Content Sharing and Repurposing – Press Releases and Publicity

While I wasn’t from the era where some reporters wore a hat with a press tag, I spent plenty of years in a radio station newsroom gathering and writing news stories, and out in the community covering stories.

Some of those stories originated from press releases. Back in those days – meaning before the Internet was so easily accessible for everyone – you were at the mercy of the local newspapers, radio stations, or television stations. If they didn’t think your press release was any good, it got filed in what we called the rubber file cabinet. (That’s non-subtle code for the trash can.)

And unless you had someone following-up, you really didn’t have a good sense of whether or not media outlets were using your press releases.

Today, you can send a press release to any number of hub sites and have it live within 24 hours. And because it’s the Internet, the press release rarely goes away. I’m still getting occasional hits from a press release I wrote for my business in 2005.

As a bonus, a proper press release – especially on one of the more popular press release hubs – is often good for search engine results.

For what you consider to be more important items, I’d put a press release on a site like PRWeb.com, which is a paid service. I think it’s one of the better sites. For other news items you might use a free service like PR-Inside.com.

One of the reasons my 2005 press release got so much attention, especially when it first came out, was that it automatically got pulled onto sites that used press releases for their news feeds based on certain keywords.

In other words, my press release went beyond the site I had placed it and was being picked up on sites I didn’t even know existed.

While I’m just focusing on press release hubs, please don’t forget to send your press releases to relevant media outlets like your local paper or sites that are related to your niche.

How to write a press release is beyond what I can cover here, but PRWeb has some good resources. Or a Google search can bring you plenty of helpful links.

As for topics, that could be its own, separate conversation. Unlike the “old” days, your press release today doesn’t have to be something that traditional media thinks is important and worthy of fitting in limited air time or page space. Here are some quick ideas for press releases:

New products/services
New hires in your company
Awards for your company
How your product/service ties into something currently in the news
Speaking engagements

I’ll be honest… the first press release I did for my business really wasn’t newsworthy. Just as experiment in dipping my toe into the world of online press releases, I wrote one about a Photoshop class I taught for other direct market designers.

Having come from a news background, I knew my press release wasn’t really “news” in the traditional sense. But I didn’t care because I could put it up for free without anyone saying I couldn’t.

And that press release? It’s the one I mentioned earlier from 2005 that still generates occasional hits.

Taking it to the next level

If you just shot out regular press releases, you’d be ahead of most other small businesses who won’t bother. But step it up a level by creating a Press Page on your site.

This is where Traci Hayner Vanover was a big help. She was a guest on my original Magalog Guy podcast for the Leveraging Publicity episode and we used my press page as an example. At the time, my press page was pretty sad. It just listed the press releases I had created.

As you’ll hear in the interview, Traci had lots of great advice of how a press page could be and do so much more. We also talked about how to generate ideas for press releases.

The other advantage of a press page is how it looks to people who might want to interview you. (And consider that a teaser to a future article in this series.) We’re back to our good friend, perception. When other people see how active you are in the area of publicity, you’re seen as more credible than those who aren’t doing any publicity.

Take it from someone who interviewed people all the time… someone who shows they’re familiar with the role of publicity and is media friendly is someone the media is happy to deal with. That can be a huge boost for your business.

It might be wise to take a moment and see what role press releases and a press page might have in your content marketing efforts.

Other articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Facebook

Content Sharing and Repurposing – LinkedIn

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Google Plus

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guides & Reports

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Books & eBooks

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guest Blogging

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Article Banks

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Blog Hubs