Press Release Writing And Distribution

Writing and distributing press releases is a key part of my SEO strategy. Been doing them for more than 5 years now, for lots of different sites.

Was using PRWeb until 2009. I liked them because I could easily add links to my releases (which one can still do, of course), and my releases used to rank well in the search engines. For some reason -- and completely out of the blue -- my releases stopped ranking well in both Google and Yahoo!, so I decided to try other distribution sites.

Have been using MarketWire since mid-2009 and they've been OK. With MarketWire, however, I couldn't help but think I could do better. So I've been on the hunt for more value.

Been helping my friend Sharay Hayes revamp his GetPunished.com site recently. Sharay is an entrepreneur and entertainer; when he's preforming, he's known as The Punisher. We're going to do a press release for his site soon, and I've decided to give eReleases a try.

eReleases offers a great deal of value, much more than it's main competitors. Here's a table that compares what you get with eReleases vs. PRWeb:

I especially like the included national distribution, and the fact that eReleases will get a release noticed by radio stations and TV shows.

Of course, I will update this post when i have more to share about my experience with eReleases. Stay tuned!

If you want to give eReleases a spin now, click the banner below (shameless affiliate link!):

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GoDaddy Discount Codes

The latest domain name discount codes, from my favorite registrar -- www.GoDaddy.com:

gdz372pla - 31% off your domain name purchase, with no minimum. Expires March 31, 2011. GoDaddy describes this particular coupon code as their "best-ever offer."

WALLET412 – 35% off new .COM registrations and renewals. Unknown expiration date.

DOWNFORCE - lowers the cost of just about any domain name at GoDaddy. Unknown expiration date.

Enjoy! Visit www.GoDaddy.com to get new domain names or renew the names you have there. This blog post will be updated frequently.

$7.49 .Com domains from GoDaddy.com!

GoDaddy Coupon Code: 20% Off $40 or More

A brand new coupon code from the good folks at www.GoDaddy.com just hit my inbox. It's gda824pl, which can get you 20% off your order of $40 or more.

If you plan on using coupon code gda824pl, don't procrastinate. This code is set to expire on August 15, 2010. Enjoy!

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My Latest Dropped Domain Names

I had such lofty plans for so many domains in my once impressive portfolio. But I've been forced to cut back in many ways, including dropping lots of domain names. Here's a list of some names I've dropped recently, or are about to drop, from www.GoDaddy.com:

INTERNETINDUSTRY.INFO
EBAYAUCTION.TV
VERTICAL.WS
ALIVE.WS
DOWNLOADCENTER.US
BOTANICALESSENTIAL.COM
PROFITPURITY.COM
BRIDEUSA.NET
DEBTUSA.NET
DRUGSUSA.NET
SUPPORTUSA.NET
TAXESUSA.NET
CHATLIVE.WS
MAXFIORENTINO.COM
SUPPORTUSA.NET
GAYUSA.US

Enjoy!

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Wanted to Get Out, But The Recession Kept Me In

When I left my reasonably comfortable job I had @ a big NYC law firm, I was willing to do anything to make it on my own. I realized the potential of the Internet and decided that I was going to make a million dollars online, or die tryin'.

So, yeah: I got into porn. Nothing illegal or sick, just a few adult entertainment sites that make money by offering downloadable video clips. Niche sites that served me quite for about a decade.

For the first 4 years these sites made good money. Income from these sites began to slip after 2004, due to a massive increase in competition. Big corporations with deep pockets started to get into porn in a big way. However, I was still making enough to justify keeping the sites up and updated. When you have to support a family, every penny counts.

After the banking crisis and subsequent Great Recession, income from these sites continued to plummet, but the sites still made enough to pay for themselves and to cover a few bills.

Just before the recession, I was planning on either selling these sites or shutting them down. Why? Because I had my first child in 2003, and, as a new dad, I didn't want to be in the adult game anymore.

I see porn as entertainment, and just like alcohol or gambling, too much can be destructive. However, just because some people are prone to excess, doesn't mean that everyone should be denied access to this type of fun. Those who would like to see online porn banned forever should remember how successful prohibition was. Yep.

My plan was to first stop accepting new signups by simply removing the signup pages from my sites. Then, after all current memberships expired, I was going to shut them down.

But now it's 2010, and I'm still a porn webmaster.

I don't update any of my adult sites anymore, and I won't, ever. They will simply live on, in limbo, until I can afford to get rid of them for good. I'm hoping that'll be soon.

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KillerStartups.com: A Killer Startup!

Just discovered www.KillerStartups.com, a site that features short reviews of some of the most innovative and successful startups businesses on the Internet. You can vote for my Prime Rate website here.

The site reviews at least 15 Internet startups every business day; visitors get to give sites they like a thumbs up by voting.

