Can an online press release drive traffic for small business ecommerce sites?  Some entrepreneurs think so – and have been gracious enough to share their stories with the PRWeb community.

Auction Cause, a cause-related marketing firm, is the latest example in this newly published case study Auctions for a Cause.  CEO Eric Gazin, a long time PRWeb customer says his firm works with corporations, celebs and non-profits to raise money for charity by auctioning off donated items on eBay.  For example, this recent press release announced an auction for a pair of tickets to a Taylor Swift concert and a chance to meet the singer. Proceeds went to MyWorkButterfly.com, a social networking site that provides free resources to help return-to-work moms and working moms.

Eric noted that he sees a consistent correlation between an increase in Web traffic and the first two days following the publication a PRWeb release and estimates those releases drive a 20 percent increase in bids. “We get traffic days, weeks, months or even years later,” he added.

In another example, on How To Succeed In Spite of the Economy, Vedante founder, and self-described “entrepreneur of necessity,” Barbra Kantor, noted she’s found success with PRWeb in promoting products that she sells on Amazon.com.

Amazon pays bloggers and shopping cart search engines for referral traffic and as a result, this audience pays close attention to her Vedante press releases. Moreover, online press releases she has published on PRWeb were instrumental in helping Vedante rank in the top 10 for Amazon’s outdoor gear category during last year’s Christmas and holiday season. What’s more, she later learned, Vedante actually hit #1 in the pet category.

Vendante sells fashionable reflective accessories for people and pets to wear at night, as explained in this story by Internet Retailer: How press releases help drive sales at online retailer Vedante.  It’s worth disclosing that in working with Barbara to write the PRWeb case study, I became so intrigued with the product, I personally purchased one on Amazon for a friend who owns a dog – a great gift.

It’s important to note that both Eric and Barbara also share their content with their social media networks in combination with the other communications efforts.  Because multimedia, such as photos and videos, can be integrated easily into PRWeb releases, PRWeb is often the launch pad for new initiatives for these ecommerce businesses.

“We use PRWeb to launch our social media efforts – the release is always the lead announcement about our cause marketing or charity auction event,” said Eric in the case study. “Then the Tweeting starts, the interaction with fans on Facebook, and of course we tap our own newsletters and Vocus PR system.”

Note: PRWeb is always interested in speaking to customers that are willing to share their success stories.  If you have a great story to share, please feel free to comment below, or hit us up on Twitter — @PRWeb.

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How small business is using social media

PRWeb drives traffic for ecommerce was posted at Blogging PRWeb. | http://www.bloggingprweb.com

The Web is brimming with social media case studies on Zappos, Dell and Coca-Cola.  While the viral appeal of social networking and power of word-of-mouth is alluring to the small business entrepreneur, they often struggle with capitalizing on those lessons in the real world for one specific reason:  achieving similar results is not always achievable.

Larger companies can gamble on a few big swings in the search for that home run hit.  But hitting home runs sometimes means striking out too.  Just ask Babe Ruth.  Small businesses on the other hand, are often short on staff, shorter on resources and have a smaller risk tolerance for gambling.  As such, aiming for a steady string of base hits is arguably a better approach.   To that end, here are a handful of case studies on real small biz owners that are engaging social media for real world results:

Insider Perks, an Avon, Ohio-based video travel review site founded by Brian Searl, a former CBS affiliate broadcast editor.  Brian’s three-person shop develops video reviews of travel destinations in a journalistic fashion and sells Web ads against that content for revenue.  He uses press releases distributed online to fuel search and social media campaigns.

“PRWeb has great distribution, provides a lot of flexibility for optimizing our content for search, and has a strong tie-in with social media,” said Brian Searl.  “But the online news release is just the start – and we tap our social networks to take it one step further.”

Many steps further might be a more accurate description – customers can engage Insider Perks travel reviews in virtually any platform or format they wish – from Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to podcasts, iTunes and mobile phones.  In addition, Brian has developed a social media platform called “You Report. You Decide” – an obvious play on words – where he provides an editorial summary of the top travel stories and the rest is “reported” by social media users on Twitter.

The Perfect Date, a Los Angeles-based events firm owned by event specialist Cheryl Lawson.  Lawson recently grew Facebook fans for a charity she represented by 177% by linking an event announcement to the fan page, drawing on her extensive social network to help promote her announcement and tapping celebrity videos on YouTube. In fact, Cheryl’s social network was partly responsible for one of her announcements hitting the top spot in a contest that earned her an extra $1,000 and free press releases for a year.  Moreover, her social network is still helping her since the page reads for her announcement recently crossed the 5,000 mark as Cheryl noted on Twitter.

Vedante, a Boulder, Colo.-based, e-commerce site has put Facebook front and center to invite customer interaction.  For example, Barbara Kantor’s customers often purchase a product and are so impressed that they’ll snap a photo and post it as a customer review on Amazon.com or upload it to the Vedante Facebook fan page.  When Barbara spots a good photo, she’ll often contact the customer for permission to use it in conjunction with future promotions, including her press releases.

