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Looking for best press release company and writers?

by Jakehyten
8 replies
First I would like to know from anyone that has experience with press releases if this would work.

I am in the weight loss niche. I want more credibility for my website and product. I was wondering if i was to have a press release written and distributed does it look like a regular news story? That way on my site i can say "see us featured in the news" or something to that effect to give us more social proof. Would that work?

Assuming yes, i am looking at prweb. I have about 250 and was wondering what anyones thoughts were for a pkg or a company if not prweb. Also where can i find writers? What kinda price should i expect to have it written? Thanks!
#company #press #release #writers
  • Profile picture of the author Rachel Goodchild
    hi
    In a competitive market a good press release can get you alot of traction- but what is your USP?
    I am really happy to talk to you about how you cna use a press release, but as a writer, I wouldn't take on the job unless I could see that I could create a real point of difference for you and your product.
    PR buzz deosn't need to be real, but it does need to sound both provocative and meaningful
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  • Profile picture of the author CSwrite
    Originally Posted by Jakehyten View Post

    First I would like to know from anyone that has experience with press releases if this would work.

    I am in the weight loss niche. I want more credibility for my website and product. I was wondering if i was to have a press release written and distributed does it look like a regular news story? That way on my site i can say "see us featured in the news" or something to that effect to give us more social proof. Would that work?

    Assuming yes, i am looking at prweb. I have about 250 and was wondering what anyones thoughts were for a pkg or a company if not prweb. Also where can i find writers? What kinda price should i expect to have it written? Thanks!
    Jake,

    As long as your PR writer can come up with an angle that is unique, yes it is definitely a credibility builder. You have the opportunity of getting picked up, and you can always say "as seen on Google News" as long as your release service includes that distribution. Whether or not you would see an instant stream of traffic will depend, like Rachel says, on the USP.

    My recommendations would be to take it beyond the initial PR, make yourself available for interviews (if you're comfortable with that) to continue building that buzz. A simple press release may or may not hit, but it will at the very least go to work for you in the form of back links and discoverability on search engines.

    Whether it looks like an actual news story will depend largely on two things - how your writer formats it, and how the release service releases it. You can click on some of the PDF's and links at PRWeb to see what the finished results look like.

    To maximize PRWeb, I highly recommend using a video with the release, and then taking the time to make a really awesome short video that includes information from your release. You're accomplishing many different things with that. I've had clients that have done really well using that technique.

    HTH,
    Cary
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  • Profile picture of the author Sandor Verebi
    Originally Posted by Jakehyten View Post

    First I would like to know from anyone that has experience with press releases if this would work.

    I am in the weight loss niche. I want more credibility for my website and product. I was wondering if i was to have a press release written and distributed does it look like a regular news story? That way on my site i can say "see us featured in the news" or something to that effect to give us more social proof. Would that work?

    Assuming yes, i am looking at prweb. I have about 250 and was wondering what anyones thoughts were for a pkg or a company if not prweb. Also where can i find writers? What kinda price should i expect to have it written? Thanks!

    Hi Jake,

    The press release may give very much a push in your business's building, is worth with it anyway to deal.

    I sent you a PM related to it, and suggested a good writer, too. Pls, check your inbox.

    Many successes,

    Sandor
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  • Profile picture of the author Takuya Hikichi
    Originally Posted by Jakehyten View Post

    I was wondering if i was to have a press release written and distributed does it look like a regular news story?
    Jake,

    If your PR doesn't look like a regular news story, your submission gets rejected anyway.

    I don't know what the cost will be for hiring a writer, but years ago I bought a CB product called Press Release Equalizer and learned so much about how to write PR (online PR, not offline PR).

    I think I paid something like $97 and the investment was worth it because it taught me very priceless skills otherwise I couldn't have gained if I just outsourced it.

    I then ran a few, immediately and saw Google News picking up releases left and right. It was one of the coolest experiences to say the least. One of those moments that make you feel you as if just "uncoded" some sort of secret (was addicting).
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  • Profile picture of the author J. Barry Mandel
    I've actually seen a website offering to get someone a full story in top newspapers like the NY Times.

    But, the cost was out of your range at $1600 or so for 3 papers.

    But, it would certainly be worth the money all depending on what your product is.

    Good Luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Marc Harty
      Hi Jake,

      First, glad to see you considering press releases, that's an important step in the evolution and growth of your business.

      Second, there have been some good suggestions in this thread already so let me expand on what I see as the two core areas we're dealing with...

      Core area #1: writing the release
      You can find writers here, lots of wsos as well as doing searches on the web. But here's the key: you need someone that understands and can write to both the human audience (reporters) and the robot audience (search engines). That requires some additional skills as well as a track record on what works and what doesn't with optimized press releases.

      For example, when I launched PR Traffic, you could put your keyword phrase in a release up to 7 times. Both the wire service providers (PR Web) as well as the search engines now see that as pr spam, so I've backed off to using my keyword phrase 3-4 times in the release.

      Core area #2: distributing the release
      PRweb is always a good default choice. I'd invest at least $200 to get anchor text links. But here's your challenge: in my tests PRweb doesn't do as well with reporters/journalists as some of the other wire services. The problem the wire services most respected by journalists are also some of the most expensive (PRnewswire, businesswire, marketwire).
      Marketwire has some good packages that may get close to the $250 you have and here's one other advantage they offer: targeting. I recently did a release with them and was able to target technology sites and journalists.

      One more note: don't make the mistake so many people do and that is they do one release and then move on to other things. That's like running a ppc ad campaign for one day. I recommend, if you can do a couple releases a month. Since one of your goals is credibility, seeing multiple releases from you shows you are serious and in this for the long haul. A good rule of thumb that works for me is a 2 releases a month.

      Lots more we could talk about, if you want to know more, feel free to pm me.

      Hope that helps.

      Marc
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    • Profile picture of the author Rachel Goodchild
      Originally Posted by Justin Mandel View Post

      I've actually seen a website offering to get someone a full story in top newspapers like the NY Times.

      But, the cost was out of your range at $1600 or so for 3 papers.

      But, it would certainly be worth the money all depending on what your product is.

      Good Luck!
      As a writer I squirm when I read things like that
      Sure we writers get great freebies on occaision when writing for a client- but normally not till after the story's been printed as a thank you.
      This is how I work:
      If apublication is paying me I don't double dip. I take the payment fromthem and not from a client- otherwise it's really stretching professional boundaries.
      I am however happy to 1. be paid to write an article that a pub won't pay for, OR write a piece on behalf of a company for them to submit (ghost).

      I know we're in the IM world where everything can be sold if the price is good enough, but I hope some people are able to see past that and realise a little professional integrity pays off in the long run. If a publication found out I was double dipping, I can assure you they wouldn't want to use meand my sources again.
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    • Profile picture of the author CSwrite
      Originally Posted by Justin Mandel View Post

      I've actually seen a website offering to get someone a full story in top newspapers like the NY Times.

      But, the cost was out of your range at $1600 or so for 3 papers.

      But, it would certainly be worth the money all depending on what your product is.

      Good Luck!
      From what I have seen these usually end up being either placed in the editorial section or as a paid advertisement, buried somewhere in the back of the paper. Yes, you get some exposure, but it is typically not very effective (certainly may work for some though, not going to paint it all with a wide brush).

      Cary
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