Dear PRCompass Users,

We are pleased to announce launch of newly optimized code that is increasing the speed of the site and reducing page load time by a factor of ten!

Let us know your suggestions for enhancements and new features, we’re listening!

Best regards,

The PRCompass.com Team

PR Compass is pleased to announce a new powerful feature: Automated Press Release Distribution to Media Outlets.

PRCompass maintains direct relationships with major media outlets worldwide. By selecting media outlets for distribution of your press release, PRCompass will automate the delivery of your release to the editors and reporters of selected publications. Sending your release to media outlets can generate media coverage of your company, leading to valuable publicity, business, and exposure. Release distribution will be subject to editorial guidelines. All press release distributions will be subject to PRCompass quality standards. You will receive confirmation of distribution of your press release. Media outlets are valuable equally at $1 per publication.

Target publications directly with PR Compass by selecting media outlets that are relevant to your news.

Save Time and Garner Publicity for Your organization quickly with PR Compass.

Best Regards:

The PRCompass.com Development Team

Dear PRCompass Fans,

Who’s reading your press release? Find out with our improved hit and visitor tracking and geolocation-based visitor distribution mapping system.

In a nutshell, a map of the world that shows  you where your hits are coming from!

Now visible on all published press releases.

Enjoy!

Best regards,

The PRCompass.com Development Team

Dear PRCompass Users,

We’re pleased to announce that by popular request, our search functionality has been improved to provide more accurate hits. You’ll find it easier than ever to find press releases relevant to your interest.

We’re already rolling on our Version 2 Search upgrade, which will feature the ability to specify whether you’d like your query sought out of the headline, sub-headline, author, or full-text of the body.

Keep an eye out for this in coming days and please keep the ideas coming at us!

Best regards,

PRCompass Development Team

PR Compass is pleased to announce several new features in response to user feedback.

We’ve added:

1. Video Support to Youtube / Google Videos. Simply paste the URL of the video into the press release body and like magic have the video load automatically. Here is an example of a press release with video @ http://www.prcompass.com/Advertising/AapMotion_Lenticular_Motion_Panel_Technology/

2. We’ve added better search functions to tabulate across the site.

3. We’ve also whacked a ton of minor bugs.

Thanks for using!

PR Compass Editors

Your company just launched a new product… you finally printed your self-published book… you hired on a new executive… They are all common topics for press releases, but are any of these actually newsworthy?

Unfortunately, there are few clear-cut answers. The media is not only a subjective business, but a fickle one too. However, there are steps you can take to help hedge your bets.

* Explain how your event affects other people, customers, companies, local area, nation, or the world. Your company launching a new product is great to you, but what about other people?
* Use the press release to explain how your company’s new service is reacting to or on the forefront of an overall industry trend. Also mention if this new development is going to alter the way your particular industry does business.
* Are there newsworthy people involved in your company’s event? Magazines have long known that famous faces sell magazines. Do you have a saleable person involved? Even if it’s just a local celebrity, name and face recognition can go a long way.
* Does your new book release address a recent political event? Can you provide a fresh look at a newsworthy topic? Making yourself an expert will definitely get you more interviews and appearances.
* Are you promoting or advocating for a cause? Do you contribute a percentage of the profits to a charity? Does your company sponsor a fundraising event? This is almost always a newsworthy tie-in.
* How will this new executive effect the bottom-line for stockholders? Did the merger, restructuring, or consultant streamline your company resulting in a higher profit margin? Explain what this means to the general investors, financial professionals, and company stockholders.
Basically, you have to think past the end of your nose. Why does your company news matter to the outside world? Although some journalists will certainly connect the dots on their own, it’s best to cut to the chase and do it for them.

Remember that although the ultimate goal is to get promotion for your company, you also have to give the journalists the story angles that they need for their readers, viewers, and listeners.

