by Tina Gasperson
In times past the best way to get your news out was to mail or fax a copy of your press release to every newspaper office you could find the address and phone number for. But the Internet makes distributing your press releases much easier and more effective. One broadcast email can get your release in the hands of news desk editors in an instant. Or use a press release news wire service and extend your reach to the world.
Editors and writers like press release wire services because they can perform targeted searches to find information they need, and they call you, not the other way around. And the services are popular with entrepreneurs, book authors, and corporations because they are easy to find, easy to use, and usually inexpensive. Once you’ve found one or more services that meet your requirements (just search for “press release services”), make sure your press release is formatted properly. Most press release services accept Micosoft Word, text, PDF, or html formatted documents. The best press release is one that fits on one page and provides usable information in the first paragraph. Make sure your contact information is included in the body of the press release, and remember that free press release services will not edit your document for you, so proofread your release to eliminate spelling and grammatical errors that may deter potential clients.
Once your press release is accepted by the service, they broadcast it to their subscriber list, which includes newspapers, independent journalists and freelance feature writers, either via direct email or an RSS news feed. Editors and writers are then free to contact you if they need more information, or publications may print your release verbatim, edit it, or write a news story based on it without further input from you. Wait two or three days and then run a Web search using the title of your press release and/or several key phrases from the body of the release to see if any online publications are running your news. You’ll soon find that distributing your press release online is a great way to get the word out.
Tina Gasperson (tinahdee@gmail.com), affectionately known as Computer Lady by her family, has been writing about IT, home computing, and the Internet for more than a decade.