In this WomenEntreprenuer.com post, Barbara offers the following advice to small business owners looking to tap social media:

When it comes to social networking, make your postings helpful, rather than self-promotional. Kantor says it’s not a strategy in her case: It’s her nature. After all, Kantor was inspired to start Vedante during an evening walk, when she witnessed a pedestrian being struck by a car while in a crosswalk. That’s why her press releases typically are informative. “I’m happy if we’re saving lives,” she says. Past press releases include 8 Halloween Tips for Fido from Vedante and 10 Tips on Nighttime Safety for Pedestrians, Cyclists and Motorists.

Got an interesting social media cases study for small business you’d like to share?  Please feel free to tell us about it in the comments section.

How small business is using social media was posted at Blogging PRWeb. | http://www.bloggingprweb.com

Cheryl Lawson (@Partyaficionado) knows how to craft news releases that sizzle – and today she’s won $1,000 and 12 free releases after competing in a PRWeb’s contest for a good cause.

On April Fool’s Day, we asked the PRWeb community to send us their best tip for creating news releases that attract eyeballs. We received about 30 tips and while we said we select five contestants to compete in the contest, we ended up choosing six.

The six participants were asked to publish a release on April 27^th and about a week later we’d review the numbers:  the release with the most page reads would win.  Today, Cheryl’s release scored 4,283 (and counting) and won by a wide margin.  Congratulations Cheryl!

It should be noted that Cheryl, an event specialist with the firm The Perfect Date, is a veteran PRWeb customer. A short while ago, she shared a case study with us on how she used online news releases and social media to win over Facebook fans for a charity event she was managing.

Here is Cheryl’s winning release:

Kukuwa Dance Workout (KDW®) Launches Online Instructor Certification

Other contestants and their releases — all honorable mentions — include:

@SmallBizPRXpert: 17-Year Old Nonprofit Founder Approaches One Million Fundraising Mark, and After Five Years Finally Heads to Africa with World Vision

@iSpinnerRadio: Unsigned Artist Community And Web Radio iSpinner Launches Record Deal / iPad Contest

@ruizmcpherson: West Virginia Professionals, Teeth Intact, Join Forces to Fight Negative Stereotypes and Foster Entrepreneurialism and Innovation across the Mountain State

@absolutwit: Competitive Web 2.0 Climate Race Begins for Students Worldwide

@MaxTrescott: The Garmin 430 — Which Button Do I Push? Tweet About New iPhone Guides and Win $50

In a subsequent post, we’ll share some of the other tips participants offered, but for now, here are five tips that Cheryl provided when we initiated the contest:

Cheryl's News Release Tips

Readability: news release earns 4,283 page reads, wins $1,000 from PRWeb was posted at Blogging PRWeb. | http://www.bloggingprweb.com

The most common way people find out about PRWeb is through word of mouth. Therefore, our customers are not only one of our greatest sources for ideas on how to innovate PRWeb but they are also our greatest evangelists.

Brian Koning is the owner of BTK & Associates , a marketing and sales consulting firm located in Carmel, Indiana. He also manages a blog where he shares his thoughts and observations about marketing and sales. More recently, Brian has written a two-part article on his experiences with PRWeb.  The success story goes into depth detailing his target goals, approach, and measurements of success.

The results?

Today, my press release appears on nearly 500 business-related websites, blogs, and podcasts. I have even been quoted by newspapers and business publications in Europe and the United Kingdom.

It isn’t all about simply online traction.  Brian goes on to explain that his press release has also generated significant gains for his business:

I’ve received more than 60 emails from people I’ve never met, asking about my business. They’ve asked me to review their website. Two are sending me their marketing materials for review.  Others want to know how much to budget for marketing and advertising.  Others have asked about the benefits of blogging and podcasting. And, I’ve had a few asking me to help write press releases for their business.

For the full story please visit Brian’s blog .

Stories like Brian’s help explain why PRWeb is the leading online newswire.  If you have a success story to share please let us know about it so we can share it with the rest of the PRWeb community.

Another Customer Success Story: BTK & Associates was posted at Blogging PRWeb. | http://www.bloggingprweb.com

Malibu Boats is a mid-sized company that is one of the world’s top manufacturers of water sports boats.  Over the past several years they have stepped up their online marketing and public relations efforts.  In a new PRWeb success story , read about how Malibu Boats used PRWeb to dramatically increase Web site traffic, get media exposure and ultimately drive sales of their new and existing products.

Malibu Boats Cruises Full Speed Ahead with PRWeb was posted at Blogging PRWeb. | http://www.bloggingprweb.com

With over 600,000 customers and 2 million Web sites worldwide, Hostway Corporation is one of the world’s largest and most successful Web hosting companies.  In a new case study you can read about how they use PRWeb to accomplish a range of marketing and public relations goals.

Hostway Uses PRWeb to Reach the Masses was posted at Blogging PRWeb. | http://www.bloggingprweb.com

TopRank Online Marketing is a leading internet marketing consulting agency trusted by Fortune 500 clients nationwide, offering strategic search marketing, online public relations and social media marketing services. They have been one of a loyal PRWeb customer since they were founded in 2001.

We are pleased to announce that we have drafted a case study showing how they have been using PRWeb for the past seven years to help their clients achieve media exposure, increased Web site traffic and search engine results.

TopRank Achieves Top Results with PRWeb was posted at Blogging PRWeb. | http://www.bloggingprweb.com