If all you send out is an advertisement in the format of a press release, you will get a call from the sales department at the newspaper asking if you would like to take out an ad. You likely will not get a call from the journalist looking to write a story.

At PRCompass.com we hate spam more than than anyone - that’s why our engineers have implemented SPAM Proof emails addresses for all postings.
Spots, spiders and other automated malacious software will not be able to “suck” email addresses from our site or database.  How are we doing this?

We’re using open source conversion tools that only render “email” addresses to live users.

Feel safe posting your email address on PRCompass.com and remember that only humans will be able to contact you.

Regards from the PRCompass Team.

Procedure After Your Press Release is Submitted

An editor will review your submission to determine whether to include it in the newswire. Depending on factors such as the volume of submissions, it may take a few days or more before your submission is reviewed. Rest assured, we will review it before it schedule release date. Again, multiple submissions of the same or substantially similar press release may result in the exclusion and/or closure of your account.

Updating Your Press Release

You may edit your news release at anytime. Just sign in and go to your News. Click the “edit” link next to the appropriate headline. Make the necessary changes and “Submit Changes.” NOTE: any change to a press release requires editorial review. This means it will be offline until our editors review it again. PR Compass works 9AM - 5PM Pacific Time.

If you are dissatisfied with the reason(s) your press release was not accepted, you may “appeal” the editor’s decision via our help desk. Be polite and civil – threatening or abusive behavior will not be tolerated. Be specific concerning your disagreement (including why you believe the editor’s decision is inadequate). Comments made through the helpdesk are reviewed by our staff, who will make the final decision. We take all feedback seriously and give it our thoughtful consideration. But please remember that we must exercise our discretion and make numerous judgment calls as to how to make PR Compass as useful as possible — no matter what decision we make, we may not always satisfy everyone.

Getting Your Press Release Into Search Engines Using PR Compass

If your news release has been accepted for inclusion on prcompass.com, it make take anywhere from a few hours to several months for your news release to be listed on partner sites that us PR Compass News data, such as Google, Google News, Yahoo Search, Topix, Technorati, and hundreds of other sites, We make updates of the data available daily, but each partner has their own update schedule.

Editorial Discretion

Please recognize that making PR Compass the best press release distribution service requires us to exercise broad editorial discretion in determining the content and structure of the directory. That discretion extends (but is not limited) to what press releases to include, what category press releases are placed, whether and when to include more than one link in a press release, and the headline of the press release. In addition, a press release’s placement in prleap.com is subject to change or deletion at anytime at our sole discretion. Please understand that an editor’s exercise of discretion may not always treat all submissions equally. You may not always agree with our choices, but we hope you recognize that we do our best to make fair and reasonable decision

The PR Compass team welcomes comments and feedback about the service generally. Please let us know what you think, and how we can improve the service. Thanks.

A good PR firm can help project the right image for your business. Here are some suggestions for choosing an agency that matches your needs.

Step One
Determine the role of PR in your marketing strategy. For example, do you want to communicate with the public during a crisis situation or establish relations with investors?

Step Two
Determine if you want the PR firm for long term, strategic planning or one-time, specific projects.

Step Three
Determine what you can spend, and make a budget.

Step Four
Research PR firms. Ask press people who work in your industry and who you respect for recommendations. Consult other business colleagues and industry associations. Refer to O’Dwyer’s Directory, an industry standard, for a list of PR firms. Finally, try the yellow pages or do an Internet search.

Step Five
Ask PR agencies to send background material, conduct a phone discussion, or call them in for an informal meeting.

Step Six
Set up interviews with several candidates; ask for a proposal after explaining your needs.

Step Seven
Meet with them. Check if they have a local office. Assess their working style and test for personality fit, which is very important.

Step Eight
Ask for a client list and see if the firm will deal exclusively with your company in your industry, if it has relevant client experience, and if it has been able to maintain a good number of clients on a long-term basis.

Step Nine
Check references with clients similar to yourself.