Interested in making money online? Visit www.KillerStartups.com daily and see how other great ideas are flourishing. Yup. Enjoy!

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Highly Recommend: The Latest Yahoo! Toolbar

The latest version on the Yahoo! Toolbar is a web browsing tool that I highly recommend. Simple to install, easy to configure and has a highly effective anti-spyware feature.

Recently, my main workstation PC had been getting sluggish. Despite going through my usual list of fixes (defrag, disk scan, virus scan, etc.) my computer was still hesitating in the most annoying way. I was very seriously considering doing a complete wipe of my hard drive then reinstalling my operating system and programs, but, as you can imagine, that is a HUGE pain and would gobble up a massive slice of my precious time.

So imagine my happiness when I found that the Yahoo! anti-spyware tool, which is free with the latest version of the Yahoo! Toolbar, was able to quickly and easily remove all sypware code from my computer, which in turn restored my computer to peak performance. My main workstation is now running as fast as it did when I purchased it in 2008. Yahoo!

To download the latest Yahoo! Toolbar, click on the banner below. I'm using it with Mozilla Firefox version 3.6 for Windows XP.

FYI: My workstation is an Acer computer, with an AMD Athalon 64 X2 dual core processor 4400+ running at 2.29 Gigahertz. I have 1.75 GB of RAM installed.

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Good Advice On Negotiating from The Founder of GoDaddy

Bob Parsons, the founder of the discount domain name megasite www.GoDaddy.com is a real character. Marine, war veteran, entrepreneur and self-taught software engineer, Mr. Parsons is the kind of guy most men would like to have beer with. He made $64 million buy selling his software company to Intuit back in 1994, then went on to create the world's most recognized domain name registrar.

Some might find some of his advertising campaigns cheesy, but I totally get it. He's not trying to use silly gimmicks to distract people from bad advice or bad deals. He's actually providing a great service at a great price, and sharing useful advice, anecdotes and wisdom on the side, as a way to keep his audience smiling and coming back for more. The way I see it: There's nothing wrong with adding fun to serious content.

In his latest video blog entry about negotiating, Parsons once again offers great advice, and adds lots of fun too. He's got all kind of silly nonsense going on in the clip, but all that is just keep you smiling while he shares sage advice with viewers. I think he's a brilliant mix of P.T. Barnum and Bill Gates. Check out his latest video blog (episode #31) about negotiating here. Enjoy.

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Dropping Some Domain Names

My dream of being the king of Wi-Fi domain names is pretty much over, so I'm dropping a bunch of Wi-Fi-related names. These names will drop within a few days, so if you're interested in any of them, let me know as soon as possible (use this contact form to send me an message.) Once these drop, GoDaddy will snatch them up, and GoDaddy will ask for a much higher price for each than I'm asking:

METROPOLITANWI-FI.COM
MUNICIPALWI-FI.COM
VOWI-FI.INFO
NYWI-FI.COM
USAWI-FI.COM
USWI-FI.COM
NYCWI-FI.COM
CITYWI-FI.COM
LAWI-FI.COM
WI-FIUK.COM
WI-FINYC.COM
WI-FIUSA.COM
WI-FIEU.COM
WI-FISAFETY.COM
WI-FICOMMUNITY.COM
WI-FIMOTELS.COM
WI-FIMOTEL.COM
HOTELWI-FI.COM
WI-FIHOTEL.COM
MOTELWI-FI.COM
INTERNETWI-FI.COM

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Your Federal Dollars Hard at Work: FTC Going After Bloggers

Yep, another case of your hard-earned tax dollars being put to good use.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) just announced that the agency is going to fine bloggers up to $11,000 if a blogger posts a review, endorsement, etc. without disclosing the fact that he/she was compensated to do so. The FTC hasn't updated this policy since 1980 (yep, Olivia Newton John was singing Magic on the radio.) but, for some reason, FTC decision makers decided that now's a great time to step up the policing of bloggers.

So, we have countless bloggers trying earn a little extra money by doing paid reviews, and the FTC wants to clamp down now, during the worse recession since the Great Depression? I really don't have a problem with them updating their policy, but to get fined up to $11,000 is simply draconian. How much does the FTC think bloggers get paid to write reviews anyway?

I don't do paid reviews, but since this recession has hurt my income considerably, I was contemplating jumping into the review game (I have 16 blogs and counting.) Not sure now. I don't mind starting a post with, "I was asked to review XYZ Widgets..." but it seems that the FTC wants me to post something like "Disclaimer: I was paid $56.75 to review this product..." which is just too cheesy.

I once accepted $20 to let someone post an informative article in this blog. The author was simply interested in getting quality links from quality sites. It was a well written article, so I didn't mind. I didn't contribute anything to the piece. Could I get in trouble for that? Hmmm....

For more on this story, click here.

To read the official FTC press release, click here.

Of course, your comments are welcome.

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