“You don’t get something for nothing.”  This adage is tried, but often true, and certainly comes into play when considering free press release distribution services. Perhaps an obvious question that many communicators ask themselves is: Why pay for the services of an established newswire service when I can distribute my press releases at no cost? The answer, simply put, is: “You get what you pay for.” And, sometimes, you don’t even get that.

Before joining Marketwire as their search marketing and social media specialist, I was the marketing manager at another company and was responsible for sending out press releases on their behalf. Because we were on a budget, I thought that submitting company news through a free distribution service was a smart, budget-friendly solution. In hindsight, I made a mistake.

Having learned the hard way, I would like to share six reasons why free press release distribution isn’t always what it promises up to be: (more…)