Using a Newswire to Distribute Your Release

Find out which newswire service is ideal for your PR objectives.

If you are looking to get your press release distributed to a large and/or targeted network of media outlets, than using a wire service makes good business sense. Many reporters subscribe to these services to get access to breaking news. Short of having your own media list (built from experience, personal relationships, or via reporters who have covered competitors in your market), a newswire is one of the best options for distribution.

There are many wires available on the world wide web. Certainly one of the most popular is PR Newswire which calls itself the largest news and information distribution network. However, other distribution services are available for free such as PR Web.

To deliver the most effective results, it is recommended that you use a combination of established sources as well as free distribution sites that may reach a different audience. Keep in mind that many of the "Free" distribution sites offer enhanced services for a fee. Sites like PR Web (one of the top 3 distribution sites on the Net) will only give you adequate distribution if you pay around $30. However, this is much less expensive than a formal service like PR Newswire with fees starting around $150.

PR Newswire Snapshot:

Effective
Sending your press release over the wire is the most effective way to get your news to the media. All press releases distributed by PR Newswire are delivered directly into the central editing computers at daily newspapers, newsweeklies, national news services (like the AP, Dow Jones, Reuters), trade publications and broadcast newsrooms. Additionally, all releases are archived in over 3,600 web sites, databases and online services (like Yahoo!, MSN.com, and AOL.com) where they are accessible by millions, including journalists, investors and general consumers. This is important to our members because their press releases are accessible in the locations where the media go to get raw material for their stories.

Credible
For 50 years, PR Newswire has been viewed by the media as a valuable source for legitimate and accurate news. Distributing your news over PR Newswire can help smaller companies gain credibility and visibility as their news is intermingled alongside releases from major corporations.

High Visibility
Each day savvy consumers and investors turn to the Internet to gather information. Search engines are becoming the most popular way to gather this information, in fact, everyday there are approximately 550 million searches worldwide using 50 million keywords. PR Newswire has the capability to optimize each release to make them most attractive to the leading seach engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Ask Jeeves, providing a completely new level of visibility for press releases.

Saves Time and Money
Sending your release over the wire is less than the cost of postage. The standard news release that runs about 400 words can be sent to all media in your state, plus trade publications, and also distributed to more than 3,800 websites, online services and databases for as little at $160. If targeting a national audience, you can send to more than 22,000 media points across the country for only $635. Additionally, as a member of PR Newswire you will receive these benefits and many more:

• Access to the world's largest news and information distribution network
• Extraordinary Internet and trade media reach with every press release
• Dedicated media relations staff that cultivates an audience for members' news
• Complimentary monitoring and feedback to gauge success of communications
• A 24/7 customer support network
• Valuable member-only webzines and industry newsletters
• Consultation and guidance to maximize targeting efforts
• One-on-one Feature News counseling
• Sophisticated interactive news release technologies
• Unique opportunities to interact with members of the media
• Secure upload site for releases, images and other files at www.prndirect.com
• PR Web Snapshot

PR Web™ is the only service on the Internet that provides free global news distribution services. There are other services that claim to provide free press release distribution. In reality these "distribution services" do little more than post your news release on their web site and in some cases spam your news to a handful of editors.

Successful global news distribution is a complex endeavor. Since 1997 we have invested thousands of man hours in developing a state of the art distribution system. Each day we email press releases to between 60,000 and 100,000 global contacts points including journalists, analysts, freelance writers, media outlets and newsrooms. In addition to email and FTP distributions PR Web™ operates a proprietary syndication network, XML feeds and a network of robust media Web sites.

PR Web™ came online as a press release distribution system and has quickly grown into one of the Internet's most popular press release Newswire services. Third party online metrics show that PR Web™ is the second or third most popular press release wire service.

PR Web™ is your wire service. We stand by our reputation as providing professional and valuable service to all of our users. To this end, we are continually enhancing our features and improving our tracking tools to meet your needs.

Here are a few reasons that you should consider using the services of PR Web™.

High Capacity
PR Web has unmatched network capacity. Our proprietary distribution servers are designed and tested to deliver over 14 Million emails a day. To ensure maximum deliverability and avoid spam filters we do not use multiple TO, CC or BCC addresses when sending your press release. This is where our high capacity servers step in. Each journalist receives a personalized email containing your press release based on their unique profile.

Our servers deliver over 15 million press release views each month. These monthly press release views are in addition to press releases which are distributed by email and third party syndication networks.

Quality Assured Deliverability
Our media database is opt-in. This means that the contacts in our database have asked for our press releases and provide valid and current email addresses. Even so, members of the media move around. Therefore, we have staff devoted solely to ensuring proper deliverability of your press release. Their job is to keep our undeliverable deliveries as close to zero as possible.

As more organizations, including media outlets, employ spam filters to sort through the mountains of email that arrives each day it is important to have experienced editors working with you to advise you when you release contains keywords, phrases or content that will trigger a filter and cause your release to be deleted before it reaches the media. Our editorial staff reviews your release to make sure that your news item does not contain keywords that will trigger spam filters.

Unmatched Search Engine Presence
We are heavily invested in search technologies. Search engine traffic plays a vital role in the success of your news release. Journalists increasingly rely on major search engines for their research. Consequently, every press release distributed through our network is optimized for maximum organic search engine inclusion. Search engines can then crawl naturally and efficiently to index your press release. Our exclusive technology and unmatched infrastructure provides the best available search traffic directed to your news items.

We are so confident of our service that PR Web™ is the only newswire service to guarantee the inclusion of your press release in major search engines.

Yahoo Press Releases
We are the only wire service that has three different methods for getting your press releases into the Yahoo News system. In addition to feeding press releases directly into the Yahoo News search through our network feed, we have special agreements in place that make it possible to inject your press release directly into the press releases section of the Yahoo News site. Additionally, through our special relationship with PR Newswire™, we have systems in place that can provide prominent placement for your release.

PR Web & PR Newswire Synergy
With the addition of PR Newswire to our distribution network you can now leverage the best of the top two press release newswires. Each release sent out through PR Web Newswire with the PR Newswire upgrade receives a free report showing exactly where releases have been used online.

Blogs
Is your company blogged? Once thought of as a trend, participation in blogs is now essential to your media relations. We have been leading the industry with our blogging technology. The easiest way to make sure that your company is taking advantage of the online buzz associated with online blogs is to distribute your press release with PR Web™.

Syndicated Network News Feeds
We manage our own syndicated network news feeds and employ third party syndicates to assist in distributing your news release.

Regardless of which service you use, be sure to research the newswire distribution options via the Internet. You need to make sure that you are using the option that meets your public relations objectives.