Issued an Online Press Release Lately?

One of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to drive traffic to your affiliate site is to issue an online press release. Within minutes of being published, there is buzz around your product/service and people are flocking to your site! Is it THAT easy? Ah… no.

As in all things, there is a technique to this. But it DOES work. Remember the Alex Tew phenomenon of MillionDollarHomePage.com?

Alex issued an online press release about his newly conceived pixel site in September 2005. THREE days later, his online PR was picked up and featured on Digg and soon enough, it was the talk of the online community! His site was featured on BBC, CNN, and just about every major media channel. In January 2006, Alex auctioned off his last batch of 1,000 pixels up on eBay for a whopping $38,100. Alex Tew was a millionaire in five months.

Ok, you’re thinking “Alex had a unique product idea. An online press release will not work for my diet ebook.” Mindset people, MINDSET! Don’t undermine your business and how you can make online press releases work for you!

“I don’t have anything at all to talk about.”

Really? Here are a few ideas for you.

• launch of your affiliate site
•  launch of a new product or service
• release of new version of the product you’re selling
• business tie-ups or JVs
• launch of a marketing campaign / special promotions / online club
• receipt of an award
• announce winner of a contest you set up
• release of data gathering, survey results, research, etc.

Now, as in all things, online stuff is always slightly different than print stuff so here’s a quick rundown of web press release DO’s.

• Ensure the online PR has a catchy headline! Something worthy of a second look.
• Think online audience so short sentences, short paragraphs.
• The Internet is a highly visual medium so to increase the visibility of your press release – and its chances of being picked up by the media – attach an image to the release. This can be a photo of your product, a graphical representation of the data you are presenting, or even a screenshot of your website.
• Use anchor text that link back to specific pages in your site.
• Follow distribution guidelines. Online press release distribution channels such as PRWeb, PRLeap, BusinessWire, and others, have a reputation to keep so they will never issue a press release that is sloppy. Ensure your online press release is free from any spelling and grammar mistakes, and that it is written in the suggested length of the PR publisher.
• Press releases are expected to convey NEWS, not hype. Online PR distribution channels will outright reject your press release if it’s not newsworthy so stay away from any marketing hype.

Want to see an online press release in action? Check this out -> SAM Press Release.