If you have something legitimately news-worthy then I've found a press release can be the "in" to getting attention from big blogs you don't have an existing//personal connection with. Check out businesswire and marketwire (especially Marketwire's "Tech Hotspots") to help get your release into the hands of people who want to write about exciting stuff.

Otherwise, I think the core of your question is more about marketing. My first recommendation is to have the link to your co in your news.yc profile + link to it in your story submission. Second, I'd suggest your best strategy should be to find the 2nd and 3rd tier blogs that the bigger blogs look to in order to find new companies not on their radar.

Big blogs are like corporate radio: they both want to be responsible for "breaking" a hot new [band//company], but both are unlikely to make that call without others in the "underground" having said it first.

An extension of this would be to find who the big bloggers follow on Twitter, and then figuring out ways to get those people talking about your product positively.

It's amazing how quickly rave reviews trickle upwards with little intervention.

Good luck! :]

When was the last time you were influenced by, or even read, a press release about a newly launched web app?

Quite frequently we read them indirectly through Techcrunch/Mashable/GigaOM, etc. They read the press release and then summarize and add commentary. I suppose that usually it's the PR company issuing the release that is also bugging them to pick up the story, so that's probably the more important (and expensive) part. Without a PR company you're probably better off sending them a more casual email.

Those sites might pay attention to a press release from a company they'd heard of. If you're newly launched you're better off just sending them a short, personal email.

They ignored my last app and seem to be doing the same now. They seem to only pay attention to sites that are heavily funded for some reason. I'm young, working alone, and don't need funding - I find that a little more interesting than people running through millions. They also seem to cover some really ridiculous websites too.

Never, I've just read so many time over and over again that it's smart to do. Thought I'd ask..

Hi Mike,

Press releases are also thought to be useful from an SEO perspective if you want to help garner some inbound link juice in that manner. I know of a few SEO guys that utilise the various sites in that fashion (I think they use PRweb, but dont quote me on that).

My suggestion is that if you are going to write one, try and create some copy that includes some of your key phrases for your particular niche - and remember to make it sound natural, non spammy :)

Good luck.

As someone who writes for a blog with a relatively large reach, all I can say is do it and circulate it as best you can. You never know who might pick it up and what kind of links may ensue.

As to circulating it, a [reputable] PR company is a good bet but hardly free. There are services such as PRNewswire that are comparatively cheap - and assembling a mailing list of your favorite (and other relevant) blogs / news sources is free!