Small businesses need public relations … PR. But when you’re busy running your business, it’s hard to get your story out to the world. It can be challenging to write and distribute press releases while worrying about maintaining the quality of your products and services and keeping your customers happy. A new service offered by a group that calls itself the National Association of Local Advertisers aims to solve that.
The new NALA News Division has introduced a “turnkey” press release service for local businesses.
The cost per release is higher than what you could get by distributing a release directly through a service such as PRNewswire or PRWeb. But organizers say there’s more than just distribution involved. They say they wrap in writing, publicist and marketing services, too.
“I think we have a few things going for us that distinguish us from other services,” said Jeff Velis, vice president of operations in an email interview. “Not only do we write the releases, but we work with the business on developing press campaigns, which can be anywhere from one release to several over 6 months or even one year, making sure that their news gets out to the media.”
What the Service Provides
“A lot of small businesses don’t think they have news, but everyone has news and we at the NALA help them find that news and develop their story,” Velis explained. “We also don’t stop once the release has been distributed, but we follow up with the media outlets targeted and then will work them on behalf of the client,” he said. “Sometimes this can be answering follow up questions, sending additional images or even setting up an interview or photo shoot.”
The NALA charges between $725 per release (if you buy six releases), up to $995 for a single release.
There is also a $195 “editorial fee” added to each campaign. Releases are delivered to online news outlets and social media. Clients receive a report on the number of independent news sites that picked up the release, the number of times it appeared in searches and the number of times it appeared on NALA affiliated sites.
Shutterstock: publicist
Shawn,
Once again, you’re keeping the entire Small Business Trends community updated on the latest and greatest tools and resources.
Thank you!
This one looks a bit different, for sure.
The Franchise King®
Aira Bongco
Whoo! $995 for a release sound hefty but I know that it is worth it since you’re paying for six releases. After all, what you’re paying for are the connections and the editorial fee.
Shawn Hessinger
Hi Aira,
Remember also, you’re getting not just the press releases but help telling your business’s story. Then there are the followups with appropriate media and the reports to give you an idea of how much exposure you really have gotten. One must assume they’re fairly confident they will be able to get the releases picked up.
USD 995 for a single press release is on the high end, but if you need exposure then perhaps the money might justify the cost. With more disposable income, you can do wonders and get people to do the work for you, thus freeing one up for other more important tasks.
Shawn,
It’s pricey, but I guess it’s justified by the value of press campaigns service and the quality and quantity of news outlets NALA has.
The service seems a bit costly but if it can deliver as mentioned then it’s worth it. Besides they are also going to work after the press release gets published. Targeted exposure and visibility is a great factor when it comes to Press Releases, so if that’s what NALA can accomplish for us, we better should give them a try.
Pricing is relative to how much work is involved. It’s a little high if you have all your ducks in a row, i.e., marketing plan, history with PR, connections, can provide assistance with the development of ideas, have an easy story to tell (try to get creative about accounting — no offense to accountants out there), etc. It’s on the low-end if they truly can provide all these services, plus strategic insights into your situation, creativity and drive to help you get picked up by the media. That’s a lot of smarts and legwork needed.
baz radwan
The service seems a bit pricey, but you have to pay for better quality. There are other sources that you can purchase for a lot less.
Press releases are very powerful if you do it right. I was at a webinar a couple of weeks ago and the speaker created an impromptu press release for a business owned by one of the attendees. After about 10 minutes, the press release is ranking 2nd in the Google SERP at the keyword targeted by the business.