Comments on: Looking for a good Press Release Distribution service

Question: Looking for a good Press Release Distribution service

taz — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 03:22:04 -0800

In the U.S.: Do you use a press release distribution service that you would recommend? This is for a small business (with a relatively small budget) that at the moment mainly needs coverage in a metropolitan area, but which may soon expand to online sales so it would be good to establish as much visibility as possible. More details inside...

We don't need editorial services, and would like a good, solid service that makes the submission process as clear and intuitive as possible.

To expand on that last item, we've had experience with one major service that seems to want to make the submission and review process unnecessarily complicated and difficult — even going so far as to withhold necessary information — in order to nudge customers into $ upgrades like writing/editing/we-handle-submission, etc., as well as presenting the submission form so that other upgrades appear to be choices related to standard submissions. It's a bit like navigating a minefield to just submit a release. (and I'm speaking here as a sophisticated user, not somebody who is going to be rattled by going through an online multi-step process.)

At the moment, yes — we are going to be on the lower end of the pricing spectrum, but we have a regular schedule of releases planned (so ultimately the service we use will make more from us sending a release monthly than they will from someone opting for more coverage but only once or twice a year), and we may well grow into higher brackets, but we don't want to do that with a service that seems to be partially working against us.

Do you have a service you are happy with, and will you share? :)

By: jbickers

jbickers — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 03:34:15 -0800

PRLog has yielded good results for us, given that it's a free service - I've actually had press releases picked up through multiple outlets via them.

By: zarq

zarq — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:12:49 -0800

It depends on what you're looking for.

Free:

PRLog. Free service which offers youtube video embedding. They also provide visitor statistics, and through an interesting quirk often get decent placement on Google News. They do generate a decent number of social media hits. On the down side, they have a slower release time than other services and some journalists classify them at the same level as spam.

If submitting to PRLog, take care to limit hyperbole in your release. My experience has been that releases submitted to PRLog don't often generate larger articles -- ymmv.

In my experience:

Very expensive:

PR Newswire is an expensive option, but releases placed in their national feeds often generate larger print stories. I've had only middling success with their regional distribution lists. Releases show up quite quickly in the online feeds and news archives of many of the larger news websites, (example) which can be quite helpful if you're trying to create national buzz.

Businesswire is PRNewswire for business news, especially from publicly held companies. Also expensive. More targeted, very good results.

Less Expensive:

PR Web is fantastic at reaching social media, and can generate a ton of links from a single release. Releases also are put into distribution through emediawire, which they also own. But as far as I can see, they're not as good as reaching print and non-net electronic media the way PR Newswire is.

PRLeap is even less expensive, but generates fewer online links and stories than PR Web and PRNewswire.

Specialized

If by chance your business is science-related, I suggest you look at EurekAlert!. Fantastic service. I have extensive experience with them. If you need me to talk about them, I will.

This probably doesn't apply to you, but if by chance you're associated with a pharmaceutical company, scientific or medical association or anyone else engaging in some sort of research, such as a medical school, or if you're promoting a non-profit, check out Newswise. I've also had a lot of experience with them, and they're a great service.

By: zarq

zarq — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:15:36 -0800

By the way, I didn't include 24-7 because I have no direct experience with them. But they have a decent reputation and aren't terribly expensive.

By: lampshade

lampshade — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:47:31 -0800

I did a freelance gig for a while that had me submitting press releases for a writer. This is the list of sites that I submitted to. On all of the sites, you could submit a free press release but were limited to usually 1 every 24 hour period. Still, it was free. (Some of these may be repeats from other responses before me.)

Free Press Index
SB Wire
PR Highway
I Newswire
Free Press Release Center
Press Exposure
big News
Press Method
PR Log
Online PR News
PR Urgent
UK PRWire
Click Press
PR-USA
Newswire Today
Free-Press-Release
USP Wire
Pressabout
Press Release Point
888 Press Release
24-7 Press Release
Open PR
Page Release
PressRelease.Com
PR Focus

By: taz

taz — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:23:57 -0800

Thank you, guys; this gives us a lot to check out!