Recently I had the opportunity to talk to David McInnis, founder of press release distribution service, PRWeb, where he announced some very interesting new services.

For about 5 years, PRWeb has focused on becoming the leading direct to consumer press release distribution model on the web. The PRWeb services sends out approximately 1000 press releases per day. As part of their ongoing effort to bring more functionality to the service, a new Web 2.0 content manager has been hired and several new services have been implemented.

301url.com launched Dec 2005. Different than other url shortening services because it permanently redirects. Helps to avoid breaking urls. Good for bookmarking by making easy to recall urls. Also free.

PRWebPhotowire.com launched Jan 2006. Allows you to upload a high resolution image for free. Very useful for online media kits that print media use to reference company executives or products for articles. Similar to APphotowire which charges $900. Press release data can also be embedded into the image file, which can be read by image search engines, and media data bases. May also be picked up by some search engine spiders. Best part, it's free. See the Press release on PRWeb Photowire.

RSSPad.com - a way to create RSS feeds without a blog. Useful when you don't want to create a blog, but do want to offer the ability for users to subscribe to a url for updates.

Trackbacks enabled with press releases. Track backs are enabled by default, but can be changed to moderate all track backs or turned off. Track backs create an incentive for blogs to link to a press release because if they do, it creates return link. PRWeb has enabled anti-spam track back controls and the functionality is enabled for the PRWeb Photowire service as well.

McInnis commented that such a tool enables more conversation within the web community and is in line with PRWeb’s position as a Web 2.0 press release distribution company.

PRWebPodcast.com - (launched this week) A new podcasting platform at PRWeb launched on Monday. $200 press releases will now qualify for a free PRWeb podcast. The podcast can be requested when the press release is ordered through the advanced tools within a PRWeb.com account. A call is scheduled and a PRWeb interviewer will do a 5-7 min discussion on the topic of the press release. Suggested questions can also be provided.

After the recording, PRWeb will produce it into a professional sounding podcast. Clients can use their own interviewer as well and record on the PRWeb platform. For press releases that meet the minimum $200 requirement and that take advantage of the podcast recording, there will be a RSS feed and a podcast feed link included with the release.

Also in support of podcasts, PRWeb has been running a “February is PRWeb Podcast Month” promotion where they will pick up to 5 releases per day that announce a podcast and upgrade them to the $200 level for free.

While the PRWeb is well known and used, many companies do not take advantage of the variety of services available. For example, each press release, regardless of contribution level offers a RSS feed. Web sites that do not yet have a blog that archives their press releases would do well to add the PRWeb press release RSS feed to their web sites in the form of an Auto Discovery tag. That way, RSS enabled browsers like Firefox and Safari for Macs can detect the feed. It also allows the site to be submitted to RSS feed directories and search engines, even though the site does not have a blog.

With the addition of the RSS Pad, 301 redirect, track back support and podcast service, PRWeb now gives online marketers an entirely new set of tools for online promotion.

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