Our company has been working in the area of press release distribution for two years. Since then we have performed a great number of projects for different types of software. Our clients come to us for various purposes and with different requests. To meet their expectations with maximum efficiency, we have developed a number of methods. We ascertained the editors requirements for press releases, perfected our skills of solving various issues underlying the process of press release distribution, and realized which methods in our business are particularly effective.

We have gained substantial experience and would like to share it with you. As experience shows, shareware specialists have many questions and concerns about press release distribution, which we address in this article.

What steps should be taken to benefit from press-release distribution? Writing a press release and sending it to a distribution agency is not enough. A successful project also requires pre-release preparation as well as post-distribution support.

Preparatory Stage

If you want to present your product on the market through the media, begin by writing a high quality press release.

Press Release Writing

A press release is a piece of art that requires creativity for its development. On the other hand, it is a document that must satisfy formal structure and text length requirements. A press release should not advertise the product. Instead, it should introduce the product to the press people and give them all adequate information about it. A press release text stuffed with advertising slogans is unacceptable.

The language used in a press release must be stylistically and grammatically perfect. A press release containing errors can spoil the impression about your company and harm its reputation. Poor grammar or a weak style in your press release may result in the rejection of your product by a potential customer even if your product is very good.

Furthermore, editors are very busy people who value their time and expect others to do so as well. Most likely they will have neither time nor desire to review your press-release. Keep this in mind and try to make the text easy for them to cite in their articles (preferably by copying/pasting).


Today you can easily find many good articles with press-release writing tips. For your convenience we have selected some interesting links:

Press release writing tips - http://www.press-release-writing.com/
Press release tips and guidelines - http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasetips.php
Common press release mistakes - http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasemistakes.php

Corporate Press Center

Your corporate website also requires close attention. We strongly recommend devoting a special section of your website to media contacts. It will be a press center for you company. It may be a single page containing the essential information for media workers such as:
- contact information;
- press releases;
- screenshots and logos;
- an offer of a free evaluation version for review.

This information will be of a great help for editors who are interested in learning about your software. The existence of such a press center on your website will give editors a good impression about your company. In a more detailed version, a press center includes the following information:
- contact information;
- press releases;
- press reviews of your products;
- press kits for each product;
- logos (in high resolution for prints and in low resolution for online media);
- screenshots (in two resolutions as well);
- awards and achievements;
- FAQ.

For your information we give below some examples of professionally organized press centers:

Actual Tools
ACD Systems press room
askSam press resources
AKVIS press room
Novastor press center
Thornsoft Development press resources

After all things mentioned above are taken into consideration, you may proceed to the stage of sending your press releases.

Choosing the "From"

We deliver your press-release from the address and name you provided. It is entirely up to you what name to choose and we recommend taking this step seriously. We do not recommend using support- or sales- e-mail addresses like support@companyname.com or sales@companyname.com. Instead, we advise you to create an e-mail address press@companyname.com or, if the name of a person responsible for press contacts is known, name@companyname.com. In fact, if you expect to be in business for any amount of time, we advise you to make an e-mail reference to a real person. Never use fictitious names as it may cause many problems for you in the future.

Post-distribution Support

Dealing with autoreplies

When distribution has been completed, wait for the results. The first portion of replies usually consists of out-of-office, delivery failure, and confirmation messages. They come within one hour of distribution as they are produced automatically. Do not panic when you see this type of messages in your mailbox. These are normal types of messages because you deal with a database of thousands of e-mail addresses. Sometimes the database contains out-of-date addresses because an editor has been replaced, a publishing company has closed, or an editor is on vacation or leave. We work hard on correcting our databases to reduce this effect to a minimum.

Do not ignore authorization requests of antispam systems such as http://spamarrest.com/, http://www.ipermitmail.com/ and others. Take time to get through an authorization procedure.

Contacting editorial staff

After a certain time you will start receiving e-mails from editors. They usually request further information or an evaluation copy of your product. Far all interested recipients will reply to the press release, but those who intend to will contact you during two to three days after the distribution. Someone can publish the news without informing you at all. Afterwards you may want to ask your new customers for the source from which they learned about your company or your product.

