Tap Into the Power of Free Press

If you’ve not taken advantage of the power free press releases, you’re making a costly mistake. There are so many sites available – for free – in which to advertise your business, your accomplishments, your new listings, etc. Not taking advantage of this free advertising is like letting your money slip down the drain.

For instance, how many of you use Craigslist and/or any of the many free press release sites? I’m hoping I would see a lot of hands in the air. Both media are very popular and many in your target market are reading them on a daily basis.

What is Craigslist?
According to Craigslist Fact Sheet, Craigslist was started by Craig Newmark in 1995 as a forum for local classifieds for 450 cities worldwide. Through these forums you can find housing, jobs, products, services, advice, etc. You name it; Craigslist has probably got it advertised — including a personals section for meeting someone new. And it’s popular too! By generating over five billion page views per month – and over 15 million users – your advertisement has a good chance of being seen by many potential clients.

Tell Me More About the Free Press Release Sites
According to David Frey – in his article A Secret Technique to Getting Massive Press Using Optimized Press Releases – “Online press releases are a relatively little-known development in the world of search engine exposure. Within 24 hours, a well-optimized online press release can climb to the first page of Google News and Yahoo News – if it is well written and strategically embedded with relevant keywords.”

Frey recommends the following:

• Put your two primary keywords into the headline and subheading
“All you need to do is type up a short press release with your keywords placed in the headline and subheadline and a link to your site in the press release. Then you simply submit it to all of the online PR news wires.”

• Write an article that you can turn into a press release
“Simply write an article that is newsworthy. Lace it with your primary and secondary keywords, and submit it to online PR sites.”

For your convenience, I’ve included several recommended free press release sites. I’m sure there are many more but this will definitely get you started.
• www.24-7PressRelease.com
• www.PR.com
• http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/pr/
• www.AddPR.com
• www.E-xl.com
• www.Express-press-release.com
• www.Free-press-release.com
• www.OnlinePressReleases.com
• www.OpenPR.com
• www.PR9.net
• www.PRLead.com
• www.PRWeb.com
• www.PRfree.com
• www.PowerHomeBiz.com
• www.Press-Base.com
• www.Press411.com
• www.PressReleaseSpider.com
• www.Pressbox.co.uk
• www.ClickPress.com
• http://www.emediawire.com (a PRWeb.com newswire)
• www.press.xtvworld.com
• www.i-newswire.com

Writing a decent press release is much like writing a decent blog. Just be sure it’s newsworthy to someone and written in the accepted format – many of these sites will give you detailed information on acceptable press release formatting – and you’ll be well on your way to improving your SEO through free advertising.

Don’t Just Erase Your Data, Wipe Your Hard Drives Clean

Prior to disposing of your old PC, laptop or PDA, make sure you wipe your hard drive clean.

Don’t just delete everything from it because, according to PC World, “Keep in mind that deleting just the sensitive files may not protect you fully. Unidentified copies of those files could exist in ‘unused’ parts of your hard drive, or in your swap file, among other possible locations. It’s a good idea to wipe these areas of your drive as well — or go the surefire route and wipe your entire hard drive.”

In a recent issue of Information Week (August 21), it said “researchers purchased used computers at auctions or computer fairs in Australia, Germany, North America and the United Kingdom. When they examined the hard drives in those computers, they found a surprising amount of sensitive data still intact, including payroll information, IP addresses, cell phone numbers and bank and credit card information.”

There are several free programs (or with trial versions) you can download to adequately do the job.

• Hard Disk Scrubber 2
• Active@KillDisk
• BC Wipe

And I’m sure there are many others; just do a Google search for “wipe hard drive clean” and you’ll find one to fit your needs as well as your pocketbook.