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How to Distribute
Your Press Release
Press Release Distribution

You've created your press
release, your bio sheet and your Q&A sheet. Now, let's get them
in the hands of the media people and start getting some
publicity.
Let's talk about how to find the
media people.
There are lots of ways to get
your press release in the hands of the right media contact.
Below I'm going to list a few web sites that will help you
distribute your release. Please note that I don't endorse any
of the companies below (so if things don't go correctly, don't
come crying to me!)
| GAP Enterprises -
http://www.gapent.com/pr/
They'll send our your press
release to over 7,600 "personalized publication contacts"
in 37 countries. There prices aren't bad. The charge
$12.50 per 100 sources (that's for only one press
release), but there is a $50 minimum charge.
They will also write your
press release for $200.00 for up to 500 words. (Of course,
you just finished reading how to write a press release, so
you don't need this expensive service.
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| PR Newswire -
http://www.prnewswire.com/
This is a full service
company that will do almost everything for you. This is
the top press release agency in the corporate world. The
problem with them is that they are very expensive and
their site/services aren't explained very well (it can be
extremely confusing for the beginner).
If you have the money and
you've experienced "free publicity" before, than go with
these people. They'll do it right... for the "right" price
of course.
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| Internet News Bureau -
http://www.newsbureau.com
This is another very good
company. They deal with mostly Internet connections and
have a fairly good track record. For $225.00, they will
send out your press release (a maximum of 500 words) to
1,300 journalists who have "subscribed" to their service.
They will also write a
press release for you (500 words maximum) for $250.00.
This company is a good one, but ONLY for Internet
related stories/items. (For example, if you come out with
a new software program, or search engine, etc., etc.,)
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| Internet Media Fax -
http://www.imediafax.com
This company will fax out
your press releases. They won't do much of anything else,
but they do have a cool service. What you can do, is fine
tune and target your audience. At their site, you pick and
choose and go through a variety of categories and at the
end, you'll have a very customized list of the exact
target audience.
The price is about $0.25
per name with a $25 minimum. This can get a bit expensive
after a while. Also, the real negative part is that
you will never have access to the names/contacts. So, this
is a one shot deal! Every single time you want to send out
a press release, you have to repeat the entire process and
hence, pay more cash!
As I've already discussed
in the previous pages, you can't expect to send out just
one press release and get an avalanche of responses and
free publicity. Life just doesn't work like that and
neither does the advertising world. You must test and
repeat the process numerous times and then you'll strike
gold! |
There are other online
services, but most are "shady" and their work is less than
adequate. As you can see, each of the above companies has at
least one major drawback. With something as important
as "free publicity/advertising", I do recommend you do it
yourself (which I'll explain how to do in a minute).
It may take you a bit longer,
but you'll learn a great deal and more importantly, you
can do it over and over again in the future and continue
reaping the benefits of the media!
There are many media
directories available in most libraries. Among them are:
| Bacon's Publicity
Checker
Bacon's is a four volume
set covering newspapers, magazines, radio and TV. The
newspapers/magazines set is $280.00. The radio/TV set is
also $280.00. The CD ROM, including all media, is
$1095.00.
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| Broadcasting & Cable
Yearbook
Broadcasting & Cable
Yearbook (R.R. Bowker) is a single edition covering radio
and TV that sells for $179.95. Not available on disk.
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| Standard Rate and Data
Service -
http://www.srds.com
SRDS is primarily for the
advertiser, consisting of many large volumes and updates.
A yearly subscription costs in excess of $1,000.00.
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| Working Press of the
Nation
Working Press of the Nation
is a three edition set covering newspapers, magazines and
radio/TV. Each volume sells for $239.00, or all three for
$449.95. Not available on disk.
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| Burrelle's -
http://www.burrelles.com
Burrelle's has numerous
types covering a variety of newspaper, magazine, radio and
TV resources. Each volume or CD-ROM will cost between
$250-$750 each. With a total of 8 different resources,
your total price is well over $2,000.00.
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| Editor & Publisher Year
Book
Editor & Publisher Year
Book lists daily and weekly newspapers. Price $115.00. On
CD-ROM the cost is $895.00, which includes the print
version.
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| Center for Radio
Information
Center for Radio
Information offers a radio station database for $325.00.
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| Gale Research
Gale Research offers a
three volume set covering publications, broadcast media,
newspapers. The set sells for $445.00.
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| Parrot Communications -
http://www.parrotmedia.com
Parrot Communications
offers (on disk) commercial TV stations: $975.00,
"misc." TV stations: $875.00, radio stations: $1,475.00,
newspapers: $595.00. Or, you can have access to each of
the above media resources, for $50 a month online. This
comes out to $200.00 every single month. The problem is
that you can't download in the information, so you must
subscribe continually.
But, you do have the option
of being able to download all the above contacts... by
becoming a monthly subscriber at an outrageous cost of
$2995.00 a month!!! That's crazy! |
As you can see, you've got a
large selection to choose from. But here is the
problem (if you haven't already noticed). You've got
to sell your car just to buy one of these resources! They are
very, very expensive.
Sure, the high prices are
justified (according to the above publications) because
spending a $1,000.00 (or more) to get the names of top media
connections can and will save you thousands
upon thousands of dollars on advertising.
Fine, but who's got a thousand
dollars to spend on all this info. Besides, in order for you
to have all the media connections for TV, radio, newspaper and
magazines, you'll have to spend up to $3,000 - $4,000
and spend hours just to look up all the names
and write them down!
More Marketing Guide...

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