in the first place. There are thousands (millions?) of great PR people on Twitter, and this list is a wonderful starting point for anyone who wants to join in the PR conversation on the micro-blogging site.
If you want to do it the easy way, Neville Hobson created a list on TweepML. You can follow each of the 100 on Valeria’s list by clicking one button! Follow this link: http://tweepml.org/PR-100/
A PR Refresher from Ad Age
Advertising professionals and PR professionals sometimes find themselves on opposite ends of arguments, usually over how much budget each will receive. Because of that, it was refreshing to read Jonah Bloom’s piece in Advertising Age this week explaining the basics of public relations. It should be required reading for ad pros and, in fact, all marketing pros. I particularly liked the section titled “Listen to the people you paid to help you.”
Check out the article here: With PR on the Rise, Here’s a Refresher Course in the Basics
Talking PR and Social Media in Charlottesville
I just returned from Charlottesville, VA, where I presented this morning at a seminar organized by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) office in Richmond, VA, and the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center. The seminar is part of a series called the American Recovery & Entrepreneurship Workshops. The subject of today’s event was “Marketing Your Business in an Economic Downturn”, and I was the keynote presenter of the morning. This was my second speaking engagement in less than a week. I have one more coming tomorrow in Richmond, at the latest in the series of New Media Seminars.
My presentation today focused on strategies that small business owners can use, potentially without outside help, to promote their businesses. These strategies included traditional media relations, SEO, social media, social networking, and blogger relations. The response from the attendees was outstanding, and they had dozens of outstanding questions. There were so many questions, in fact, that my hour-long presentation ended up taking an hour-and-a-half!
I’m told the feedback to the organizers after the event was outstanding, so much so that I’ve been asked to come back for an encore next month. I’ll post more details on that as soon as I have them.
Thanks to Bob from the SBA and Nora from the SBDC for inviting me. I had a great time!
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