I just sent out a press release announcing the re-opening of The Attorney Marketing Center, the re-naming of the newsletter, and some background about me.

There are several free services available for sending a press release. I chose PRLog.com because it was easy to open an account and easy to send the release. They had also been recommended.

There are many paid press release distribution services. Two of the best known are PRWeb.com and BusinessWire.com. Why would you choose a paid service? One reason is that busy editors are, arguably, more likely to read a release coming from one of these services than one of the free ones.

The paid services also allow targeting, and since I want to reach lawyers, using the free, untargeted services would seem to be pointless. Not so. The free services do a good job of distributing your release to search engines and directories where they will take up permanent residence and point to your web site, and this provides immediate, tangible value. Sure, I’d like a writer or editor to pick up my release and run it or contact me for an interview, but that is unlikely given the tepidness of my "news".

Check out some of the services available. Search "press release distribution". Most provide good tips on writing press releases and other valuable information.

And here is my press release.