How Well Does Business Wire Really Work?

Business Wire is a news distribution service that uses its own network of media and interested parties. It’s owned by Berkshire Hathaway, the investment group run by Warren Buffet. They’ve got several inroads to news outlets that promises to give your news items a good chance of getting picked up as a story. But there’s not a way they can guarantee you’ll get coverage, so is this something you should go with, or are there better services out there?

Overview
Press releases are a great way to get your news out there and increase your visibility in your industry. It can separate your business from others that don’t issue releases, and it can get you and your business name some recognition, which translates to reputation, and eventually can boost your bottom line. Used in a comprehensive advertising and marketing campaign, it can round out your efforts and even raise awareness of your philanthropic work or major milestones.

The Claim
Business Wire says they are the leader in press release distribution, and that they can send your release out to thousands of different outlets that are waiting to receive these sort of messages. They also say that this will improve your search engine optimization, and that you can get customer service in your local area, so you’ll be able to get advice that is relevant to your specific demographics.

Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway bought Business Wire back in 2006, which is interesting on a few different levels. First, it could be thought that Business Wire must have been a very valuable company, or they wouldn’t have bothered purchasing it. They aren’t known for making bad investments, and they own a majority share of Coca Cola and other big brand names. However, it does create a sort of conflict of interest, as the companies that are owned by Business Wire probably get preferential treatment when it comes to the news they want distributed.

The Cost
Business Wire is $340 for a 400 word release. First you have to get in as a member, which cannot be done online. You must print an application and fax it in to your local office.

Bang for Your Buck
When it comes to choosing a press release service, you have to size up which company is going to give you the best return for the cash outlay. If you go with the right service, all you need is one company, and you don’t have to distribute it with multiple services.

Evaluation
Business Wire is not as user friendly as eReleases, and is not as well-suited for small business as PRWeb. Since they charge by the word, it can make it hard to come up with an effective release while worrying about your word count. You should feel free to write more words, but remember to keep your release short, and informative, and leave people wanting more information so they call you or visit your website.

We do like how they provide a lot of tips and tutorials on how to write a press release and get it ready for distribution. This is something that people are usually in need of, because unless you are a professional press release writer you probably don’t know much about how it works, or what a release should include – and not include – in it.

Jack of All Trades?
We don’t like that they offer SEO services as well, including optimizing the actual release. There’s not really a way for them to be press release specialists and SEO specialists at the same time, and we wouldn’t put that part of our business in their hands. Get an SEO pro to make sure that you’ve got it tweaked correctly, and simply use them for their distribution if you choose to use their service.

Final Business Wire Review

Even though Business Wire brings things down to a local level and no doubt distributes

your press release to plenty of media outlets, that’s not enough to differentiate it from competing services. It’s not as easy to get started with them, and by the time you fill out a membership application and fax it in to your local representative, you could be up and running with something like PRWeb.

Our Recommendation
There are other press release services that we’d recommend before going with Business Wire. If this is the first release you’ve ever sent, we would go with eReleases, as they will hold your hand through the process more than the others, and can even write the release for you if you want them to. If this is not your first release, and you want to get the most reach for your dollar, then we’d go with PRWeb, as they have the most extensive network, and the best tracking to see how far your message is going.

What do you think? Does Business Wire work or not?