Tips & Warnings

• If you know what you want out of a PR firm, you’ll have a much better shot at selecting one that meets your needs.
• New PR firms are less expensive than well-established firms but have fewer resources.
• Take your time - choosing the right PR firm can be critical to long-term success.
• Most PR agencies will ask for a three- to six-month commitment.
• If you liked the people making the PR presentation, ask if they will be handling your account. Oftentimes, senior consultants will pitch the account but use junior employees to do the work. Ask to meet the team you will be working with.
• Be Warned! Hiring a PR firm is expensive.

Creating a press release - format, writing and submission tips.

“What is a press release?

In terms of marketing, it’s basically just a story that may interest the general public or a market segment relating to your business or organization. The format is a cross between an article and an ad - very similar to the ‘adarticle’ strategies that I’ve written about before. A press release tends to be more objective than promotional copy and is often in interview format. The usual marketing hype is definitely a no-go zone.

A press release is submitted to media distribution outlets in the hope that they will run with the story or request an interview. Press releases are the lazy way that news services gather stories :).

What are the benefits?

Rapid coverage:
As news is all about currency; the chances are that your press release will be published very quickly if it appeals. After submission, expect some initial results within 24 hours.

Ongoing promotion:
Most services archive releases; so it’s an ongoing form of promotion. Search engines may pick up on the release when it is published on other sites. This creates another avenue for people to find you and to possibly improve your search engine rankings through link popularity factors.

Journalists love search engines; so even as your release becomes dated, you may be still contacted by them in relation to other stories they are working on.

Credibility:
If a respected media outlet or industry authority picks up your news item and publishes it, the readers of that service will immediately feel that your company is credible - an element vital in turning leads into clients.

Extra content for your site:
Any release that you create can also be included in a separate section on your site. It creates a good impression on your visitors and clients, provides ready information for journalists who may stumble upon your site and acts as excellent search engine fodder.

What’s considered newsworthy?

Well, it’s definitely not just telling everyone how great you and your products are.

Items that would be considered newsworthy include:

Your business sponsoring a charity event.
Implementing/developing a new product that addresses a specific need.
Merging or partnering with another well known business
Gaining a contract with a large company.
Results of research you’ve carried out
Awards and industry/community recognition

Format and content

The format and pitch of a news release is vastly different to traditional promotional copy. Terms such as “visit us today”, “buy me now” or “discount prices” will see your press release headed straight for the recycle bin, as will WORDS IN CAPITALS and the unnecessary use of exclamation marks.

The best way to learn the format you should aim for release is to watch your local news or read a paper where a company is being mentioned in a positive way - steer clear of Enron stories :).

After reading/watching/listening to this kind of coverage for a while, you’ll notice similarities.

Especially effective items you should include in a press release:

Quotes from a company representative - interview style is very effective.
Statistics - people love stats!
Information relating to how, what, when, where and why.

Press release format

The format of a press release is quite straightforward:

Release instructions
Include in a few words directives  as to when the information can be released e.g. “For immediate release” or “for release on October 30, 2003″

Headline
Short, attention grabbing line. Do not use exclamation marks, marketing hype or references to selling.

Summary
An extension of the headline and consolidation of the body. Just a couple of sentences outlining the major points.

Body
Always start the first sentence in the following format:

City, State (or country), Month, Day, Year -

..then launch into the story itself. Ensure that the date you use is current when submitting. Media outlets won’t want what would appear to be old news. Keep your sentences short and use paragraphs every 5-6 lines if possible. The body should not exceed 500 words.

Further information
Where readers of the press release can gain further details e.g. your web site.

About
Include a sentence about your company.

Contact information
This is usually for the use of the company whom you are submitting to. Include:

Contact Person
Company Name
Phone
Fax
URL
email address

Remember to skip a line between sections and save in a generic format, such as a plain text file.

Resource compiled from Taming the Beast Web Marketing Guide > http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles3/press-release-tips.ht

Good Luck!