In today’s world of high-tech communications, new research shows that the good old-fashioned press release is one of the most cost-effective, resourceful, and influential tools for getting your message out, drawing visitors to your web site, and heightening your company’s visibility.

A six-month study conducted by Florida-based Marketing Experiments Journal proved that press releases could create major spikes in site traffic and generate hundreds, sometimes thousands, of back links.

To conduct its study, the company issued seven press releases on differing topics for its own site. The releases were sent to editors manually as well as using online wire services. While not all press releases performed equally well, overall they generated both direct traffic and additional exposure through the press.

In total, the press releases generated more than 3,000 direct visitors and six interviews, which subsequently created additional traffic.

“An ongoing press release effort is one of the most effective means of creating incoming links to your site. Not only will these links bring in additional traffic directly, they will also help your link popularity in natural search engines that adjust ranking based on that criterion,” according to the Marketing Experiments Journal report.

The company also compared pay-per-click advertising with press release campaigns and discovered they saved money by sending out press releases. “When you sit down and do the math, the cost per click of a PR campaign can be less than driving traffic through the purchase of keywords in a pay-per-click campaign,” according to the report.

The company offers “12 Press Release Success Strategies” to help get desired results:

• When writing a press release, don't write it for the distribution service or to please internal stakeholders. Write it for the publications you are hoping will publish your story.

• Whenever possible, be specific, local, and personal. The studies conducted showed that stories about a particular person, place, or specific event will almost always perform better than a general announcement.

• Think in terms of long-term Return on Investment (ROI). If your press release attracts thousands of new visitors to your site, make efforts to collect as many of their email addresses as possible.

• Compile an email list of editors who cover your industry. Most PR firms have a database of editors and will create a list detailing who and where you should send your releases.

• Be prompt when returning calls and emails from editors. Typically, editors and reporters are working on a deadline and usually have only a few hours to get the details on your story.

• If you are writing the press release, keep in mind that a release has a specific format and is not meant to be an article itself. It is meant to quickly educate the editor on the story and your business.

• Use press to gain additional press. If a producer or editor picks up your press release, consider contacting competing news organizations with your story.

• Have a good press section on your website, including contacts, company background, latest press releases, and excerpts from third-party news sources.

• Classify your news into A, B, and C ranking. An example of "A" news would be a human-interest story highlighting a business owner who is using your product or service successfully. A personnel announcement would fall under "C" news. Don't expect "A" results from "C" releases.

• Develop a message for all communications with reporters and editors.

• Be consistent in your PR efforts. Editors seem more likely to respond to your releases after they have been receiving them for a while.

• Focus on the most relevant, personal, and timely stories about your company, which will help maximize distribution and impact.

MarketingExperiments.Com is a member of the MEC Labs Group and a division of Digital Trust, Inc. MEC is an online laboratory that tests marketing methods on the Internet.

The trend toward online meetings has become increasingly popular over the past decade as more and more people work from remote offices while the global market becomes easier to reach. Companies have recognized it’s no longer always necessary to spend valuable time and money traveling when meetings can be easily and effectively conducted via desktop technology.

A virtual meeting, in fact, can take place in any location at anytime, whether it’s down the block, across the country, across the globe -- or involving colleagues in all three.

Unlike the video conferencing technology of the late 1980s and early 90s, which was expensive and limiting, today’s online meeting capabilities offer a multitude of solutions for delivering state-of-the-art multimedia presentations to clients, communicating with colleagues from remote locations, and staying up-to-date on industry news and conferences.

The importance of online meetings has grown as companies realize the value of being able to communicate securely in real time, according to Nigel R. Spicer, co-founder, president, and COO of Boston-area 1stWorks Corp., a real-time communications software company. Founded in 2000, 1stWorks specializes in software for collaboration, conferencing, multimedia content delivery, and data compression technology.

“Adding web conferencing to video and audio is an extremely powerful and efficient mechanism for delivering a message or holding a meeting,” he said. “Being in a meeting and communicating and learning from people all around the world, while being able to review data together at the same time – that is the value of this technology,” he said.

To help understand the capabilities of real-time communications software, Spicer pointed out that his company of 12 has nearly 10,000 customers in more than 70 countries worldwide, ranging, for example, from individual futures traders to entire trading exchanges in the Financial Services market.

But essentially any profession can benefit from incorporating real-time meeting technology into their organization, Spicer pointed out. From the trading exchanges, to financial services, to educational institutions, online meetings allow people – from two to two thousand or more – to communicate and share their information in real time, all over the globe.

In the fast-paced world of marketing, advertising, and public relations, creative and sales professionals benefit from the ability to deliver a virtual presentation, concept, or campaign to their clients in a highly customized and personal manner. “They need a solution that really supports the real time and interactive sharing of multimedia content in a virtual setting – after all, that’s what they handle in a physical world,” said Spicer. “With real-time communications software, they can deliver a pitch, discuss budget allocations on a spreadsheet, and/or change the dynamics of the presentation – whether it’s live or recorded presentation content, audio or video or all three,” he added.

Asked what the future holds for real-time communications software, Spicer discussed compression technology and how the trend of the computer marketplace is towards becoming faster, bigger, and better, with underlying features becoming more clear and amplified. “It’s pushing more data through the pipes, but the data will provide a richer experience – and we are already developing the techniques to compress the data more efficiently,” he said.

Meanwhile, Spicer recalled a recent day when he and his colleagues planned to meet – in the physical world. “By the time I drove to the airport, lined up for tolls, lined up for check in, then again for security, waited on the tarmac for a departure slot and finally reached our destination,” he said, “I spent most of the entire day traveling to a meeting.”

Boston-area 1stWorks Corp. is a real-time communications software company with expertise in collaboration, conferencing, multimedia content delivery and data compression and creators of hotComm, which is massively scalable desktop networking software for secure, real-time multimedia conferencing, collaboration and content delivery across the Internet.

Thinking about starting your own PR business? Attend Our “Virtual Exhibit” on Wed., Nov. 9, 1 pm ET and find out why a PR franchise might be right for you.

In our last newsletter, we announced that Shock PR International was going to exhibit at the PRSA International Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 24 and 25, to launch our franchise to the PR community. Since Hurricane Wilma thought that would be a good time to visit Florida too, the conference was canceled, as was our exhibit.

But we’re not letting that deter us! We’ve set up a “Virtual Exhibit” online where the weather won’t affect us and where you can come to find out what a PR franchise is all about. If you’re ready to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself, we invite you to join us.

Meet us online at the Shock PR International Virtual Exhibit Wed., Nov. 9, 1 pm ET. Just go to http://www.shockpr.com or click on the link below to register. Our real-time conferencing partner, hotComm, will do the rest.

Angel-GUARD Products, a company that develops and markets innovative safety and rescue products, announced that the first consumer product that enables one person to fill sandbags, the EZ Bagger Kit, is now available at all Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores in Florida. The announcement was made prior to Hurricane Wilma. http://www.angelguardproducts.com

Longwood Software announced that Corning Life Sciences is using the TagTeam marketing materials management solution to cut marketing costs. http://www.longwoodsw.com

Shunra announced an integration and reseller alliance with Segue Software which provides a comprehensive performance test environment for customers. http://www.shunra.com

Sleep HealthCenters, which has seven sleep medicine centers throughout Massachusetts, announced their latest center in Beverly, MA. http://www.sleephealth.com

Look to the news of the day and piggyback on it for press release or article themes, if appropriate. Journalists know that audiences are focused on current events, such as hurricanes and holidays, and are looking to develop stories that relate to these events.

email: rshock@shockpr.com

phone: 508-893-9933

web: http://www.shockpr.com