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Distributing Your Press Release

After you have your finished press release, you will need to give it to someone. The distribution system is as important as the actual writing.

You should, of course, get a copy to all of your local media sources. If you can have a more locally-themed version to excite your neighborhood press and broadcast media outlets, that can help.

You'll also want to send it directly to publications or programs that you know to be a good fit for the story. If you are announcing your business' plans to unveil the world's largest cheese sandwich during the big cheese festival, you'd be a sucker not to send a copy to the folks at Cheese Festival Digest, for instance.

Most people will drop a few dollars to hire a distributor. These services can put your press release in the hands of hundreds of possible media outlets.

The prices and targeted publication/station lists vary, based upon the service, so try to find someone who can get your message out there, in bulk, to the right kind of people.

Online, you can send out free copies of your press release to any number of repositories. Some of these are valuable and might get you some attention. Many are nothing more than dumping grounds where press releases serve merely as some sort of user-generated content for sites that turn a buck from contextual advertising. PR Newswire is probably the most respected and valuable service. Their work can get something brewing.

So, you write the release (or have it written). You distribute the release. Now what happens? Hopefully, you get some free publicity. A few newspaper articles or magazine articles mentioning you and your endeavors can't hurt.

You might be mentioned by the drive time radio host or even receive a nod of acknowledgement on the local news. If your story is really interesting, you might be able to get a lot of attention very quickly.

This is especially true online. The information in press releases can spread like wildfire when they are attractive. This can lead to a great deal of attention and the creation of backlinks that can help you in your quest for better search engine rankings.

There are a few great things about press releases. They are cheap. They are efficient. They have a positive spillover effect into other areas of marketing. They are almost viral in nature. They carry a higher level of credibility than advertising.

If you haven't put together any press releases for your small business, you are missing a splendid opportunity.