Marc, your worry about cost seems to be a tactical concern rather than a strategic one. I’m not sure global corporations should spend much time worrying about spending between $15,000 to $40,000 a year on global distribution of their news.

But I will say that greater visibility isn’t just helpful - its crucial to building brand awareness. When press releases show up among the top 10 searches in Google or Yahoo — you’re getting great monetary value.

The problem with free services that you mentioned is that they aren’t monitored by many news outlets (but I’m not familiar with all of them either). Long-standing wire services like PR Wire and Business Wire have direct links to hundreds of online properties (and will even provide translation services). Publications actually monitor these sites for news (often assigning interns and rookies to watch the wires for news).

Here’s wishing you continued success at Optaros.

Thanks for taking the time to comment on our efforts.

As far as “putting releases over the wire” I agree that greater visibility over the web is obviously helpful - the only issue I have with it is the cost the traditional wire services charge relative to the value.

Luckily there are many free alternatives that deliver the same desired benefit. Here is a list

Marc

–Bloggers repeatedly preach: “Don’t send us press releases!” They don’t want to be treated like journalists. They want emailed information that is perfect for their audience. In fact, the best way to catch their attention is to not pitch bloggers right out of the gate. Instead, post a comment at their blog, and then post another comment in a week or so. I guarantee, they will know who you are when you email them.

–Press releases can be posted online for as little s $80 each through a great press release distribution service like PRWeb.

–Many reporters subscribe to the RSS feeds of press release distribution services. They can specify which industries they are interested in, and the distribution service sends them those releases.