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Post_Your_Press_Release_ _Free
| Post Your Press Release - Free
The Internet has become a global bazaar with everyone hawking
their wares. Freebies are shrinking as we discover more ways to
part with our dollars. As author of the 2003 guidebook, Long
Island Alive, I was heartened to discover that
www.longisland.com accepts press releases when the information
pertains to Long Island. Shortly after posting a press release
about the publication of my book, a Long Island radio station
called me for an interview.
It should always be that easy! What if you’re a local business
in New Jersey or Iowa who wants to get the word out about a new
product featured on your website? In searching for sites that
offer free postings of press releases, I came across a piece by
Marcia Yudkin, a contributing author at www.powerhomebiz.com,
which lists nine such sites. However, e-zine articles often lack
datelines and can languish at a site for years, so I decided to
investigate.
Of the five extant sites, I found www.prweb.com among the best.
One hopes PR Web will continue to offer free press release
distribution. It’s an easy site to navigate and virtually every
business is welcome to contribute its news. You choose among a
long list of industries and your release is placed with that
group – the most recent goes at top. Some industries draw many
more releases than others. One time there were 941 travel, 548
real estate, and 227 insurance releases to weed through.
Sometimes it pays to be unpopular! Two words of advice: Register
first at Member Login and examine the site carefully before
submitting. A scroll-down menu is at the bottom of the release
page and is easy to miss.
Remember as a kid you were rewarded with a gold star for good
deeds? PR Web awards stars to its financial contributors. One
star is placed beside your release for a $10 donation; the
bigger it is, the more stars. And the more stars, the higher up
the release. As a free site that keeps your release up for a
long time (some date back to Nov. 1999), $10 seems fair.
I tried submitting my press release ten times to Press Box,
www.pressbox.co.uk, before giving up. The “Timeout” message
suggested that “there may be too many people accessing this
page.” But when I tried a few hours later, it went through. This
is a London-based website “used by thousands of media relations
professionals each week,” but it’s hard to know if there are
American journalists among them. The site has 20 broad
categories, such as sports, finance and health.
Click2NewSites.com, www.click2newsites.com/press.asp, also
allows you to post a press release according to your category.
If you read some of the releases, you’ll find news about new
websites, research findings and promotions – literally
everything. Your release appears within 48 hours after
acceptance. Readers choose from among headlines that are linked
to their respective releases, or select “New Sites” and pick a
category. The site claims to average 22,400 visitors a month.
www.ideasiteforbusiness.com/direct.htm was the most frustrating,
but I was impressed with the support system. After entering my
ad (they’re actually releases) and all the required information,
the page would not submit regardless of how many times I tried.
I e-mailed them and shortly after received an e-mail apologizing
that their database was down. The writer, Mary Gillen, asked me
to replicate the ad in an e-mail, which I did. She couldn’t have
been nicer if I were a paid customer, even e-mailing a
thank-you. There are 40 free categories (and 80 for business
advertising) but none for travel, so I chose “Pets/animals.” My
book has so much information on pet-friendly lodgings and pet
stores that I wrote a press release geared to pet owners and
submitted it. If you don’t find a fitting category, think about
how you can relate it to an available category. For instance,
there’s no category for car dealers, but dealers who provide
parking and storage and have news about them can choose that
category. Or perhaps the dealer is also a musician – there’s a
category for music/vocals/instruments. It’s worth checking out.
http://books.dreambook.com/profitpoint/pressreleases.sign.html
is entitled “Las Vegas Comp Getaway’s Free Press Release
Announcement Site.” It’s easy to navigate but hard to know what
the site’s all about, except that the host, Dreambook, does web
hosting. You get as much space as you need and the releases
appear immediately, but I can’t help thinking that no one will
read it. For one thing, the releases run into one another. Also,
there is no way to edit them or anyone to contact.
Are you in real estate, lending or banking? www.mortgagemag.com
accepts all types of releases pertaining to those industries.
So how did these freebies pan out? PR Web provides a record of
hits to contributors who pay $10 or more. In less than a week,
according to the stats, my release was read three times
(probably by me); it was picked up by a media outlet four times,
forwarded to a third party seven times and printed nine times.
Whether these numbers are considered good, or whether my book
will sell more copies, is anyone’s guess. The keyword here is
“luck.”
About the author:
Francine Silverman is author of Catskills Alive and Long Island
Alive, guidebooks published by Hunter Publishing and each
exceeding 500 pages. www.nystatetravel.com
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