Can You Help With My Press Release Service?

4 replies
Was not sure how to post this but I am trying to understand things from a submitter's standpoint and not as an editor/admin relating to my press release services. Here goes:

I have been running two services for about 5 years. I sift through hundreds of of releases per day on one service as there is a paid and free submission. I would say 95% of these are spam and are deleted. The spam includes such basic obvious problems as massive keyword (blatant) dumping, horrible grammar, huge number of links embedded, no 'story' or 'news', too short or wrong topic (sex, pills, etc). I have worked very hard over the years to keep it clean and that is why my sites still get tremendous pickups from the likes of Google News and other organizations. I have many customers on monthly plans for releases that have been with me for years. But here's what i tried and what for the life of me I cannot figure out. Hopefully I can see the other side and tweak my thinking with your help.

For the free release site, I find many release that are news worthy. Our software setup strips out hyperlinks in the document leaving just blahblah.com instead of a real backlink. The system shows one small ad with the release to offset costs which does not look so great but it is not intrusive into the release. Here's the dilemma. Of the 5% that are real news that have an actual real email address, we offer a simple upgrade to a paid release complete with links in the release (backlink), no ads, and top billing on the site. The price? $10. A far cry from what other services charge. To me, this is a fantastic deal. A nice backlink from a PR6 site. Sometimes I even throw in a month link on the attached PR6 web directory with internal pages set at PR5. With the upgrade comes a host of other things getting the release out... The problem? Either nobody is getting our offers after submission, or just ignoring us.

If someone has a site where they spent time, money, effort to develop or has a paying client... isnt $10 for a release that has a great shot to be picked up by outlets such as Google NEws a great deal in the scheme of things? I know people spend hundreds on other services or even on coding/design/graphics/advertising. For $10 we review the release, reformat it, fix problems, syndicate it etc.. I think its a good deal.

Is it just people sending releases through some automated tool hoping some get approved and they get one more backlink? I have enough content from real releases coming in that I dont need junk and dont want junk next to my paying customer's releases anyways. Im just trying to see from a marketing perspective where I may be incorrect in my thinking or strategy. To us, press releases are some of the best methods to get backlinks and traffic but we are biased I suppose

Appreciate any feedback as Im pulling out what hair I have left trying to figure out the lack of responses to our offer.

Thanks GP
#press #release #service
  • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
    GP,

    People who patronize free press release services already know there are paid options and are not interested in spending money on this.

    So it's irrelevant to the free-service seekers that your fee is reasonable. It's a fee.

    Marcia Yudkin
    Signature
    Check out Marcia Yudkin's No-Hype Marketing Academy for courses on copywriting, publicity, infomarketing, marketing plans, naming, and branding - not to mention the popular "Marketing for Introverts" course.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2289470].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dave Lianelli
    GP,

    you actually made your own point. Most users of free services don't see much value in paid alternatives, since they have never experienced what a good PR can actually do for them and their bottom lines.

    Next to that, I'd rather go for the professional who charges according rates. Then a random bloke who charges just $10. Pricing is part of the deal here. If you price yourself to low, people won't take you serious.

    -Dave
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2289507].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author David Jackson
      Originally Posted by Dave Lianelli View Post

      If you price yourself to low, people won't take you serious.
      Actually, from what I've witnessed here at WF, if you price yourself too low, a whole bunch of people will take you serious, and clamour to pay your bargain-basement prices. Strange, but true.

      David Jackson
      Signature

      Powerful, Free Marketing Tips to Help Grow Your Business!
      http://www.free-marketing-tips-blog.com

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2289525].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author kosmo101
    This is a strange thing I have yet to prove one way or another. I understand the thinking that if it is too cheap it must not work or 'you get what you pay for'. I cant hit someone who sent in a free release with a fee of $50-$100 to add a link, remove ads and put it on top of our portal. If they dont take $10 why would they consider $50 or $100. Also I am not hitting all 100 out of 100 junk releases as I know they are hardly serious by the junk they send in. I am targeting the 5% that actually look like they took the time to write a coherent release..with many being mid to large companies which I know have some sort budget for the release.

    I have played with pricing on the paid only site with the two options we have - basic and premium. I cannot come up with any definitive conclusion. With budgets getting cut and the economy crushed over the last year I cannot really tell if its the pricing or cutbacks. I just try to make it fair for customers.

    Marketing a PR service is one I am not quite sure how to do...

    thanks for the feedback.

    GP
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2289642].message }}

Trending Topics