David Unleashed

I just sat in on the Keynote here at SES (Search Engine Strategies) New York where Barry Diller talked about the retirement of the Butler at Ask.com and the branding change from Ask Jeeves to simply Ask. 

I have got to say, this guy is likable and seems like a straight shooter.  Probably one of the things I appreciated most was his outlook on his industry because it parallels what I have always felt about PRWeb’s role in the newswire space.  Basically he does not have any illusions of becoming the next Google. Instead he is focused on creating differentiators that make his company something other than Google. 

We too basically made the decision early on that we did not want to become competitors to the majors in our industry. Why would we want to become the next PR Newswire or Business Wire (the two old-timers in the press release newswire space) when we clearly have strategic advantages in our platform and distribution mode.  We made the conscious decision to become something different and the market has responded favorably.   Our focus has allowed us to enhance what makes us different and as a result we are now a layer on top of traditional wire services for many companies.  We have users that use PR Newswire and Business Wire but add PRWeb to the mix as an enhancement to these two wire services.  We let PR Newswire and Business Wire do their thing and then handle the online visibility for their clients.  Our decision was to create an environment where the choice was not a question of company A or company B but rather A + B.

Why did I just go into all of this?  First, I am excited about what we have been able to do with PRWeb.  Secondly, it illustrates what may be a brilliant move by Barry Diller– create enough market differentiation and users will use the Ask platform as a new  search layer on top of the existing options.  (After seeing the debut of the new service I will say that it is a little AJAXY and very Sexy.)  It worked for PRWeb and I have a sense that Barry will be able to make it work for Ask.

We love Unitus.  Their recent press release underscores their great leadership in Microfinance.  We actively support the efforts of Unitus and have partnered with them to help alleviate world poverty.  You can do something to help.  1) A portion of your press release distribution fees are contributed to Unitus on a monthly basis.  2) You can contribute directly.  3)  Do both.  Actually that is not a bad idea.

Unitus is a global microfinance accelerator that acts as a social venture capital investor for the microfinance industry. Unitus identifies the highest-potential microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries and helps accelerate their growth through capital investments and capacity-building consulting, thus empowering them to help exponentially more poor people worldwide. In doing so, Unitus aims to demonstrate that MFIs can be run as profitable, large-scale, poverty-focused businesses with links to local capital markets.

Why do I favor Unitus so much?  It’s simple.  Microfinance helps people help themselves.  And it  works.  (I have seen this first hand on a recent trip to India.)  It seems to be one of the few ways to help people while bolstering their self-worth while offering assistance.  The value of Microfinace reaches far beyond financial assistance.  It is changing the lives of millions worldwide.

Congratulations to David Scott for the success of his e-Book, The New Rules of PR.  I have read this e-Book and found it a great on many levels.  First, it is an easy read.  It is probably the best explanation to date of how the press release has been transformed by the Internet.  (Now, you all know that PRWeb has led the charge here so I probably do not need to dwell on this too much.)  Secondly, it is great to know that we are not standing out here by ourselves.  David Scott understands what we are doing here at PRWeb.  He outlines the power of the direct-to-consumer press release distribution model that we pioneered here at PRWeb.

David, thanks for your contribution to our space. 

Users logging into their accounts this morning will notice that most of the features that were available directly from their management console page such as the ability to upload news images and files are now available by clicking the Advanced Features button. 

This change was made because of the rapid release of new features.  Over the next several days we will  expand the number of features available to a point that we can not accommodate all the features from the management console page.

When I take a gander at the current scope of technologies offered by PRWeb, it makes you ponder the possibilities: Could Web2.0 be both a collection of INTERNAL technologies all connected together in an always-on sort of way? Or does it just address extensible web frameworks that speak to each other? (I know I’m speaking a bit geek here, but listen in close and you might find some gold…;-)
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