A well written, interesting, and timely press release can do alot to boost traffic to your site, interest in your services, and boost your credibility as a true professional.

It's also just plain fun to see your name in print, attached to a story about what you're all about.

If you have a specifically niched service, an unusual slant on getting business accomplished, or some other 'hook' you'd like to let *millions* of people know about all at once then a press release can be a great way to go.

It's not as easy as 1, 2, 3 though - a press release must follow a certain format, be well written, free of spelling and grammatical errors, and first and foremost BE NEWSWORTHY! (In other words, don't send a press release just to announce that your company exists...this - as exciting as it is for you! - is not news...what is news is if you receive a special award or recognition for service, or have some unique service, event or approach to business to announce.)

For a great tutorial on writing a good, solid press release visit this link.

For general info on how a release can help you gain more (FREE!) publicity, as well as some basic info on just what a press release is, visit this link.

And for a bit on my own personal review and experience with press release distribution via a great site (PR Web), as well as a great site for getting your release to as wide an audience as possible on a budget, click here.

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I came across a few links to free basic templates for various types of press releases inlcuding New Service Announcement (to announce that you've added a fabulous new service to your practice!), Contract Award, Award Announcement, etc.

If you've never written a press release before these very basic templates can help ensure you set them up in the proper format.

The same site offers a nice step-by-step tutorial on how to draft a press release.

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You know I've noticed a LOT of press releases announcing different things for different virtual assistant practices: anniversaries, new services, partnerships, etc. and I have to say I'm most definitely going to send one out myself when the time is right. First things first (Need something to announce after all.)

I have just sent out a press release.......

Agnes Ikotun, from Newington, CT, is announcing the launch of her company A.I. Virtual Solutions. A.I. Virtual Solutions is a company providing Virtual Assistant (VA) services to real estate clients throughout North America.

Making use of today’s technology, Virtual Assistants are providing innovative solutions...........


Continue

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Great move Agnes
Press releases are such a great way to position yourself as a leader in your niche market!

I just today came across another one - a great example of a well presented press release - this one was sent out by a UK based VPA (virtual personal assitant) and refers to a poll she ran at Ecademy to find out how many small biz owners had turned down work simply because they didn't have enough time. The angle of course is that these small businesses need to outsource!
A fabulous example, in my humble opinion, of a great press release.

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Tess- That press release was so well presented. I would be drawing inspiration from it with my next PR.

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I haven't done a press release.. But I think I should!!! Great ideas!!! Can't wait to here what happens with Agnes'

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Taking Virtual Assistance to the Next Level

One thing you might do, to keep track of what's going on in the industry in terms of press releases put out by other virtual assistants is go to Google News enter "virtual assistant" (with the quotation marks) into the search field. Click 'search news'.
Then - in the left hand column there is a little envelope with the text link 'News Alerts' - click that link.
In the box on the right hand side, select your preferences for how often you'd like to receive alerts for news stories containing your keywords in your email inbox, enter your email and click 'Create Alert'.
You'll rec'v a confirmation email and once you've hit that link too - any news stories that contain your search will show up in your email inbox.

That way many examples of press releases that are getting put out there will come across your desk (not to mention other industry news) - keeping you abreast of what others are doing, how they're doing it, and the like. Maybe it will give you a bit of inspiration for future releases of your own and it will certainly allow you to compare and understand what the differences between a really good release and a so-so release are.

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I thought I'd gather together a list of options for press release submission and distribution. Please note, I've not personally used all of these (the service I have always used and will continue to use is PR Web (noted in the list below with the asterisk - check out my writeup on that service here) but as there are so many options out there, it seemed not a bad idea to provide links to each so you can determine which you prefer:

PAID press release submission and distribution services:
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/

http://www.addpr.com/

http://www.prweb.com/*

http://www.usanews.net/

http://www.webwire.com/


FREE press release submission and distribution services:
http://free-press-release.com/

http://www.1888pressrelease.com/

http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com

http://www.clickpress.com/releases/

http://www.express-press-release.com/

http://www.free-news-release.com

http://www.free-press-release-center.info/

http://www.mediasyndicate.com/

http://www.newswiretoday.com/

http://www.openpr.com/

http://www.pr.com/

http://www.pr9.net/

http://www.prcompass.com

http://www.press411.com/

http://www.press-base.com/

http://www.pressmethod.com/

http://www.pressreleasespider.com/

http://www.press-world.com/

http://www.prfree.com/

http://www.prleap.com/

http://www.przoom.com/

http://www.sbwire.com/

http://www.ukprwire.com/

http://www.usprwire.com/

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These listings have been added to our new directory in the resources section. Each one is noted as free or paid.

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I thought I'd refresh this as some of our members may need a review of some of the basics of press release writing.

Your PR reflects on your business just like any other marketing materials and should be crafted and drafted carefully, with a keen attention to grammar and spelling - not to mention the general 'rules' of press releases and expectations of the media.

A press release is NOT an advertisement for your company - it IS an invitation to the media to learn more about you and your business via a newsworthy angle. If the release is about the launch of your practice, then keep the release to that angle. If the release is about a new certification or credential that you've acquired/earned then keep your focus in that direction.

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wow - thanks for the information Tess!

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