Be polite, responsive and open to those editors who get in touch with you. When they ask for an evaluation copy, do not be greedy. Your biggest risk is to lose one license, but without giving an evaluation copy your risk is much more. Editors' reviews often spark greater interest than expensive advertising could. Be afraid not of losing a license but of missing an invaluable chance of having your brand covered in mass media.

Within one week of distribution, it makes sense to contact again those people who replied to your press release. Ask them how they have proceeded in studying the product or writing a review. Also, ask them whether you can be helpful. More than one repeated inquiry may seem tactless and annoying. Try not to go that far.

Try to establish good working relationships with those who respond to a press release and personally inform them of new products and updates. Our service allows you to exclude your existing contacts from our distribution list in order to avoid any repeats.

Conclusion

In conclusion we want to say that the successful results are based not only on the high quality distribution but also on proper preparation and post-distribution activities. Follow our advice, which we hope can help you avoid mistakes and achieve success. Here are our recommendations:

1: Make your press release competent, informative, and objective; meet the size and structure requirements.

2: Make a press center in your website.

3: For the "From" line use a real name and a special e-mail address created for media contacts.

4: Get authorized with antispam systems.

5: Be polite and responsive to editors.

6: Give them a full version of the product for evaluation if needed.

7: Stay in touch with those editors who responded to your news.

We welcome your comments and suggestions concerning this article and the work of our company in general. Feel free to contact us at: info@SoftPressRelease.com.

About the author:
The authors of the article are Michael Tretyakov and Evgenia Kolobukhova from SoftPressRelease.com, an international press release distribution service provider, that specializes in shareware products promotion through the targeted mass media and users community. The website of the company is http://www.SoftPressRelease.com/.

2005 literally took the world by storm. The tragedies of the Asian Tsunami, the Hurricanes that blew through the US Gulf Coast and the earthquakes that swallowed parts of Pakistan have left an indelible mark on 2005. While mother nature cast a shadow on 2005, it was technology that delivered the impact that resulted in a huge outpouring of donations. The world was touched by the human element seen real-time in pictures and videos. Today's technology was able to deliver the graphical grittiness that portrayed the nightmares occurring half a world away.

Technology is usually thought of as impersonal, but something needs to be recognized; without technology the personal elements of the 2005 tragedies would not likely have been conveyed to the extent and timeliness they were. Reflecting on 2005 and looking forward to 2006, technology will undoubtedly continue play a significant role in the future both on a personal and impersonal level.

In 2005 Blogs gave birth to splogs, where senseless web scrapers generated massive amounts of senseless content. Spam reached a whole new level, right along side the ethical debate of content scraping. Copyrights have been stepped on and I foresee a new host of tools that will emerge to protect content.

SPAM and phishing scams were easier to recognize, but to their credit, spammers showed off their creativity, finding additional channels to inundate. From splogs to forum spam, 2005 tech users saw spam as one of life's continued annoyances. Looking into a crystal ball, I fear that social bookmarking will become the spam vehicle of 2006, weakening the value of a collective voice.

Sadly the blog saturation has resulted in web clutter. Due to increased competition and vast quantities of blogs on free hosted blog networks services, bloggers competing for audiences and web traffic will result in significant abandoned content, cluttering the web with useless ramblings. The ease of blogging that resulted in saturation will be its downfall. Credibility will again become important. Journalist, who have suffered from the blogosphere in 2005, will have a reprieve as credibility becomes an issue for bloggers. In 2006 web surfers are going to look for multiple sources to confirm facts, and rely on reliable respected sources, community content, and collaboration like Wikipedia is going to suffer and become less relevant in 2006. While Wikipedia scores well in search, it does not perform as well with accuracy. The Wikipedia community is haunted by spam and like DMOZ, it's success will be its downfall. The relevance of successful community wiki's will fade in 2006.

Cell phones have become personal homing devices, and it is near impossible to locate a cellular phone that is not capable of manipulating or taking photos, videos, graphics and text messages in addition to the traditional voice calls. It is likely the PDA will become extinct in 2006, as travelers move to a single multifunction device. In 2007 MP3 players will likely be a common feature of cell phones.

