UPDATE (July 31, 2013): Google just made a move on press releases. Read about it here.
Pay attention–there is a bigger lesson to be learned here than just about press release abuse. See if you can spot it 🙂 If you don't spot it by the end of this post, I'll tell you what it is. But you have to read through the entire post, okay?
Promise?
The Press Release Backstory
I get a lot of email from internet marketers. Some emails I get because I truly enjoy and learn from the IMers behind the emails; others I get because I want to know what this week's gimmick is.
Well, this week (and it seems like this has gone on for a long, long time), the “crap of the week” is press releases–specifically press release submission software or services. The last one I got said something to the effect of, “Submit your crappy ass press release to 6,000 PR sites.”
Why the HELL would I want to do that?
I know–I said about 4 years ago that you should write press releases and submit them to the top PR sites as a traffic-building exercise. And just this year, in January, I implored you to write and distribute press releases to score direct traffic. That is still great advice, if I do say so myself.
However, the press release hyperbole and abuse has got to stop. Every internet marketer has jumped on the PR bandwagon, urging people to write junky press releases, spin them, and mass submit them to 2nd- and 3rd-rate press release distribution sites.
Let me be really super crystal clear about this: This strategy works.
For now.
But I look at these internet marketing trends as nothing more than fancied-up gimmicks that are designed to make WSO sellers richer while making you a little lighter in the wallet.
And that's the GOOD NEWS. The bad news is that your website is going to suffer–and soon.
Look, the IM world is full of speculators–guys and gals who want to “score it big” and make $10,000 per month. There is no shortage of opportunists in this industry. But like in the financial markets, if you don't know what you're doing, you're going to get slaughtered. As more and more people feed the bubble by buying these heaps of donkey dung, the bubble gets closer and closer to bursting. One day, the bubble pops and you're left all wet and messy.
Except it's worse that that. Your website will be left with a crap-ton of poor-quality backlinks. You will lose your rankings. You may even have to “disavow” those links. And you'll be out some dough that you could have spent elsewhere (hey, try buying some courses that actually teach you how to market)…
So let's agree that the press release parade is nearly over. Remember, it never looks like it's over until it's over and then it's too late.
The bigger picture here is that you need to be aware of what “drug” the influential internet marketers are pushing this week. There are obvious trends. It's almost as if they all get together and decide that this week they'll push the internet marketing equivalent of crack, while next week they'll push crank.
You have to be diligent, do your homework, and realize that these deals you're getting offered are just ways to part you and your money while enriching your IM brethren.
Of course, you could join the “if I can't beat 'em I'll join 'em crowd.” But then again, that makes you turd-worthy, too.
Better still–if YOU are an internet marketer who wants to earn a real income, do this: Buck the trend. Don't do what everybody else is doing. Go against the grain.
In short, be different. Just make sure it's in a good way! Set your own trends and watch others follow you.