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/.