Scrappy Marketing Solutions Blog

Finding Free Press Release Distribution Sites

A client recently asked me if I had any recommendations for free press release distribution sites, so I thought I'd share my answer here:

You can try http://i-newswire.com or http://www.prlog.org/ - I have seen scrapbooking press releases there, but have not used either of them myself.  I have really only used PRWeb, because I get consistent results from them.

Mashable.com compiled a list of 21 sites with free distribution - worth a look-see!  20+  Free Press Release Distribution Sites.

I also advised her that any release should be submitted to me - Scrapbooking Industry News is probably the easiest free distribution you can get for this market!  :)

Targeted Press Releases Work

As mentioned in my previous post, Press Releases: Pitch the Right People, sending your press release to the right media contacts works. 

Case in point: my client MyCreativeClassroom.com.  I sent a targeted press release to the editors of Craftrends, and there it is on page 14 of the October 2007 issue!

Congrats to Jeri for her media coverage!  May it bring you many new instructors and students!

Press Releases: Pitch the Right People

A fairly significant kerfuffle on some PR blogs recently, related to Chris Anderson's post on his blog: The Long Tail: Sorry PR people: you're blocked.

I've had it. I get more than 300 emails a day and my problem isn't spam...it's PR people. Lazy flacks send press releases to the Editor in Chief of Wired because they can't be bothered to find out who on my staff, if anyone, might actually be interested in what they're pitching.

Just so you know...I am no "lazy flack".  When I send out press releases, I send them ONLY to people to whom it makes sense to send them.  As editor of Scrapbooking Industry News, I know what it's like to get information about a product or an event, and to wonder, "Why on EARTH did they send me this??"  And I immediately make the judgment that this person doesn't do their homework.

I use those experiences when I write and distribute press releases.  For Digital Scrapbooking Day, for instance, I didn't send releases to the editors of Cards magazine, because I knew they wouldn't really be interested in covering it.  If I were sending a press release about World Cardmaking Day, that would be different - their audience would be interested in that news. 

For DSD, I sent the releases to the editors of Digital Scrapbooking and Memory Makers, as well as the trade mags like Scrapbook Retailer and Craftrends, because I knew their audiences would be interested in the event.  And because the pitch was well-targeted, Digital Scrapbooking mentioned the event on their blog, and Memory Makers mentioned it in their print magazine (Oct/Nov 2007 issue), as well as on their blog.  Just goes to show...it pays to know your audience, and to pay attention to what they are interested in knowing.

Press Releases: Offer Tips Your Customers Can Use

A great example of a tip-based press release: Uncover a New 'You' and Shake Those Empty Nest Blues.

This is a press release offered by Lowe's home improvement stores, which suggests four tips in three different areas of home improvement (including creating a scrapbooking room!)

Offering tips is a great way to get extra mileage out of a press release -- not only will it provide useful information for a reporter looking to build an article, but the release can also provide content for your website, in a newsletter, or repurposed for online article directory submission.  Most of the press releases I write offer tips for just these reasons -- tip sheets are very multipurpose, making the time invested in writing them well worth it.

I also like how the Lowe's press release tied into the current season of going back to school.  Makes this release very timely.  What kinds of press release angles can you come up with to tie into this time of year?  Back-to-school means shopping for school supplies (hey, Mom needs new "supplies" too!), and more free time with the kids away during the day.  Now's the time to offer your customers ways to fill all those "lonely" hours without children.