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Who do you send a press release to?

I‘m serious, I don’t know the answer.

10 or 12 years ago I remember scouring relevant magazines and newspapers for the names and email addresses of reporters, editors, and publishers in order to create a media distribution list. Before that it was fax numbers. When I wanted to get news out from my law firm, and later an Internet company, I sent out a press release to those on my media list.

If I was discrete in the news people I sent a release to, as opposed to buying a CD with names, fax numbers, and email addresses and spamming the world, I got pretty good results. News people appreciated the info, often covered the story, and when I did press conferences accompanying the release they showed up.

Maybe that stuff still happens. I don’t know. But LexBlog has never sent out a press release. At the same time I have a pretty good relationship with reporters and am regularly called upon for stories they are working on, including stories about whatLexBlog does, why we do it, and who we do it for.

I’d like to think if I emailed select reporters and suggested a story that the reporters would listen. In some cases I can anticipate a blog post of mine to lead to a news story. Reporters, editors, and publishers have become my friends, as opposed to people to use to get me exposure.

This week we’re going to release our State of the AmLaw 200 Blogosphere report, something LexBlog’s been doing twice a year for the last few years. It was suggested that I may want to send out a press release.

My question is who do I send the press release to? Don’t I accomplish the same thing by posting a blog post with the report as I always have? As a courtesy to reporters and editors, couldn’t I just email them a link to my blog post? How does a press release help them?

Some law firms and companies use press release services such as PR Newswire or PRWeb for press releases, many in large part for Search Engine Optimization. Getting links from such sites to your company website or blog using keywords describing your offering causes your website or blog to rank higher on such keyword searches. But that feels a bit like a sham and I’m not looking for SEO.

So help me out. I’ve got this news on the growing using of blogs by large law (AmLaw 200 law firms). Do I send out a press release? If so, why? Who do I send it to?

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