We hope this is helpful! But if it's not, you can always call us at 800.552.2194. We love to talk to our clients! Before you start
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bad stuff. Important conceptsMembership TypeWhen 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:
ReachNewsmaker 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 readMedia circuit list. Like membership, reach is determined when you first sign up with readMedia 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 is my dashboard?Your dashboard is your starting page. It contains important information about your most recent activities. You’ll find a section for “Recently submitted releases” and “Recently sent releases.” 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.” What does it mean when a release is pending approval?All of the press releases sent through Newsmaker go through an editorial process that routes them to the appropriate editors and reporters and optimizes them for search engine placement. readMedia’s trained editors will review your releases before they go out to the media. The approval process generally takes a few minutes. If we spot any errors we’ll notify you immediately. What information can I find out about my recently sent releases?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:
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. Sending Press ReleasesHow do I issue a press release?From the dashboard, simply click the orange “Send a Release” button, or if you’re on the “Press Releases” tab just click the “New Press Release” link on the upper right of the page. What is a saved press release?A saved press release is a press release that you have previously written and saved in your account. They can be accessed on the “Press Releases” tab. For more on saved press releases, click here. What is the media advisory template?You can choose the Media Advisory template as an alternative to the standard press release template when sending your news. This standardized template makes it easy to provide the necessary information that all media advisories should have, in a user-friendly format for the media. What are letterheads and logos?Letterheads are banner images that appear at the top of your press releases that are delivered by fax and at the top of your printer-friendly releases on-line. Logos are small one-inch squares that appear on the readMedia Newswire beside your release summaries. They help enhance your brand and identity on the Web, and create clickable links to an archive of your news on the readMedia Newswire. For more about logos and letterheads, click here. Why is headline a required field?The headline of your press release is also the email subject line when it is emailed to media recipients and contacts. It is also used in the web address for the release when it is posted on the readMedia newswire. This helps in search engine optimization and social media sharing. Please note: readMedia requires detailed press release headlines. Simple headlines like “Media Advisory” and “Consumer Alert” are not descriptive and will not help your online visibility. Why is “News From” a required field?This field, combined with your website’s URL in the box below it, creates a “live link” to your organization's web site directly from your press release. This allows readers to easily navigate to your web site, and acts as a Search Engine Optimization tool. How do I schedule a press release to be sent out at a future date?Here you have the option to schedule your press release for future delivery by selecting a date and time using the dropdown boxes in the dateline section. Once you send your release it will be queued and delivered on the date and time you specified. NOTE: Unless your membership plan includes expedited delivery you cannot schedule an immediate press release for free. I don’t want to wait. How do I schedule my press release to go out immediately?On the first step of drafting your release you have the option to expedite your release and have it distributed immediately for $25.00 by selecting the option in the dateline section. Your release will be sent as soon as possible once it is reviewed by a readMedia editor. You can also upgrade your membership plan to include expedited delivery. Premium members get expedited delivery for free. Do I have to type my press release into the “body” section?Nope. You can copy and paste from any application. What type of attachments can I include?You can (and should) attach any supporting documents, media, reports, photos etc. that will help reporters, editors and other recipients pursue the story you’re telling in your press release. These attachments must be no larger that 5 MB in size. You can attach Word and Excel files, pictures, charts, PDF’s, and even audio or video files. You may not attach or upload executable files. How are attachments sent to recipients?We store all attachments on our server network and insert a link to the file in your press release so that the recipients can download the file. Attaching files directly to e-mails generally triggers corporate spam filters. What happens when I save a release for later?Saving a release for later will move it to your “Saved Press Releases” section under the “Press Releases” tab. From there it can be edited, copied, deleted or sent. For more on saved press releases, click here. What are “My Favorite Lists”, "My Saved Lists, "Suggested Lists, and “Other readMedia Lists”?You can send your press releases to as many distribution lists as needed. On the list selection screen, these lists are listed in order of importance.
