So we’ve been tackling, this week, the issue of how to get free advertising by exploiting the news media.  And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing, too–we’ve been planning an event, we’ve been writing the press releases, but once we’ve got that killer press release written, how do we send it out?  More specifically, where do we send it TO?

Now, the really ambitious among us will say “why, to as many places as possible!” though that may not be the best strategy.  What you’re really going to need here is a list.

There are two ways to go about doing this–one, if you’ve got a budget, you can contact a PR firm that has a background in this sort of thing, and already has a list of ‘trusted contacts” that they use to send their stuff to with a reasonable chance of getting noticed.  This is great if you’ve got a budget, but if you’ve got more time than money, make your own list.  If you’re worried about spamming laws, Wikipedia actually has a good starter summary (starter summary only, do your own research) of spam laws around the world.

So now that you’ve got a good starting off point for getting your press releases out and getting that free advertising, tomorrow we’ll take a quick look at how to get the most out of that mass email you’re plotting.

A strange distinction, I know, but it’s one worth thinking about.  If you’ve been considering adding onto your small business, or have been considering a way to expand your blog outward, maybe you should look into becoming a corporate partner.

Now, I’m not suggesting selling out. But what I AM proposing is that a blog can be an excellent tool for the rapid dissemination of information across a wide space to a very, VERY focused audience.  This is exactly the same principle that your advertising works on, except this time, you’re not going to a middleman like Google or Project Wonderful or something similar.

What I’m suggesting is that, if you own a small business (or conversely, know someone who does) consider using your blog as a way to promote that small business.  Not shilling, of course, no one would suggest such a thing.  But rather, disseminating ideas through it.  New products.  Upcoming events.  Previews of coming attractions, as it were.  You can scarcely go wrong with that sort of thing–people want to know what’s around the corner and you can tell them things they didn’t otherwise know.

And of course, if you do it for other people, you can always accept payment for services rendered.  Access to a readership is a very important item, after all.  Just another something to consider in your quest for blogging fame and fortune!

So it’s all over the blogosphere now that Google’s PR update has just already been underway. There have been a lot of sites and blogs with increased PR’s, and even some that had it demoted got it back. But I still don’t see any changes here on Slyvisions dot Com. So Google, what do you want me to do?

It seems like I will never get my PR 3 (or higher) back. I really do not want to waste my time talking about this since it’s useless, but the fact that Google hasn’t given me my PR is total BS. I have already stopped selling text links and removed all my “review Slyvisions for a backlink” posts, but what else am I missing? There are hundreds of other bloggers out there that are doing things that should get them penalized, but they’re not!

I hope Matt Cutts can tell me exactly what’s going on here. Emailing Google about a reconsideration from the Webmaster Tools did not seem to work. All I really want is an answer, and I hope to get one soon.