Wireless growth is still worth noting, as it has moved from hotspots, to hot zones, to hot cities. Philadelphia and San Francisco are leading the way as wireless cities in 2006.

What is in store for 2006? Privacy is a hot topic that is not going to disappear. Google and the US Government are battling a Big Brother image. Data mining has made the collection of data meaningful. Anti-Google sentiment is growing. Google has fallen from grace, while Google has made friends on Wall Street, it has disappointed surfers who have turned to Yahoo and MSN in growing numbers. 2006 will likely result heat up the search engine war with MSN and Yahoo scrambling for marketshare and Google walking a tightrope with privacy advocates on one end and monopoly theorists on the other end.

Google wants to make money, and like it or not data, is a commodity. Google will likely use the data from their various ventures to develop new technologies and personalize content. Conspiracy theorists believe that the Google's aggregate data will also be used to optimize the fees charged for pay-per-click, influence organic ranking, or worse yet, sold.

Google's growth will continue to motivate privacy advocates and those in the technology field behind the Attention Truste movement, to work together, to improve how personal information and subscription information is used online. I expect we will see a lot of energy and effort in this area.

Personalized content will be a buzz word for 2006. Whether it is users selecting Podcasts, iTunes, or purchasing Amazon recommendations the web is learning how to cater content based on user selections and choices. Web surfers see personalized content as regaining control of what they want to watch, see, or listen to. From Tivo to podcasting, users are taking back control. Yet when the web serves content that is based on past surfing habits, who is really in control?

In 2005, marketers were told in no uncertain terms, if they are not using syndication and RSS, they will not survive. Well, they have one more chance to get it right. In 2006, marketers must use RSS as an alternative communication channel. It will no longer be cutting edge, it will be a must to survive. Web surfers no longer expect to provide personal information (an email address) for marketing materials, they expect to have a choice about how they wish to receive the content.

Vendors selling through affiliate programs lost ground in 2005. Publishers found the easy money of pay-per-click advertising not fraught with the inherent problems of affiliate tracking and cookie-killers. The increase in click-fraud and content scraping on AdSense sites will even the playing field and make affiliate programs more attractive in 2006.

The world is getting smaller, and technological advancements has not only brought us tragedy, but also has opened doors and the global market is now a viable option for small businesses. I believe the globalization trend will continue in 2006.

Top 10 Winners Predicted for 2006:

Cyber Security
VOIP
Attention Data
RSS/Syndication
Copyprotection
Credibility
Privacy
Alternative Energy (reusable fuel, clean energy)
Content Filtering
VideoTunes (iTunes with Video)

As all of us view the new year, we determine various ways to improve ourselves. Whether its eliminating bad habits, or improving quality of life, January 1st is seen as a new beginning and starting point. Your website too, can use a new look. Consider taking the website to task with these down and dirty quick improvement tips for the new year.

New Year's Resolutions for Your Website
Revamp your website. The Internet is evolving at a rapid pace, and websites need constant maintenance and occasional overhauls. As the search engines improve their algorithms, website copy and designs will need to be updated. Here are some starting points:

Remove Bad Outgoing Links
It is important that you are not linking to bad neighbors. Broken links give an unprofessional image and wastes a site visitor. Be sure that all outgoing site links are still valid, and even more importantly, go where you had initially intended. Many popular websites are sold by companies with questionable content. Remove any changed links so that you are not associated with content that is not relevant to your products, service or content.

Unique Titles
Confirm each webpage on your website contains a unique title tag. Not only do unique titles allow you to optimize different sections of your site for different keywords and phrases, but also helps search engines direct traffic to specific pages on your site when specialized keywords are used.

Optimize Graphics
Optimize website graphics to decrease the website's load time. A typical web surfer will only remain on a page for a few seconds. If you do not grab their attention, you will lose them. Shaving size off of a websites graphic elements will mean that their eyes are on your website during those critical seconds.

