Press release??? should i go for it

Hello experts
i need some help from you people.. i am kinda new to press release stuff...
Press release does it help ? and what exactly is press release? i think its like showing our news and updates on other websites ?? i think $50-$100 to spend on starting is enogh??

Please help.. and will that really help in link building and SERP's?
Thanx in advance

 

lol.. you dont need to spend 50-100 $.

Hit me on yahoo .. i hav an article somewhere in my mailbox on press release ...

Just submit it to a couplea press sites and the others automatically put your release on theirs.

 

aww wow kartik sure i woud PM You n give you one green rep bye

 

IMO press release works depending on the type of site and your target audience. As much as possible read articles about pres release and asses yourself and your site if it can be helpful.

 

A press release will be as effective as you allow it to be. Don't be fooled to think you'll get thousands of visitors within hours of submission or publication, but it can have some great name recognition, brand building and long-term benefits.

For 80 bucks at PRWeb you can get some good exposure on Google, MSNBC, Yahoo!, DogPile and other good places.

Make sure your PR is newsworthy, has an effective, catchy title, and the summary truly gives a great BLUF (bottom line up front) statement and you can achieve tens of thousands of reads.

 

wow WrMineo
thanx for your info i can ask my company to pay for that can get started with press release for trial..
i think for seo you should try each and everything so you can learn it practically
thanx again

 

You're welcome.

You'll notice in the screen shot, that results between an $80 contribution and one over $600 were merely costs at PRWeb ... the $80 actually has gotten more reads over a shorter period of time - don't spend more than necessary, just write as well as possible. I should also mention, that a good PR is at least 250 words IMO, but trying to navigate a tautological road will bore the travelers ...

 

I've got a sample template you can use, and there should be a few articles there on how to write each part of the release, some online distribution tips, etc. Post the release here or PM it to me, and I'll give you some basic feedback for free (not editing, but some comments to get you in the right direction). I run a PR firm and do releases regularly for DP members. Good luck with it.

Jenn

 

I did one $80 press release at PRWeb, and never did another. It goes tens of thousands of reads. But that resulted in only about 50 people viewing my site. And no stories were run, no phone calls, no interviews, nothing.

I will try again. But at the moment, I find it to be of dubious worth. I'd much rather write a press release and manually send it to 100 publications in my market. I think that would get better results.

(However, to be fair, that press release has a high Google PR -- it is listed on PRWeb and a few others, and the press release about my site consistently ranks higher than the site itself. So it may bring in residual traffic. It's been about 10 months and I no longer track it.)

Oh! And a tip. If you decide to do the $80 PRWeb option, don't do $80. Everyone does $80, and it means your release ranks right in there with everyone else. If you do $83 or $84, you'll find you rank above 90% of the rest. For only a few extra bucks, being prominent may be worth it.

-Tony

 

Very good point Tony! Press releases are listed in order of contribution, friend of PRWeb rating, etc. A few extra dollars can mean above the fold versus lost in the shuffle.

 

The problem isn't so much in how much you spend, but rather in how newsworthy your story actually is. One DP member I did a release for recently was picked up on Clickz.com and BusinessWeek.com. That's great coverage. Others don't really get picked up at all. Often that's because you're announcing a new site, but not saying what's "special" about it. Always make sure you have something newsworthy to share before sending a release if you want good results. That means making sure you're actually doing something newsworthy in the first place.

Jenn

 

Thaatz amazing Jhmattern.. i would contact you shortly for PR thanx for sharing some good stories in here
as well many thanx to wrmineo and abyd

 

press releasing does help to promote your site but i do my press release every 3 day or only once a week...

 

jhmattern - I think you and I are definitely of the same mindset ...

Too many people think of a PR as a regular article - it's not! Generally speaking, you can't be doing a PR every few days for the same company, site, etc. - it gets old, the media will merely begin to ignore, and soon you're almost making stuff up just to be publishing them.

Informative articles about a subject can bring great traffic to a website.

Press releases about a company can build great name recognition and bring some traffic to a website.

I think it's important to recognize the difference and go forward accordingly or you're merely wasting time and resources.

 

Exactly! Someone in another post I came across today actually said something to the effect of publishing "articles" to PRweb as a marketing technique. It seems to be a pretty common misconception that releases are just a kind of article. In reality, they're "news" announcements that journalists should be able to use as a source to write their own article. That's why having something newsworthy to begin with is so important. You don't really want the media just regurgitating your release. You want them to base something bigger on it... like setting up an interview with you.

I have clients who have me write releases for them regularly. Sometimes they really don't have news, and they want to simply use it to get more links. Other times, they really have newsworthy information about a specific product to share, or they have new angles to take if their product or service ties into something regularly in the news. But that tends to work best for really large companies who honestly have a lot going on all of the time. If you're running one website or have one product to sell, you shouldn't be sending out releases all the time. If that's your plan, then you need to find a way to make yourself newsworthy first. Some examples of things than you can make work for you:

1. Have regularly contests with decent prizes. If it's significant enough, you can send a release to announce each one, and even to announce the winner depending on the kind of contest.

2. If your site is a community of professionals, you can announce when new members join (and I don't mean something like a forum). For instance, I have a client who runs an online network for pharmaceutical professionals. When someone important in the field joins, she sends a release out announcing the partnership between the organization and the professional (the professionals share advice within the industry through her network for free).

3. Regularly do things for charity. Most products or services would be of value to nonprofits. So donate products, services, money, or time to charities on a regular basis, and send releases announcing it. Better yet, do something monthly. There's usually some sort of month devoted to any major disease when important events and such take place. Get involved w/ the kind of organizations that happen to be in the news at the time.

4. Keep releasing free information. Any significant free information (significant meaning much more than just an article here or there) is newsworthy. Offer ebooks, free online courses, webinars, a podcast series, etc. Keep the information coming, and it can be a good way to not only get some media attention but also to get visitors in general. Who doesn't want free valuable information??

I'm sure if you think about it, you can find other ways to keep yourself newsworthy on a regular basis. Just think about your industry and your audience, and don't send releases unless you really have something to say.

Jenn

 

I'm currently running a contest for my career-related forum. Total value of all prizes will be about $175, is that newsworthy enough to do a PR? I don't really have products to sell but we do have a handful of experts on the topic of careers that moderate the forum. Would that be something good to mention in a PR?

 

A contest is usually worth promoting. However, just a prize value doesn't tell me if it's newsworthy. I'd need to know more about it. For instance, that rate could be equivalent to a half hour consultation for some professionals, or could be a significant and helpful product to people that would have an interest in your site.

Experts are usually worth mentioning, but if it's not directly related to the news, it should probably be reserved for the last body paragraph or the boilerplate at the end.

Jenn

 

I say you go for a press release. In the Rich Jerk's e-book he says that $80 will get you listed on google news for a press release.

 

Actually, I think $40 on PRweb is enough to get you listed on Google News. And PR.com will get you listed w/in a day or two usually, even with their free service. So if that's your main point of using a press release, just do that. ... of course, if that's your only reason for using a press release, don't let me know about it, or I'll get cranky. j/k But you may end up with a mini-lecture of what PRs are really for and how to use them effectively.

Jenn

Jenn

 

Here's more clarification on my prizes; $100 for Amazon, $50 for Vault (career seek resources), career ebook valued at $25. I tried to them related to career seeking and Amazon is just for those people who want to get something nice for themselves. So is that PR worthy enough?

Another question. I've seen PR writers offering as low as $10 for a PR. Is that price realistic for a quality PR? It seems like it's really cheap. What's about the average price for a PR?