Distribute Your Press Releases via Newswires
There are two kinds of newswires: traditional and web specialists. Both kinds are easy to use and will quickly distribute your press release to a wide, bluntly targeted audience. Traditional newswires are best for targeting reporters at offline media outlets. Web specialist newswires are best for search engine optimization and "social media" features, targeting newsfeed distribution channels that go directly to internet surfers.
Traditional newswires, such as PR Newswire and BusinessWire, specialize in sending press releases to newsrooms throughout the United States. These traditional newswires are comparatively expensive, with base rates for nationally distributed press releases starting at around $645 each. Expect to pay even more for press releases longer than 400 words or when including photographs. The high fees are not necessarily a bad thing, however, because many newsrooms assume that if you've paid that much to distribute a news release, then the information is worthy of greater attention than the thousands of competing press releases sent from cheaper newswires. Keep in mind, however, that if your press release is poorly conceived, even the most respected newswires can't help you get any pick-up.
Press releases sent by newswires to media outlets are generally delivered to "group" email boxes, such as features@chicagosuntimes.com or news@cnn.com, where a junior staffer is assigned to act as a gatekeeper. As a result, many press releases distributed by a newswire are deleted before they ever get to the relevant reporter at that publication. There are exceptions: Some reporters "opt-in" to receive press releases directly from reputable (i.e., expensive) newswires, while some other reporters browse for relevant press releases at newswire websites. Even so, newswires will only get your press releases delivered to a (small) subset of the journalists who report on your cause.
Vocus' PRWeb (http://PRweb.com) is the most popular web specialist newswire. PRWeb releases are indexed by major search engines, distributed to thousands of news sites, including Google News and Yahoo News, and delivered through more than 20,000 RSS feeds that collectively reach tens of millions of consumers and thousands of journalists daily. Additionally, PRWeb offers social media features such as social book marking, Technorati tags, and trackbacks. PRWeb's self-serve fees range from $10 to $200+.
Other reasonably priced or free internet newswires include:
Eric Ward's URLWire (http://URLwire.com) is a highly specialized quasi-newswire service. With fees ranging from $395 to $695, this one-time service can be a good way to get an initial burst of publicity for your website. Posts announcing new or existing websites are displayed on URLwire, indexed by every major search engine, and syndicated through Moreover.com's "cool sites" RSS feed to more than 10,000 other websites. For the higher fee, your announcement is promoted to directly to journalists on Ward's website-reviewers contact list. Eric Ward is a leading authority on link-building.
Traditional newswires are scrambling to augment their press release "reach" to include the distribution channels offered by web specialist newswires. In fact, BusinessWire and PRWeb announced a strategic partnership with that goal in mind.
