Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

What's The Best Online News Distribution Service?

Posted by carol on 1/15/2010 at 10:23 AM ET 250 Points
My client has a niche product/service offering in the IT sector, with a global, but predominantly US market. On a tight budget, they want to start using on online service to distribute press releases, and it's hard to know which is best. Can anyone offer advice based on your experiences? Many thanks.
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  • Posted on 1/15/2010 at 11:27 AM Moderator
    Advice to your client: If you're going to hire a consultant to solve a problem, don't solve it yourself. (In advertising, we say "Why buy a dog and then bark yourself?")

    If the only goal is to distribute press releases, any service will do the job. Pick the one that costs least.

    If there's a broader goal -- increasing awareness among the target audience, for example -- then let the consultant figure out what the strategy ought to be. Maybe it's distributing press releases and maybe it isn't.
  • Posted on 1/15/2010 at 1:00 PM Accepted
    Here are 10 out of 87 free and low cost places from the Industry Contact Directory of the NMOA.

    https://www.1888pressrelease.com (Free press release service.) 4*
    https://www.24-7pressrelease.com (Multiple options of release, free post to paid distribution.) 5
    https://www.advanced-pr.com (Low cost press release service. Starts at $199.00)
    https://www.afly.com (Free press release service.) 4
    https://www.automatedpr.com (Low cost press release service.)
    https://www.bignews.biz (Free PR service.) 4
    https://www.businessportal24.com (Free press release service, covers 19 countries.) 7
    https://www.cgidir.com (Free Service.) 3
    https://www.clickpress.com (Free press release service.) 6
    https://www.ecommwire.com (Free PR service. E-commerce news only.) 4
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 1/15/2010 at 5:11 PM Accepted
    Dear carol,

    PR is great and above you're read simply stellar advice. There are also two other ways to get your client's message out that don't involve press releases: they involve stories.

    By this I mean posting authority-based articles to the following sites:

    www.ezinearticles.com

    and

    www.associatedcontent.com

    These sites already have great search engine visibility, so all the SEO work has been done for you. All you have to do is to create and submit content that links to your client's product site.

    I hope this helps. Good luck.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
  • Posted by thecynicalmarketer on 1/15/2010 at 5:25 PM Accepted
    I have used PR Newswire, Business Wire, and PRWeb, and as mgoodman related, they are all about the same in effectiveness for a small IT company, which is to say that they do the basic job of distribution. You will not get coverage from this and it will not do a great deal for you except in instances where you can do a joint release with a public company and include their stock symbol so that you get picked up by all the financial sites.

    It is much more important to focus on the editors, writers, bloggers, and analysts in your space. Create your own distribution list of the people that cover your segment and start communicating with them regularly. Focus on adding value to the relationship from their perspective. They won't believe that you have just released a disruptive technology that will change the industry, but they will love you if you give them something that their unique audience will want to read. It is much more valuable to be written about in a column or blog that has thousands of readers than to push out your own PRs.

    I know that is more than you asked, but I hope it helps. All the best, John
  • Posted by carol on 1/18/2010 at 4:56 AM Author
    Many thanks for all your suggestions - they are greatly appreciated.

    Press release distribution is just a small part of our plan. We are indeed building up our own list of bloggers etc, and we were hoping to maybe reach a few more via one of the SEO'd distribution services. I'll take a look at the names you've given me.

    Many thanks also for the pointer to www.ezinearticles.com - that definitely sounds like something we should do.

    Kind regards,
    Carol
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