Do it Yourself Online Press Release Distribution – Save Money, Control the Process
When it comes to press release distribution, you have three basic options:
- Utilize an online distribution service
- Distribute your releases via a more traditional method, such as by contacting reporters directly
- Hire a public relations firm to handle the entire process for you
There are pros and cons of each option, however, you will likely want to settle on one strategy as soon as possible. This will give you the chance to focus your attention on the right tasks without delay.
For the sake of this article, we are going to focus on the benefits of utilizing an online distribution service. With a “do it yourself” approach, you never have to rely too heavily on outsiders. Forget about contacting reporters each time you write a new press release. Forget about paying a public relations company an excessive amount of money.
Save Money with a Do it yourself Approach
As a business owner or marketing professional, you know one thing to be true: press coverage is good but you don’t want to break the bank in return for a few mentions. This is why you need to take a cautious approach to when and how you distribute your press releases.
With a do it yourself approach, you are cutting out some of the expenses that may otherwise bog you down.
For example, hiring a public relations firm to work on your behalf can be quite expensive. This can easily run you thousands of dollars per month. While there are benefits of working with a PR firm, you may not see the point in spending so much money.
Also, it is important to remember this old saying: time is money.
What does this mean? Simply put, if you spend hours on end contacting reporters about your press release, you are taking away from other parts of your business that may be more important.
You may end up getting some coverage, but was it worth the amount of time you spent contacting reporters about your story? Only you can answer this question.
Take Control of the Process
When you are in charge of distributing your press release you have 100 percent control over the entire process. Do you want to send your release out on a particular day? Done.
How about a particular time? Also simple. Are you interested in one market or a select few? Choose the ones that make the most sense for your release and go from there.
You have a lot of flexibility and control when you opt for a do it yourself approach to press release distribution.
Being in control also offers another perk: you have the ability to track what you are doing and then compare your strategy to the results received. Subsequently, you can tweak your future approach to improve the outcome.
Enjoy High Quality Results
Many people believe the myth that do it yourself press release distribution will lead to poor results. It can be hard to overcome this thought until you have first hand experience.
Soon enough, you may come to the realization that the results obtained through this strategy are superior to any other method.
When you submit your release to an online distribution service, your news will be sent to thousands of outlets throughout the world (or your selected markets). Sheer numbers alone show that you have a better chance of reaching your goals.
Once again, you can also track your results to ensure that each release is performing up to your expectations. You will be able to answer these questions:
- How many outlets published your news?
- How many calls and emails did you receive?
- How many people clicked through to your site?
- How many backlinks were credited to your site?
As you answer these questions, you will soon realize that you are making progress with each release that goes public.
You don’t Need Help
There is a common misconception among many that if you have never written and distributed a press release that it will take you hours on end to figure things out. This may have been the case many years ago, but you don’t have to concern yourself with this any longer.
Not only will you find plenty of resources for writing the perfect release, but when you use an online distribution service you will be walked through the publication process from beginning to end.
Give yourself a couple of hours to become familiar with what is expected from you, and then get started. With each press release you write and publish your confidence will grow.
Let’s take one final look at the benefits of do it yourself press release distribution:
- Save money
- Take total control of the process
- Use the strategy that you feel is best
- Enjoy high quality results
- Never again ask outsiders for assistance