For more about Distribution lists, click here. What is a Public Release versus a Private Release?A Public Release is the kind of press release most people want – it’s distributed to your media list and then a variety of partner web sites, news aggregators, search engines, and information databases. This is the option to choose if you want publicity! It’s selected by default. A Private Release is sent ONLY to the recipients on your media list – it is not posted on the Internet, not included in RSS feeds, and not sent to any partner media. This option is simply a way to prevent your transmission from being hosted on the Internet. What does “E-mail BCC” do? If you need your boss or a colleague to get a copy of the press release when it’s sent, enter their e-mail addresses (separated by commas) here, and we’ll “blind copy” the release to them. You can BCC up to three people per release. What kind of special instructions would I send to the editor?Pretty much anything. If you want to make sure your release goes to business editors or sports editors (for example), you can indicate that in the “special instructions” section when you issue a press release, and we’ll make sure that happens. This is a way for you to give a “heads up” to our editors when they process your release. What does a readMedia editor do, anyway?Our editors make sure that every press release we send is in the best position to be picked up by the media and found on the Internet. We apply sets of “topic and type” rules that improve the routing of the press release at large media organizations; proof the release for errors; conduct Search Engine Optimization (SEO) procedures; and we’re always on call to help you figure out the best way to use our services. How much will my press release cost me?The cost of your release depends on the type of membership plan you have signed up for. Most users sign up for unlimited press release distribution to media outlets within their reach. Others elect to pay every time they issue a press release. If you incur any charges while sending a press release you’ll be notified on the “Review & Send” page. Here you can also add any coupons you may have. If I click “Send Release” and realize I need to change it, what do I do?Call us immediately! Your release will go over the wire within minutes but if you call right away we should be able to stop it. Alternatively, if you need to make a change to one of your archived press releases on the readMedia Newswire, you can use the "Web Edit" link under your "Recently Sent Releases" on your Dashboard. What is “Editorial Hold”?If your release is on editorial hold, it means that there’s either a problem with the release or one of our editors has a question about your instructions. As soon as a release goes on editorial hold an editor will contact you by phone or email. If that hasn’t happened yet, please call us to fix the issue and get your release over the wire. General Press Release QuestionsWhat 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:
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 Delivery Reports / 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 the readMedia Newswire and details about your referrers – letting you know how your readers found your news story online. Below this, you’ll find 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:
You can sort the transmission report by any of these fields by clicking on the title of the column. How do I get my letterhead and logo into Newsmaker?Under the “Press Releases” 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. My ContactsWhy would I put my contacts into Newsmaker instead of using my own e-mail program?Using Newsmaker to send press releases from your contacts means:
How do I get contacts into Newsmaker?You can either input each contact manually or import them from a “CSV” file or Microsoft Outlook export. Help on exporting contacts from Microsoft Outlook can be found on this page. If you are using a different program to generate the CSV file, the following fields (columns) are recognized: Job Title, Company, First Name, Last Name, Notes, E-mail Address, Home Street, Home Street 2, Home Street 3, Home City, Home State, Home Postal Code, Home Country, Home Phone, Home Fax, Business Street, Business Street 2, Business Street 3, Business City, Business State, Business Postal Code, Business Country, Business Phone, Business Fax. All of these columns must be present in the CSV file, and their case matters. Order of columns does not matter. Note: “First Name”, “Last Name”, and “E-mail Address” columns must have a value or the file will not be imported properly. Feel free to download this template CSV file and put your own data in it if you’re not exporting from Outlook. Why don't I see the option to add more contacts?
