Press Release?

[ergobob]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to do some press releases as a way to increase links back to my site. I never did this before but I thought it would be good as part of my link strategy. I don't expect to get business from it - just links - but if it does get picked-up by a paper, all the better.

Does it matter where you do the release? I mean, PRWeb is free or very inexpensive. Would that be just as good as the more expensive services for my purposes?

Thanks,

Bob

[americana]

Yes, I would just use the free service for what you are trying to accomplish. You could also do some research yourself and manually submit (electronically) to some niche publications, sites, etc. in your particular industry.

[happygolucky]

Add them to your site as well, particularly if they are very newsworthy.

[101homebiz]

You could evaluate also the option to publish interesting articles (add your name /website in the resource box), this is a very powerful and free advertising technique, similar as Press Releases.

Regards,

Alex

[mizambar]

I would also check out Marcia Yudkin's "6 Steps to Free Publicty"...it is an excellent source for how to write and send out press releases...great source!

[eagent]

Originally Posted by ergobob

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to do some press releases as a way to increase links back to my site. I never did this before but I thought it would be good as part of my link strategy. I don't expect to get business from it - just links - but if it does get picked-up by a paper, all the better.

Does it matter where you do the release? I mean, PRWeb is free or very inexpensive. Would that be just as good as the more expensive services for my purposes?

Thanks,

Bob

Hi Bob,

Excellent questions.

I've used PRNewswire, PRWeb, and also hired PR professionals to get the word out. All of them have their merits, but produce dramatically different results.

With a live PR team, we were able to get into publications with a cogent message that had the look and feel of an "advertorial". It's expensive (we paid $2500 per month retainer for live PR folks, but there are some good people you can now find who will compose and get your PR presented to the right people, with the right spin, for a fraction of that number. Look to http://www.Guru.com and http://www.eLance.com, as well as http://www.craigslist.org for some real talent (the last one is an amazing bulletin board that has allowd me to find some very effective talent for cheap).

PRNewswire used to be the defacto standard in online press distribution, but since late 2003 PRWeb ( http://www.prweb.com ) has done a few things to really make them a visibly better solution (especially when it comes to creating links and using PR as an SEO tool):

1) PRWeb, with a reasonable donation, is syndicated by PRNewswire, through http://www.emediawire.com, the "professional" services channel that is used by PRWeb. So you you get not only the PRWeb activity, but you also receive the PRNewswire activity as well. You can go to the "Star Chart" to get an idea of what each additional $10 donation provides you:

https://secure.dataovation.com/prweb/features_chart.php

You'll have to become a member (let me see if I can get you a link to the PDF version of this. I'll get back with that when we have it available).

Anyhow, suffice to say, PRWeb has become a very powerful asset to driving traffic. You can go to the post started yesterday in the Promotional Strategies here:

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=29647

I've provided some tips and a quick overview.

Now, save a pint for your friends across the pond!

Warmest regards,
ME