Update Copyright Notice
A copyright notice should reflect the year the last updates were made to the website. A current copyright notice tells visitors that the content is fresh, not stale and outdated.

Clean up HTML
HTML is a markup language and with constant maintenance it is easy to have a page with an unclosed tag. While some web browsers make allowances for poorly formed HTML, not all do. Therefore, it is important that you take a look at the HTML behind the web page and make sure that it is properly formed.

Update Meta Tags
Update and optimize meta tags to avoid excessive use of keywords. While a once popular search engine optimization technique, stuffed meta tags generally result in search engine penalties. Update meta tags to be accurate and concise without redundancy and recurring words.

Automate
If your site does not currently use templates or server-side includes, it is time to bite the bullet. Spending time now, by employing server side includes or templates will mean easier maintenance and updates later. When you change one item, it will update on all pages of your site.

Links
Increase the quality and quantity of inbound links. Links coming into your site should be from websites that contain related or relevant content. Links from related .edu and .org domains are considered of a higher value than generic links. Any outbound links, should be directed to credible websites that contain related content. The relationship and relevance of links is becoming increasingly more important in most of the search engine ranking algorithms.

Wrapped Content
Links that are embedded in a paragraph rather than a free standing, generally are viewed more favorably by search engines. Consider wrapping links in content summaries.

Size Matters
A website must contain enough relevant content to stand on its own. Obviously the more the better. However, its not just about quantity it is also about quality. While size matters, relevance is equally important. A website should be able to stand on its own, once affiliate links, and pay per click advertising is removed the site should still have value.

Aged Domains
They say with age comes wisdom. Apparently the Search Engine Gods feel the same about domains. The older the domain the better it will typically perform. Give new domains time to age.

A New Years resolution is just a fancy way of saying that you are committed to doing something. Resolve to improve your website this year.

There has been a long running debate about web applications replacing desktop software applications. While some functions are better suited to web applications. It is my belief that security concerns and legacy systems will prevent desktop software from becoming obsolete.

Some argue that the debate between web applications and desktop applications is pointless; as their is no clear answer. While still others argue that the issue at hand is as much a business and marketing issue, as it is a technological issue.

What Defines a Web Application Vs a Desktop Application?
A web application is an application delivered to users from a web server like the Internet. Some businesses run web applications on an intranet, as well. Web applications are becoming more popular due to the widespread use of the web browser as a client.

Some applications are better suited and more likely to become successful as web applications. Web applications designed specifically for search engine optimization, have become increasingly popular. It is easy to understand why web applications that relate to the Internet would prosper, while business applications may have less appeal in a web environment.

A desktop application is a self-contained program that performs a defined set of tasks under the user control. Desktop applications run from a local drive and do not require a network or connectivity to operate or function properly, though if attached to a network desktop applications might use the resources of the network.


Pros and Cons to Desktop and Web Applications:

Easily Accessible
Web applications can be easily accessed from any computer or location that has Internet access. Travelers especially benefit from the accessibility. This often means that if a traveler has access to a computer, phone or handheld with Internet connectivity they can utilize the web application.

Low Maintenance & Forced Upgrades
Desktop applications need to be individually installed on each computer, while web applications require a single installation.

Many web applications are hosted by a 3rd party and the maintenance fall under the applications hosts responsibility. The ability to update and maintain web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers is a key reason for the popularity of web based applications. This can be a blessing and a curse as users of web applications on hosted systems are at the mercy of the host, if an upgrade does not go well, or the individual user doesn't want or need the new features the upgrade will still go forward.

Increased Security Risks
There are always risks involved when dealing with working online, regardless of how secure a host might say a web application is, that fact of the matter stands that the security risk of running an application of the Internet is more significant than when running an application on a standalone desktop computer. Some applications require more security than others, playing Sudoku on a web application would cause little concern, but dealing with sensitive corporate formulas or accounting details in a web environment might be determined risky.

Cost
Over the life of the software use, web applications are typically significantly more expensive over time. Desktop applications are purchased outright and rarely is their a recurring fee for the software use. Some desktop applications do have maintenance fees or fee based upgrades associated with them, but rarely is there a subscription fee associated with the software's ongoing use.

