PRWeb Public Relations Blog

PRWeb Opens Content to Podcasters - What does this mean?

In the most simplest of terms, PRWeb is allowing visitors to take sound bites or entire podcast episodes and roll them into their own podcast and or CGM (Consumer Generated Content) productions.  This is actually great news for the podcast community which is constantly on the prowl for ideas and content to fill talk show formats.  Our entire archive past and present is available for their sampling.

Let us know  how you are using the podcasts.  (This is not a requirement but we do find it interesting.)

Enjoy. -- David

Form vs. Function

Well, I haven’t heard any rumblings this week about the death of the press release so I thought I would inject something into the digital workspace.  Actually, I have watched and read most of the comments over the last few months proclaiming the death of the press release.   While I think I understand the motives of those who are eager to pronounce the death of the press release I do not agree that the press release has outlived its usefulness.  Now as the Founder and CEO of PRWeb, one of the industry's leading online press release Newswires, you would expect me to say that.  Now let me try to explain.

Back in 1997 when we officially launched PRWeb, we had tons of e-mail messages chastising us for using the term press release.  The argument was that the press release was outdated and we should call it something like “news release,” “media release” or any number of other monikers that were suggested. To this day I continue to call it a press release.  Why?  Am I hard headed?  Well perhaps, but the fact remains that press release is what the world understands.  It is what they search for on the Internet.  We still buy the terms “news release” and “media release” but they remain much less important than the term “press release.”

Now back to today. Does a person cease to be a person because he/she graduates from years of college and becomes a medical doctor?  No, that person has a new function but he/she is still a person.  Do we pronounce a father dead because he has a grandchild? No, his form (man and person) remain constant but he now has additional functionality. Is the press release dead?  No, it has evolved.  At PRWeb, we feel that we have led its evolution.  Think of all the new concepts that we have introduced to the market in the last 8 years.  Search engine optimized press releases, direct-to-consumer distribution, social bookmarking, podcasting and trackbacks are just a few of the many innovations that we have introduced to the space.

I have just finished a podcast with David Meerman Scott of Web Ink Now and Brian Clark of Coppyblogger.com where we spent thirty minutes discussing how the press release has changed and how PRWeb’s role has changed as a leader in this movement. Listen here; at PRWebPodcast.com. It’s only 30 minutes of your time and these guys know their stuff.

It is a great time to be in PR.

David

February 2006, Podcast Month at PRWeb

PRWeb™, the Internet's leading direct-to-consumer press release distribution platform, has declared February 2006 Podcast Month at PRWeb.com to celebrate the increasing popularity of podcasts as a way of distributing news online.

During the month of February, PRWeb editors will select up to five news releases a day with podcast-related news and upgrade them to the $200 distribution level free of charge.

The free upgrade for podcast-related news releases entitles these PRWeb customers to one of PRWeb's premium distribution options to gain maximum online visibility for their podcast announcement.

PRWeb press releases carrying a contribution of $200 enjoy the unmatched power of search engine optimization and PRWeb’s SEO toolset, which includes enhanced statistical reporting on the online distribution of the release and activation of rich text anchor links. Other premiums at the $200 level include EyeCaster banner rotation, custom RSS/XML feed, file attachments, next day distribution and a donation to Unitus, a global microfinance accelerator.

Companies who use PRWeb™ for their press releases gain affordable brand reinforcement, reputation management and expert status for their businesses, including their podcasts, podcast software or other podcast-related services.

A team of PRWeb editors will select the podcast-related news releases eligible for the Podcast Month upgrade during February. PRWeb customers who want to nominate a pending news release for the upgrade may send a message through our Help Desk at https://secure.dataovation.com/prweb/support/index.php and specify “Podcast Month Nomination” in the subject line. Our editors will make the final determination on the upgrades.

PRWeb is the industry leader in search engine visibility and RSS deployment for news releases, serving more than 8.6 million customized RSS feeds to PRWeb.com and eMediaWire.com visitors. PRWeb and eMediaWire categorize news releases according to news topics for news media outlets who receive news releases by e-mail and for RSS feeds.

To view PRWeb’s RSS feeds applicable to podcasts, include the following links in your RSS reader

Podcasting - Announce: http://www.prweb.com/rss2/podcastingannounce.xml
    Podcasting - Tools and Services: http://www.prweb.com/rss2/podcastingtools.xml