Forum Moderators: martinibuster
But what I really wish to know can these PR sites provide us for what they started for - "below the line advertising" . Are they capable (irrespective if paid) of promoting my / your site in media and among journalists - in my country or any country for that matter.
On many occasions I have noticed such press releases show up only if I have a google alert on them. What in case I do not have an alert on such press releases? will they still show up and popularize us in the requisite market or should we all sit and say hey press release = link building.
Don't expect a million site visitors for $10, like in many things in life, you mainly get what you pay and plan for.
I have had success tying things together. Months after a big terrorist attack the company I worked for had an increase in widget sales. So I went and made a press release tying the two together (the stress of the terrorist attacks=higher sales). It is obvious that I was coming to a conclusion with little evidence to back it up. Depending on your industry, the average Joe doesn't cares about evidence or logic pitfalls as long as there is a clear easy to understand logic to a hot topic. Boy did people eat up that story and pass it on. It was a total success; the CPM of the article was way below the CPM of my industry, we also had a high CTR and even a some conversions.
Press releases are an art of showmanship with technical knowledge (going to top PR sites and paying reasonable fees [or contributing as some of them like to call it])
I just want to know if we're talking about big boys like PR Newswire, BusinessWire or something else completely..
Loudspeaker - Yes I was talking about the same (big boys)
Greenleaves - I completely understand today is not a free world you only get what you pay for. But some of your comments were heartening to read. But I have a small query in regards to " we also had a high CTR and even a some conversions." how did you track it?
PR Newswire is primarily B2B in that they focus their delivery directly to the media. They're fairly picky about the sites and media outlets to whom they license their content (I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get reprint permission, including signing a big contract that detailed what I could and could not do with their feed). Because they target their distribution to "real" media outlets, I think the odds that a print publication will pick up your release are much better than with other PR services. If your goal is to get someone from a print publication to write about your press release... I'd go with PR Newswire since I think you have the best shot at reaching a news desk through them.
PRWeb is B2C and gets your release indexed the fastest with the Search Engines -- getting you the most exposure for your dollar online. PRWeb is less expensive than PR Newswire, and it has a more liberal reprint policy. If your goal is to increase links and focus solely on online exposure, PRWeb is probably more cost effective.
Hope this helps!
I am looking at doing PRweb.com or PRleap.com or both. Does anyone have any experience of how much you need to pay to get good exposure with your release? I believe that it costs only $30 to get your release onto Google News with PRweb.
IMO the best you can hope for at that level is that a niche magazine or newspaper picks up the story - resulting traffic and links can be good.
Otherwise, the vast majority of PR feeds are used on a variety of Spamsense sites to bulk out the content = no value in traffic or links from them.
MG
You know who your target market is; do some research and build up your own mailing list - don't be dependent on other sources doing the job of marketing your site/product for you. Just throwing your press releases into a pool with 1,000's and hoping someone might fish it out is not your best strategy.
Many factors are involved in whether your press release gets used - the main two being the relevancy and quality of your release. The third factor is your targeting of that release.
Yes, do use these mass PR feeds, but go beyond that.
1. Relevancy
2. Quality
3. Targeting
There's no particular order, they're all just as important.
Work on these and you'll increase your exposure and links.
Syzygy
on PRleap you get "published" on Google News, Google Search, Yahoo! Search, Topix.net, Technorati, MSN, Ask News, Moreover, NewsNow and it looks like its for free.
So where do you get the most for the money, Im not looking for links im looking for a press realse in papers or news on the net, I dont care about the links, so where to go, but I am a little cheap.
If you have the time why not contact editors directly and try and build up a relationship with them. It is best to call them up and ask them how they would like their releases - most prefer email but some may prefer a fax or even one sent by snail mail. DMOZ is a good place to start researching newspapers and magazines related to your site's theme.
However you have to be very careful in writing a compelling headline and a well structured body to draw and hold attention. Press release submission is also getting intricate - with all the extra enhancement features costing you money - you have to choose exactly which ones to go for.
While I use and recommend PRWEB very frequently, don't lose sight of the other smaller sites. Many of these allow free press release submission and can get you a few incoming links.
I will like to mention PR also. I have noticed my releases on that site get indexed and ranked on Google quite quickly.
A very important thing to keep in mind is the number of impressions or views reported by the press release sites. This is not the same as the number of visitors to your site. This refers to the number of people who accessed your release, through a browser or may be, through their RSS feeds.