Members are allowed to store varying amounts of contacts depending upon their membership plan. In order to store more contacts, you’ll need to upgrade your membership plan. These contacts are private! Is anyone else going to be able to use them, or even see them?Absolutely not. We will never share your contacts with anyone else. The only people who can see your contacts are people who log in under your organization’s account. Distribution ListsHow many distribution lists can I build?You can build an unlimited number of lists. The media prefers news that is relevant to them, so use the ability to build lots of highly-targeted lists to your advantage! What are “My Saved Lists”?You can build as many custom lists as you like using the “Build a New List” tool, and then save them to use when distributing press releases. Choose names that do a good job describing your list so it’s easy to figure out which one to use when you want it. What is “My First Media List”?readMedia automatically provides you with a master list of all of the media within your geographic reach when you sign up for a Plus, Pro, or Premium account. This list appears in your account as “My First Media List”. Why is one of my saved lists highlighted in red?These lists contain media contacts that are outside of your organization’s reach. They cannot be edited or copied. How do I make my own list of media to send press releases to?It’s easy once you get the hang of it. First select “Create new list”. You’ll then see the list builder. Each of the blue/green bars has text that says “Show”. These bars expand when you click on them to show you the options underneath the heading. For example, when you click “Show” on the “Narrow Your List by Geography” bar, it will expand to show you the geographic options available within your reach. You can select areas all the way down to the county level. Select the area(s) you want by putting a tick-mark into the box next to it. The “Your List So Far” section to the left will update immediately. What does “Add media interested only in local news” mean? Why does selecting this option increase the number of recipients?This option (under the “Narrow Your List by Media Type” header bar) lets you target smaller news publications that deal with highly localized news content that’s only of interest in their town or county. Selecting “Add media interested only in local news” will add recipients to your list who fit your other parameters but want highly local news. As with all list building, make sure that your news really does fit the parameter – our ability to reach an editor with your press release doesn’t make him or her more interested in it if it’s not relevant. What does “adding my own contacts” do?This puts contacts that you’ve stored in Newsmaker into the list you’re building. This allows you to use our advanced distribution capabilities to reach your personal or proprietary contacts in the same way you send your press releases. See more about this capability in the “Personal Contacts” section above. I just picked a topic and most of my list recipients disappeared! What happened?When you narrow your list by topic, you are telling our database to choose ONLY reporters, editors, and organizations that are interested in that topic ALONE. While the topic list that you see is extremely detailed, the number of reporters or editors in each category may be minimal. You should really only use this option when building trade lists or if you’re searching for specialty media. If you want to make sure your release goes to business editors or sports editors (for example) at a more general-purpose list, you can indicate that in the “special instructions” section when you issue a press release, and we’ll make sure that happens. What’s going on in that box on the left-hand side of the screen?That’s the “Your List So Far” box. It summarizes the list you’re building based on the parameters you’ve selected. It’s a way to keep track of what you’ve done so far and the size and composition of your list. Can I see the media contacts on the list I’m building?Just click on the “View/Edit” link in the “Your List So Far” box. It will take you to a table that shows you every recipient on your list, sorted by organization and person. You may “cross off” whole organizations or individual people from the list by putting a tick-mark in the box next to the organization’s or person’s name, and they’ll never appear on your list. Can I add individual reporters and editors to my list?Yes. In the “View/Edit” section, you’ll see an “Add to List” tab. Here you can add organizations and individuals from our media database to your list. Just type in the name you want and put a tick-mark next to the person or organization you want to add. Why are some people and media outlets highlighted in red?These media contacts fall outside of your organization’s reach. Media personnel outside your reach cannot be added to any of your distribution lists. To send a press release to these contacts you will want to either add that area to your oranization’s reach or select a standard readMedia lists when sending your press release. My AccountWhat is an Admin User Account?Every readMedia account has an admin user who can perform special tasks within the account. Your administrator can:
How can I tell who’s the administrator of my readMedia account?Click on the “My Account” tab and then on “User Accounts”. You’ll see a green checkmark next to the administrator of your account. What should I do if I forgot my password?If you cannot remember your password you’ll want to go to www.readmedia.com and click on “login” on the top right corner of your screen. Click on the “Forgot password?” link to retrieve your password. Can I change my own password?Yes. Simply go to the “My Account” tab and click “Change password”. You’ll then be prompted to enter a new password for your account. What if I can’t remember the email address associated with my account?Any of your co-workers with Newsmaker accounts will be able to see a list of every user with an account at your organization by clicking on the “My Account” tab and then “User Accounts”. Alternatively, you can contact us at 518-429-2800. |
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