Many corporate web applications use a different model, users typically are charged monthly service fee to operate the software. Fees are considered "subscription fees". If you fail to renew your subscription you may be unable to access the data stored in the web application.

Connectivity
Web applications rely on persistent and unmanaged connectivity. If you do not have an Internet connection or if your host does not have Internet connectivity you cannot access the information. Critical applications or businesses that are time sensitive cannot risk denial of service attacks or power outages to interrupt their operations and access data that is sensitive.

Slower
Web applications that rely on the Internet to transfer data rather than a computer's local hard drive, may operate slower. The speed may also vary based on number of users accessing the application.

Backups & Ownership.
Regardless of the platform, companies need to be sure that their data is appropriately backed up. When using a web application that are hosted by a third party, companies should clearly determine who owns the data housed in the application, and be sure that privacy policies prevent that data from being used by the web host.

Ultimately the accessibility of web based applications make them very desirable. Web applications have some fundamental limitations in their functionality, and are better suited for specific tasks. Understanding the pro's and con's to each business model, will help users determine whether a desktop application or web application will better suit their needs.

Software Vendor Categories Include:

E-Commerce

Best Overall Software E-commerce Value
Includes any vendor who provides e-commerce services to software developers. Nominations and voting should focus of value, features for a fair price.

Best Software E-commerce Customer Service & Support
Includes any vendor who provides e-commerce services to software developers. Nominations and voting should focus of superior customer support and responsiveness to both end-users and software developers.

Most Innovative Software E-commerce Service
Includes any vendor who provides e-commerce services to software developers. Nominations and voting should focus on innovativation, and cutting edge features.

Affiliate Programs

Best Software Affiliate Program
Includes any vendor who provides affiliate tracking and payment services for software developers. Nominations and voting should focus on overall best affiliate provider for software sales.

Best Software Affiliate Program Customer Service & Support
Includes any vendor who provides affiliate tracking and payment services for software developers. Nominations and voting should focus on superior customer support and responsiveness to both affiliates and software developers.

Software Protection & Activation

Best Software Protection & Activation Service or Solution
Includes any vendor who provides software protection or activation services or solutions. Nominations and voting should focus on overall solution.
Download Sites

Best Overall Download Site
Includes any website thats primary focus is to promote evaluation software available for download. Nominations and voting should focus on overall solution, traffic and design.

Best Download Site Advertising Value
Includes any website thats primary focus is to promote evaluation software available for download. Nominations and voting should focus on advertising value. What download sites provide the most bang for your buck?

Best Download Site Customer Service & Support
Includes any website thats primary focus is to promote evaluation software available for download. Nominations and voting should focus on superior customer support and responsiveness to both end-users and software developers.

Most Innovative Download Site
Includes any website thats primary focus is to promote evaluation software available for download. Nominations and voting should focus on innovativation, and cutting edge features.
Graphic Design

Best Overall Software Graphic Design Service
Includes any vendor that provides graphical design services to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, timeliness, and cost.

Best Icon Design Service or Solution
Includes any vendor that provides icon sets or icon design services to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, timeliness, and cost.
Search Engine Services

Best Search Engine Optimization Service
Includes any vendor that provides search engine optimizaiton services to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, timeliness, and cost.
Software Submissions

Best Software Submission Service or Solution
Includes any vendor that provides submissions services or solutions to submit software to download sites for software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, timeliness, and cost.

Best Software Submission Customer Service
Includes any vendor that provides submissions services or solutions to submit software to download sites for software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on superior customer support and responsiveness to both software developers and download site contact.

Press Releases

Best Software Press Distribution Service
Includes any vendor that provides distribution services or solutions to distribute press releases to editors and the media for software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, timeliness, and cost.

Best Software Press Writing Service
Includes any vendor that provides press release writing services to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, timeliness, and cost.
File Hosting

Best Overall Software File Hosting Service
Includes any vendor that provides file hosting services or solutions to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, ease of use, stability, and cost.

Best Software File Hosting Customer Service & Support
Includes any vendor that provides file hosting services or solutions to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on superior customer service to software developers.

