Before you start

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Important concepts

Membership Type

When you sign up for a Newsmaker account you can choose the level of membership that works best for you. We have three different membership plans – Plus, Pro and Premium. Here’s a breakdown of what these plans offer:

Plus – Allows for next-day press release distribution, 1 User Account, and up to 50 Personal Contacts

Pro – Allows for distribution at the end of the business day, 3 User Accounts, and up to 100 Personal Contacts

Premium – Allows immediate press release distribution, 5 User Accounts, and up to 250 Personal Contacts

Reach

Newsmaker subscriptions allow unlimited press release distribution to media in the area(s) that matter to you. We call this geographical area “reach”. Any press release sent to the media within your reach is completely free. If you need to reach media outside of this area, you will need to purchase a circuit list.

Like membership, reach is determined when you first sign up but it can be altered at any time by the administrator of your organization’s account.

For more about your account administrator, click here.

Dashboard

What information can I find about my recently submitted releases?

This section keeps you up to date on the status of your press release. Statuses include “out for delivery,” “scheduled,” or “editorial hold.”

Not long after your press release is sent out it will move to the “Recently Sent Releases” section of your dashboard. Here you’ll see:

The time it went over the wire
Your release’s rank on the readMedia Newswire on the day it was issued
The headline of your release (if you click on the headline, you’ll view the release on the readMedia Newswire)
The number of recipients your release was sent to. Clicking on the “X recipients” link, will let you view the Delivery Report.

For more about delivery reports and web stats, click here.

What’s the information I’m seeing under “Since Your Last Login”?

That shows you the changes in our proprietary media database since you last logged in. We’re constantly updating that database, and you can see that happening every time you visit your dashboard.

What is the “Publicize Your News” box on the right side of my dashboard?

This section points you to online tools for syndicating your press releases. Here you’ll find a link to your organization’s homepage on the readMedia Newswire and your RSS feed. You’ll also see a sample news widget containing all of your recent press releases. Click on the “Display Code” link to view html code that can be copied and pasted into your website. This code will embed a widget on your site that will display your recently sent press releases.

General Press Release Questions

What is a saved press release?

You can write a press release and save it to send later (this is different than writing and issuing a release that is scheduled for distribution at a later date). There are a few reasons to write and save a release for later:

You might be waiting for final approval of a press release or a few pieces of information to include in a release, but have all of the other information ready. If so, you could write the release now and save it in your account until you have those final bits of data, or final approval.
You might have a type of release that goes out regularly, but with small changes (dates, meeting times, or numbers). Rather than starting from scratch every time you send it, you could save and use it as a “template” for those regular releases.
You may be collaborating with a colleague. Saving a press release allows multiple users to edit/change the same document before sending it.

What does it mean to “Copy” a press release?

Copying a press release copies all of the text (headline, sub-headline, and body text) attributes (letterhead, logo) and account information (“News from” and dateline) and creates a duplicate version of the press release.

Where can I find my Delivery Report / Web Stats?

Delivery reports can be accessed from your dashboard, or on the “Press Releases” tab under “Sent Releases” or “Web Stats”.

What information is in my Web Stats?

The top section of a delivery report contains information about your press release’s online performance. Here you’ll find social media sharing options and a summary of the traffic your release generated. These Web stats include your release’s rank on our Newswire and details about your referrers – letting you know how your readers found your news story online.

What information is in my Delivery Report?

The bottom section of your delivery report will contain details about the media recipients your release was sent to. You can use this list to audit and follow up on your press release distribution. It shows:

The name and title of each recipient;
The name of the recipient organization;
Their phone number;
The method by which they received the release (e-mail or fax); and
The time the release was transmitted to that person.

You can sort the transmission report by any of these fields by clicking on the title of the column.

When will my web stats become available?

Web Stats will generally be available 24 hours after a release is distributed.

What is my rank and how can I improve it?

The rank of your press release is determined by the amount of times it was viewed online on the day it was issued. The rank is displayed alongside your recently issued press releases on your dashboard. If your press release was in the top 10 on that day, a flame icon will be displayed next to the rank.

You have the power to increase your rank by using social media. Posting your press release to social media sites puts your news in front of new audiences and gets more exposure for your organization. You should use these tools every time you send a press release. After your press release is sent out, be sure to visit your delivery report or the online version of your press release to use these tools.

What are referrers?

You'll see the top 10 referrers for your press release on the delivery report page. Referrers are anything online that drives visits and visitors to your news release. They can be social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Yahoo, Bing and Google, or direct traffic from links.

How do I get my letterhead and logo into Newsmaker?

Under the “My Account” tab, simply go to the “My Letterhead” or “My Logo” page (the menu is on the right) and upload the files. You may upload as many letterhead and logo images as you like, at which point they’ll be available for you to choose when you send a release.

For letterhead, the images must be in JPG or PNG format, no more than 600 pixels wide and 5 MB or less in size.

For logos, the images must be in JPG, GIF or PNG format and 1 MB or less in size.

Can I share my news on Facebook and Twitter?

The easiest way to get your news on Twitter or Facebook is to tweet and post your news to Facebook every time you issue a press release. Your press release will appear on our online newsire. Each press release has links to popular Social Media sites under the "Share this News" section.

Just click on the icon of the Social Media site you want to post your news to and follow the directions. It's that easy. Of course you'll need an account on each of the social media sites.

You can also have all of your press releases automatically posted to your Twitter account or Facebook Page. To do so you'll need to sign up for a service called TwitterFeed -- it's simple and easy to use. Once you've signed up for TwitterFeed you simply give it the URL of your Newsmaker RSS feed and your login information for Facebook and Twitter and all of your press releases will be automatically posted to both Twitter and Facebook! Need any help setting this up? Just email us and we can help you get started.