Distributing Press Releases Locally

for print promotion rather than web use

[DXL]

Long ago there was a thread on ideal ways to market your design business, one of them being that you can develop a site at no cost for a nonprofit group, church or other charitable organization. Then you follow up by sending a press release to your local media.

This obviously works on a local level, done to get in local print media more so than for the purpose of backlinks on the web. Has anyone here actually done this or had any success with it? I'm curious as to the most effective way to create a press release specifically to announce a new site developed at no cost, and if it generated new business.

[jessejump]

The web site would need to be something special for a newspaper to write about it.
The fact that someone did the site for free is meaningless. People do charity work all the time.

You use the site for your portfolio.

[etechsupport]

If you are going to distribute the press release for the purpose of backlinks only, I dont think it is going to be benificial to you in long terms.

[gpilling]

Why not do it and let the rest of us know how it worked?

[DXL]

If you are going to distribute the press release for the purpose of backlinks only, I dont think it is going to be benificial to you in long terms.

Was this a general statement to no one in particular? Only asking because my post was about printed articles for exposure, not articles submitted on the web for backlinks.

[Stores]

We've gotten a lot of local press. We've done charitable events and have also done a great job of letting the the media know that we're adding tech jobs and a new dynamic to and otherwise old world area. This is a former coal mining town that is struggling to get out of a 30 year decline after a devastating flood, so the media picks right up on it.

It hasn't brough us much business, but helps get you local perks like free money from the county to apply towards staff training, grants and low interest loans for new facilities, and help with recruitment.

[jtara]

This is a former coal mining town that is struggling to get out of a 30 year decline after a devastating flood, so the media picks right up on it.

This angle is always good for local press - high-tech business in an unexpected place.

Many years ago, I started a computer consulting business in an old carriage-house in a dilapidated area of Detroit. (Since gentrified.) The unique location, and our cats - Micro and Macro - got us tons of local press. Plenty of customers first found out about us through these stories.

And, yes, the way we did it was to send out old-fashioned press releases - by MAIL. (At the time, it was the only option.) The wife of one of my partners did PR for a non-profit organization, so had a good mailing list of local press contacts.