Get your public-relations message on the wire - PR Newswire and Business Wire newswire services - Brief Article

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1991 by Drew Kerr

If you have a well-written press release about your new product or service, but you don't have the budget for a publicist or any kind of significant mailing list, PR Newswire and Business Wire, two wire-service publicity tools, are good resources for getting the word out about your business.

Similar to the Associated Press (AP) wire service, PR Newswire and Business Wire take your press release and send it to participating wire services, news bureaus, newspapers, radio and television stations, trade publications, and databases.

Costs of the services depend on copy length and where you want to send your press release. The services charge about $400 for the first 400 words for national distribution, more for extra copy.

Also, you can specify where you want your story to go: You can send your release to, say, news bureaus only in northeastern Ohio or southern Florida. The rates fall somewhere between $55 to $70 for regional distribution, but regional distribution in New York State is a little more.

You can submit your stories to either service by fax or modem. PR Newswire and Business Wire have offices all over the country. For more information, contact PR Newswire at (800) 832-5522 (New York office) or (800) 321-8169 (Los Angeles office), and Business Wire at (800) 221-2462.