79 replies to this topic

[storyspinner]

I fixed all the mistakes pointed out by copywriter.

www.droplistpro.com/press-release.htm

Glad you took her advice opcis! The press release sounds a LOT better .. much more appealing to the media!

One last bit of advice I might add to the mix. Hold off til Tuesday to send out that release - or if there's an option of when to send it, do it for Tuesday.

Main reason I suggest this is that Monday's for most media outlets are "catch up" days and you don't want this to get lost in the mix of everyone else's news from the weekend. My general rule of thumb was send out PR's on tues-wed-thurs .. and it hasn't failed me yet!

[opcis]

I was planning on using the $30 distribution from PRWEB, which says Next Day Distribution, so if I send it Monday then the editors should receive it Tuesday.

Are you saying I should wait till Tuesday, so they get it Wednesday?

[storyspinner]

I was planning on using the $30 distribution from PRWEB, which says Next Day Distribution, so if I send it Monday then the editors should receive it Tuesday.

Are you saying I should wait till Tuesday, so they get it Wednesday?

You can do either, but the submit monday .. to go out tuesday would likely do you best

some services have that you can choose the distribution date ... so i'd opt for a tuesday if that was the date.

good luck!

[opcis]

That's what I'll do. I'll post my results as I see them.

[Michael Martinez]

Fantastic! 6 attempts later and I finally got it.

I'll send out the press release on Monday, so I'll continue to check this thread until then incase anyone else has any comments.

There comes a point where you need to stop considering the comments and just do it. No matter how good the press release turns out to be, you'll be able to learn from this experience and take that knowledge going forward.

When you're ready to release the next big update, or add significant features to the search service, you'll have another reason to issue a press release. Make them a part of your regular promotional strategy, and be sure to leave plenty of time in your schedule to get them into shape by the time you need them to go out.

You're getting a lot of advice here and it takes time for some ideas to settle in. I think you see everyone is pretty clear on the Monday versus Tuesday timing, but you may find you just have to see for yourself (I hope not!) why we're so down on that.

There is nothing like being lost in the mob on Monday to teach you never to go out on Monday with a press release again.

[opcis]

I just submitted my press release via prWeb for $30. It will be released May 11, 2005.

I'll post results as they arrive.

[opcis]

My Press Release was accepted and received an editorial score of 4, which qualified me for Next Day distribution and eMediawire Inclusion. My Press Release will now be sent out tomorrow May 10, 2005.

It looks like Tuesday is a much better day to be sent out than Wednesday. I was ranked over 200 for $30 for Wednesday distribution and when I switched to Tuesday I was ranked #100 for the same $30.

[Haystack]

It makes me wonder why more businesses are willing to pay more for Wednesday distribution.

[opcis]

Here are the stats so far from the press release that went out this morning:

Editorial Score: 4
Payment: $30
Current Ranking: 132

Reads: 3,918
Clicks: 6
CTR: .15%

Estimated Pickups: 96

Yahoo News: yes
Google News: yes
MSN News: no

Comments:
1. The number of reads compared to clicks doesn't seem right
2. My press release is ranked #1 for the keyword 'domains' in both Google and Yahoo News. That looks good, although I'm not sure how many people search for domains in news. How come no news results come up in Google for 'domains' on top of the normal SERP's like when you type in something like 'politics'?
3. The estimated pickups looks very good. If my press release really does get picked up by that many news sites, that would be well worth the $30.


Considering it's still only the first day, I think my press release is doing quite well.

[Jill]

You really can't read anything into those stats. The important ones will be how many people contact you, and want to interview you for an article.

[copywriter]

Or how much traffic went up because individuals read it (especially on PRWeb) and went to your site.

[storyspinner]

I'd have to agree with Jill on that - stats are cool and all ... and yes, it means its been read, but the intent of a press release is to have the media pick it up and do a full blown story on it - or - industry folks to pick it up and run with it - contact you and all of that jazz.

You kind of have to look at it like Rankings in SE's .... you could have the #1 ranking in Google, however if folks aren't buying your products or calling you to inquire about your services ..... does the ranking really matter?

I always make sure my clients know how to guage the release - pickup in phone calls, emails .. etc. Some have their own measurements for that kind of thing and guage it accordingly

[Jill]

I find the stats at the release services to be meaningless and seemingly inflated.

[copywriter]

Yeah, they really are. Kinda like relying on the number of "hits" you get to your site. Means nothing.

Another tip... timing is everything. You never know which journalists have what type of deadlines or what's on their editorial calendars. For these reasons, it's always a good idea to re-issue your release about 3-4 weeks after the initial release date.

And another thing Start a list of the outlets that pick up your release, the journalists who call you, etc. You can start your own house list that will - once it's developed - be FAR more effective than stabbing in the dark. After all, these people ran your release or at least mentioned you at some point. They already have an interest. That means, the next time you distribute a release, they'll be all the more likely to pick it up.

[opcis]

Thanks copywriter. Those are some good ideas that I didn't think of.

Right now the stats show 10,535 reads, 21 of them came to my site, and the estimated pickups is up to 259.

As you said, it probably means nothing at this point, but what is good is that I just received an email from WebHosting.Info stating that they just published their own article about DropListPro.com.

You can see it here:
DropListPro.com Launches Expired Domain Search Engine

Thanks again for all your help. I think this was definitely worth it.