

By now, you have started your business and gotten a press release about your business done. It is time to get that release out in front of as many people as possible. This means distributing your release.

Great!

But what exactly is press release distribution?

Press release distribution sends your release out to different locations, or post your release on a single website. This way, journalists can search for and find releases related to certain businesses and organizations.

There are basically two ways to submit a press release. You can use a service that will send your release out to various locations like newspapers, magazines and the like, or you can post your release to press release distribution websites. The cost on each will depend on pricing based on the various websites. Regardless of how you submit your press releases, the services used are collectively known as newswire services.

The number one way that press releases make their way to the public is via newswire services.

A newswire service is service that journalists use to search for press releases to run in various media. These services can be sites, as mentioned previously, or news feeds that journalists can subscribe to receive releases. Some journalists even search databases of information, such as LexisNexis, for news items and fact checking sources. Newswire services are a major part of the journalism industry and used to move stories across the world. The service is invaluable to journalists who use them for a variety of reasons.

Of all of the reasons to use a newswire service, relevance ranks highest among those who are looking for news. The last thing a journalist with a strict deadline wants to do is wade through a stack of news items and press releases to find something that is tied in some way to a current story. Newswires can cut through the unnecessary chaff and get directly to the news items of the day.

The average journalist uses a newswire for stories and some use them for other items such as feature ideas and keeping up with certain trends within industries – automotive, for example, is normally one that is very popular among newswire services. Fashion is another source, as it changes so rapidly with each new season.

This can be an issue for some journalists, because all journalists have access to the same information equally. The more exclusive the content a journalist can find and have access to, the better the story and opportunity to move a piece. For freelance writers and press release specialists, this can be very detrimental because they are unable to move a piece because editors already have access to the story and may have already chosen to run or not run that particular piece, depending on their needs of the day.

Journalists also use newswire services for fact checking and reviewing information pertaining to specific stories. Again, for a journalist on a hard deadline, a newswire streamlines the necessary work of making sure the article is correct and factual. This protects the journalist from legal action based on libel – posting incorrect information about a story or person. A good example is looking for a specific quote or comment from an elected official. Scanning newswire services for a quote is quick and simple, allowing the journalist to jump back onto the story in short order.

Most journalists want their newswire services in a central location that they can access easily. For some, this means an inbox, others a link and some do not want to be bothered with newswire services in the least. The last group, however, is a very small sliver of the overall journalistic industry and is largely relegated to small, weekly publications like regional newspapers and the like.

Depending on the journalist, most would like to have a place to visit. This allows journalists to search their own information depending on the story they have an interest in fact checking or extending a story. Again, it is a real time saver.

So what does this mean for you? Quite a lot actually! Journalists are going to use newswires for facts, but they will also use the sources for news stories. This is why having your press release tied to a strong, news-worthy like story is so important to the overall success of your release. This means the best opportunity for your press release to be picked up and ran is to target journalists, find out what they like and work to meet their needs as frequently as possible. This way you can be certain your release will have someone take interest and run it as a part of their publication.

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