 How to Submit
a Press Release Online
Lessons from the Front Lines
Before you purchase a media directory online, make sure you are aware of the pitfalls of sending spam. The most reputable pr firms and press release companies don't use these directories. Why? They burn bridges and tarnish reputations. They result in non-targeted press releases being sent to editors and journalists. In many cases, they never reach an actual person: newsroom@news-source.com rather than full_name@news-source.com
My uncle used to remind me of this quote, "Loaded for bear but hunting for squirrels." He wasn't a sportsman but the metaphor is apt. Scattering your press release to all corners of the world may have the opposite intended effect. Taking the issue of spam complaints and ISP violations out the equation, you may undermine your credibility when you send a press release to someone (even a journalist) you don't know or have an existing relationship. Email is hardly ever the correct medium for making those introductions.
Before you submit a press release online, make sure you are sending to the proper person. Sending a business press release to the managing editor will result in frustration at you and your company -- not a story. Even worse, your business press release might land into the hands of the sports editor. Spam has reached the point where these people are not going to go out of their way to help you reach your proper destination. More likely, sending unsolicited emails will result in no media coverage -- even when that business press release is sent directly to the proper business editor.
Follow up. If you have a relationship with a journalist, following up may
be appropriate. In fact, this is where the value of a well-connected pr firm may be critical. However, if you simply emailed or faxed a press release to a journalist that you don't have a relationship with don't follow up. If they are going to use your release, they will. A reminder will only annoy them. Don't send an email or call them saying: "Did you receive my press release?"
Be prepared. Be prepared for journalist or media inquiries. I've seen more than one person listed as press contact distribute a press release and then walk out the door for a one week vacation. Respect journalists and make yourself available to them, especially after a press release is sent. Also, be prepared for nothing. It is a cruel reality that most press releases result in almost no coverage. If every time your submitted a press release, you received lots of media attention, you would probably be better off to close down your business and open up a pr firm. Why? It's hard to get coverage. That's why pr firms charge so much money: it takes a lot of man hours to pitch stories and draft press releases.
To stick with the sportsman metaphors (this one fishing), it takes lots of different types of bait (news pitches) to hook the big one. If your press release on the trend in rising or falling interest rates fails to yield any results, the worst thing you can do is try to resend the same press release. I've seen one company take the same press release (which was too long and not very newsworthy as it was filled with marketing hype) and distribute it through three different newswire services and five different press release services over a period of two and a half months. I asked them why? "We received no responses," was their answer. Wow! They spent over $3,000 distributing the same poor copy. They believed that there was some magic well of editors and journalists just waiting to write about their announcement -- it was only a matter of finding the right one. The problem wasn't the newswire or press release distribution service they were using (I think they used nearly all of the major ones) but poor copy. Change your bait (pitch). I am convinced that if they had just modified each distribution so they were using a slightly different pitch (press release) each time, they would have received some articles to show for their effort.
As always, you can have us submit your press release for a modest price and have your message reach our database of subscribing journalists as well as being posted on PR Newswire, one of the most respected newswire services in the industry.
Submit a press release >>
|
