The press release (and PressRelease Grader)

This overview video at the PressRelease Grader site explains how effective Internet press releases can be in promoting your business.

If you are a SMPS member, you have access to a weekly e-letter with some useful tips and resources. This week's newsletter includes a link to an intriguing tool, The PressRelease Grader, and assorted information from Hubspot.com, outlining methods to use news releases to accelerate your presence and web-based marketing impact.

Hubspot advocates that you frequently issue news releases, not primarily for the news media's interest, but to help your search engine status. And it suggests certain formats and styles are most effective. In other words, you shouldn't wait for something really newsworthy -- something you think the mainstream media will find interesting -- before you issue a news release.

Well, how does the news release issued here fare with the Press Release Grader? It is the Construction News and Report Group of Company's announcement of an agreement with Tree Canada to plant a tree for every advertisement in each issue of our publications. We posted this on the Canada News Wire Service since obviously the news release is only really relevant in Canada.


Attention News Editors:

Construction publishing company becomes first in Canada to plant more trees than it consumes

    OTTAWA, Nov. 21 /CNW Telbec/ - The publisher of a group of Ontario
construction industry newspapers will plant at least 70 trees for every 11 it
consumes, making it the first Canadian print publisher to produce more forest
life than it consumes.

"We have made arrangements with Tree Canada to plant a tree for every
advertiser in every issue of in our publications," says Chase, who
co-ordinates the initiative for the Construction News and Report Group of
Companies(CNRG). "Our printers tell us we consume approximately 11 trees per
month - we expect to plant 80 or more each month in return."
The CNRG publishes Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report,
Ontario Construction Report, as well as speciality publications under contract
for associations such as the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA).
Tree Canada, established in 1993, has planted over 75 million urban and
rural trees, potentially sequestering more than 58 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide.

Further information about Tree Canada is available at
http://www.treecanada.ca.

"We believe this initiative will make a significant contribution to
improving forests and urban life - and make us 'net positive' with
environmental and global warming issues," said CNRG President Mark Buckshon.
"We are hopeful that other businesses will follow this example for their own
communities."

For further information: Construction News and Report Group of
Companies: Chase, 888-432-3555 ext 211, chasemarketing@sympatico.ca or Mark
Buckshon, 888-432-3555 ext 224, buckshon@constructionnrgroup.com; Tree Canada:
Michael Rosen, (613) 567-5545, tcf@treecanada.ca.

The PressRelease Grader gave this effort a truly failing score -- 25 out of 100. Ouch! This release is too short, doesn't have suitable clickable links, and fails to include the boilerplate company description and links required for the best results. The reason for some of these rather significant failings is that the company's corporate website is still under construction in a rather major rebuilding project -- when things are done in the next couple of months, the links here will work much more effectively.

The PressRelease Grader documentation also provides insights into why you should be striving for a high search engine placement. It of course is part of the most effective methodology in online (and for that matter any) marketing: Give away lots of useful stuff and clients will be attracted to you -- and you'll sell a whole lot more than by pushing your product or service in their faces.

Still, be cautious in rushing to implement Hubspot's strategies or implementing their services. Many people are trying a variety of techniques to game the system; to push up their organic search engine rankings, but you will find nothing works better than sincerely doing your best and relating and connecting to your current and potential clients.