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PR, Press Releases and Promotion!

by Mike Banks Valentine

Effectiveness of press releases can be entirely dependent on
whether or not there are any major national scandals brewing
before that news release is sent. I don't know if there will
be any major earthquakes, tornadoes or presidential sex
scandals this week, but I'm very excited that television's
60 Minutes news magazine covered online education tonight!

This week WebSite101.com and OnlineWorkshops.com officially
announced our partnership to the press via an electronic
press release distributed online via multiple sources and
sent by email to specific local media sources. I can't yet
say what results that announcement will have as it just
went to the inbox of hundreds of journalists across the
country.

What the media pays attention to is often determined by what
the media pays attention to. Every news outlet looks at what
the competition is running on the front page or what tops the
hourly news reports. If 60 Minutes is paying attention to
online education, then WebSite101 has got great chance of
being a major news story tomorrow. If my local paper, the
Santa Rosa Press Democrat gets interested, their parent
publication, the New York Times may pick up the story too!

All we can do now is to wait and see if the San Jose Mercury
News or the San Francisco Chronicle notice a small business
internet tutorial teaming up with a distance education portal.
The 60 Minutes piece was specifically discussing major online
distance education initiatives launched by Duke University
and the well known internet education site, University of
Phoenix. Talk was centered around whether it was an effective
and useful way to learn. I already believe that it is.

Now we'll see whether the media agrees with that perspective.
And as long as George W. Bush is faithful to his loving wife,
and makes no malaprops during the performance of his duties
tomorrow, maybe the Philadelphia Enquirer will take notice
of a quiet little web site that is seeking to change the face
of ebusiness by training a few thousand independent entrepre-
neurs in ecommerce for the little guy.

I'm excited and hopeful of the potential for distance
education and the small part WebSite101 can play in helping
small business gain an edge in ecommerce.

Our first press release was used by Entrepreneur Magazine,
the Sacramento Bee and Oracle Magazine and we can only hope
for more of that kind of attention will follow with the
latest announcement. Ted Koppel, what do you think? David
Letterman, do you care to comment? Howard Stern, would ya
like to weigh in on this one?

Take a look at our press release by visiting it online at:

http://website101.com/press.html

And keep your fingers crossed for us that no movie stars get
arrested for soliciting prostitution or some such nonsense.
Maybe Martha Stewart'll say something nice about WebSite101.
Oprah, would you like to add my ebook to your recommended
reading list?

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