When I was first starting out in public relations, e-mail and the Internet really hadn't come into its own yet. When I needed to distribute a news/press release, I either mailed it (as in, used the U.S. Postal Service) or it was faxed. I can remember camping out at the fax machine with my media list in hand, repeatedly faxing the release to the media outlets in which I deemed our coverage necessary. Tedious does not begin to explain how laborious this process was at the time.
The beauty of the Internet are the variety of release distribution services available. Higher-quality distribution tends to come with a fee, while other "wire services" tend to be free and enable your release to be picked up by the Web spiders/bots. PRWeb, for example, is a release distribution service that has grown over the years. Previously a free service, it now has a tiered pricing structure to distribute your release. You can also e-mail your release to the Associated Press. PRNewswire is another highly visible service.
Why would you use an Internet-based distribution strategy for a news release? Well, does it have national or international appeal? What is your topic (will it have a more mass appeal?)? Do you need to reach a dearth of media outlets? Or, are you trying to reach a very focused target audience that is best reached via technology and the Internet?
YOUR TURN
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