Most Innovative File Hosting Service
Includes any vendor that provides file hosting services or solutions to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on features, and cutting-edge technology solutions.
Web Hosting

Best Overall Software Website Hosting Service
Includes any vendor that provides web hosting services for software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on quality, ease of use, stability, and cost.

Best Software Website Hosting Customer Service & Support
Includes any vendor that provides web hosting services or solutions to software companies. Nominations and voting should focus on superior customer service to software developers.
Reviewers

Best Software Reviewer
Includes any vendor that provides a review service, includes both paid and unpaid vendors. Nominations and voting should focus on quality of reviews.
Publishers

Best Overall Software Publisher
Includes any vendor that acts as a publisher, representing and marketing software they did not create. Nominations and voting should focus on value, overall marketing techniques, and software developer benefit.

Best Software Publisher Customer Service & Support
Includes any vendor that acts as a publisher, representing and marketing software they did not create. Nominations and voting should focus on superior customer support and responsiveness to both end-users and software developers.

CD Services

Best CD Fullfillment Service
Includes any vendor that makes and distributes CDs for software developers. Nominations and voting should focus on overall value and quality.

Best CD Fullfillment Customer Service & Support
Includes any vendor that acts as a publisher, representing and marketing software they did not create. Nominations and voting should focus on superior customer support and responsiveness to both end-users and software developers.
Organizations

Best Software Organization Value
Includes any organization specifically for software developers and industry professionals (both non-profit and for-profit are eligble). Nominations and voting should focus on overall value for software developers.

Forum/Newsgroup

Best Software Discussion Forum or Newsgroup
Includes any newsgroup or forum specifically for software developers and industry professionals (both non-profit and for-profit are eligble). Nominations and voting should focus on overall value for software developers.

There has been a lot of chatter lately about Web 2.0, as if the Internet is a versioned software application.

So what is Web 2.0? Simply put, Web 2.0 is a perceived transition of the web to web applications. Web 2.0 is the next generation of technology solutions where interactive content is the norm. There is no agreement on exactly what Web 2.0 means, depending on who you are speaking with, you may receive different explanations. At it's heart, Web 2.0 is about the maturity of the Web and businesses that are thriving online. While many refer to Web 2.0 as companies that employ powerful web technologies, the key components of the new web are said to include: the web as a platform, collaboration, and syndication.

The Evolution of the Internet
The commercial web began as static html pages, and has progressed to well established sites created from content management systems. Most large websites contain dynamic content that is constantly changing, often the information provided is interactive or user specific. Amazon's recommended products is an excellent example of the future, where web surfers receive personalized content based on their past surfing habits.

Web 2.0 is said to be the technological evolution. O'Reilly indicates that the dot-com bubble burst signified the beginning of Web 2.0 and a new generation of technology applications. The shakeout from the dot-com collapse pre-empted the technological revolution of Web 2.0. The dot-com companies that had survived the collapse seemed to have a few things in common. The first primary principle that the Web 2.0 companies share is that they use the power of the web to collaborate and grow. O'Reilly further defines Web 2.0 as a set of core principles and practices, with the primary principle being a thought process that the web is a platform.

Web 2.0 companies are said to not be constrained by traditional business models and philosophies. The hidden web, which is a fancy way of saying the technology behind the content that the web surfer sees, is becoming more and more powerful. Scripting languages that allow webmasters to employ technology and interact with users based on personal decisions or responses has personalized the Internet. While O'Reilly clearly outlines elements and components of Web 2.0, I think the general meaning that Web 2.0 is synonymous with the new generation of the Web.

While the techie types "got it", many casual web surfers have not grasped the fact that the Internet is not versioned software. Which in effect has meant that Web 2.0's meaning is limited to the evolution of the Internet and online business. Whether that means personalized content and user choice, or dynamically generated content that is ranked by weighing the websites popularity, the Internet is growing up.

Web 2.0 Companies for 2005 - http://web2.wsj2.com/the_best_web_20_software_of_2005.htm
More on Web 2.0 - http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html