Are the free press release services worth it?

When looking around for your PR needs you might be considering one of the free press release services (or the really expensive wire services which we will get to in another post). Should you use a free service? Are they really free?

Most of the free services either 1) put ads in your press release or 2) limit your release so badly that it is hardly worth doing, unless of course you pay up to remove the restrictions (and now it is no longer free). Sound familiar?

Having some other company’s ads in your press release really seems to water down your message. It’s hard enough to get the word out and get someone to read your release. Do you really want the reader to be distracted by ads from other companies?

The up-sell is also aggressive for many of these “free” press release services. Want clickable text links in your release? Pay up. Want to be distributed to Google News? Pay up. Want the ads removed? Pay up. The next thing you know you are paying $49, $79, $99, $349 for your “free press release”! Hardly free at all.

PRUnderground.com charges $20-$39 per release and you can have links, video, images, a newsroom, and of course distribution right into Google News, Google, and over 15 social media and bookmarking sites. And there are no ads for another company in your release. It may not be free, but we hope you find it to be a fair price, with no hooks or up-selling.