[edited by: martinibuster at 8:06 am (utc) on June 8, 2007]
[edit reason] Removed self-promotion. [/edit]
URLwire.
Extremely low volume, highly selective. Unique subscribers
including many Yahoo Picks editors, and others.
Eric
[edited by: martinibuster at 7:27 am (utc) on Nov. 24, 2006]
[edit reason] See TOS [/edit]
Anyway, I have had a look at PRWeb.com and the cheapest option seems to be 'SEO' at $80, but it looks like you can make a contribution at $40? I am not sure.
However you have to be very careful in writing a compelling headline and a well structured body to draw and hold attention.
Even better, make sure you actually have a story worth releasing...
Syzygy
>>> I believe that it costs only $30 to get your release onto Google News with PRweb
Actually, at the 30 dollar level, all you get is the ability to make hyperlinks in your release (with no anchor). The 80 dollar level gets you into the big news engines (as well as some other benefits). The 200 dollar level allows you to include hyperlinks along with anchor text. My best results have come from the 200 dollar releases - in part due to the distribution on the news sites and in part due to the release looking more professional with the hyperlinks turned into anchor text, IMHO.
>>> Any favorites?
PRWeb is the main service I use. I've been really happy with them. They even have an online course for people who have never done press releases before for free that teaches you how to use their system, but also teaches you about press releases in general. The guys over there do a great job, IMHO.
>>> don't be dependent on other sources doing the job of marketing your site/product for you
100 percent agree. When you get your release online, contact members of the media focusing on your niche and point it out. I've gotten great results doing that (kudos to MB for originally posting that tactic years ago in supporters). A recent site of mine got featured in a major news portal as a result of following up on a press release and putting it to their attention. The release is only half of the work if you're looking for true exposure.
>>> but I am a little cheap
You get what you pay for, IMHO. You will pay either way for success - either by fees for the PR distribution or by spending hours of your own time distrbuting it, and THEN following up.
>>> Even better, make sure you actually have a story worth releasing
Also agree. I've tried writing my own press releases in the past and bottom line is I get better results letting a professional do it. I've elanced out several press releases and the providers I've managed to find do a great job in formatting it professionally and making the release something worth reading. I usually pay between 150 and 200 for the release to be written, and then the distribution fees and some time following up.
You can make simple announcements by crafting a story around it. Of course, the chances of your release getting pickup by the classic media is very low. You have to be satisfied by the Google News, Yahoo news and other sites that reproduce your release.
A vital thing to keep in mind here is - at least Google does not give a link credit for releases appearing on PRWEB. Matt Cutts reported this on his blog and David McInnis of PRWEB confirmed it in an email to me. So you should not expect to tap into PRWEB's PageRank.
Exactly! I have a SEO firm and an offline PR agency and can attest to the value of creating your own list and pitching journalists/media as well as using services like PRWeb.
Sending a press release out through a wire service without pitching to a targeted list is like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks. (Not sure if that analogy works, but I like to use it :) )
Go with the $200 option on PRWeb and you can do a short podcast interview about the release topic for no additional fee. PRWeb will edit the audio and add music as well.
The audio will file get distributed along with the press release. We use those files for pitching journalists so they can get an idea of what it might be like to interview the person quoted in the release. It can really make your story stand out.
Sending a press release out through a wire service without pitching to a targeted list is like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks. (Not sure if that analogy works, but I like to use it :) )
Isn't throwing spaghetti - well, a strand of it, not the entire pot - at the wall the best way to detemine whether it's properly cooked? If it sticks to the wall, it's ready...
Press releases as audio files - with music? Pure gimmickry, surely?
Syzygy
[edited by: Syzygy at 9:16 pm (utc) on Nov. 27, 2006]
Right. I learned that from my wife, who has done PR for many arts organizations. It's just the way it's done when properly done.
<Devil's advocate>If you've supplied your news to a 'distributor' and, when they 'distribute' you don't get the link, what's the point? Is it merely the PR broker who wins?
Syzygy
Subsequently I wrote one myself - response was good - not great. I got a local PR to write one - also an ok response rate but nothing as good as when the pro did it. He is based in the USA and I found him by doing a search. Not sure if I am allowed to publish his name here - but he really is good. (and fast!) but obviously you pay for that service.
