Tag: Press Releases

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The New PRWeb Experience

I just wrote a press release for a customer and sent it out via our preferred resource, PRWeb, last week. PRWeb has a new easier to use web template interface that makes adding your press release easier than before.

I found the new template to be excellent in regards to assisting me with character count in the title and how to make my video compatible with the most users possible. They still don’t have a good link creation program and you still need to code your link in their special proprietary format for PRWeb, but otherwise PRWeb has made some nice interface changes.

As a tip, when you do a press release for PRWeb this is how you do links.

This is sample content and more sample content. Now I am going to http://www.mccordweb.com/ [add a link in the sample content to my website]. Note how I had to add the complete URL, then more sample content.

In the above sample the item that I have underlined in the text between [ and ] will be the actual hyperlink in the press release. So quirky, and needs improvement, but just the way PRWeb does things.

I find that for $360 instead of $200 for dissemination, you really get more exposure for your press release investment. The release is sent to TV stations, Reuters, API, the New York Times, Businessweek, and many other premium outlets. The $200 SEO release does give good exposure but does not allow for your release to go to these top notch new outlets.

If you haven’t thought about doing a press release, you may want to consider scheduling one quarterly or at least twice a year. Not only is the exposure when you use PRWeb excellent, but the links that are generated to your website are one way inbound, quality, and have long staying power in search indexes. Our press release writing serviceis $175 per release plus additional fees to post and send out via PRWeb.

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Press Release Writing Seems Easy, But Is It Really?

We’ve started writing press releases again after a several month hiatus. Writing a good press release is a real art and requires a different mind set than either blogging, content writing, or creating marketing content.

Press releases are best written in a third person, objective, informational tone. It is not unusual for me to spend two hours to three hours in writing a press release. The wording has too be dense yet creative, simple yet engaging, and informative and not too self serving.

That being said some of our press releases have really gotten our clients noticed. One press release got one of our client’s a call from a buyer at the Shopping Network, another got a phone call from Inside Edition, and another got an interview in a news piece that was nationally syndicated over 50 television stations on the nightly news.

Not every press release grabs the mainstream media attention, but a well-written press release on a topic that is trending can reap big rewards with free press and news media coverage.

When I write a press release I use the format that PRWeb, my favorite supplier, uses – the who, what, where, when approach. I always use a title, summary, and about closing complete with contact information. I find that that is the most concise and professional format.

Client’s sometimes get confused on press releases. They are not marketing pieces (well not like the typical marketing piece), they are not stories, they are not white papers, and they are not blog posts. Press releases are short pieces that put a newsworthy event in a easy to understand concise format to try to engage the media. I find it important to always have an angle to use as an approach. Sometimes with the right angle you can attract a national news audience.

To check out samples and pricing for our press release writing services I invite you to visit http://www.mccordweb.com/copywriting/press-release.php.