NAPS FAQ

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About: FAQ

1. What’s NAPS?
2. What’s new at NAPS?
3. Who are your clients?
4. Why buy a NAPS feature distribution?
5. How does it work?
6. Do you distribute electronically?
7. How soon will I see pickup?
8. How do you know each story will get results?
9. What does the guarantee mean?
10. What is the timing?
11. What are the results?
12. Will I get coverage in the large markets?
13. How many words are in a release?
14. Do we save any money by writing the release ourselves?
15. Why are images so important to the story?
16. Will a photo or a drawing get more pickup?
17. Can we use the feature story for our own distribution purposes?
18. Can you check to see if our contacts are on your mailing list?
19. Do you have regional distribution capabilities?

1. What’s NAPS?
North American Precis Syndicate (NAPS) is a service that distributes camera-ready copy to 10,000 newspapers across the U.S. We also distribute Radio Feature Releases (RFR) to over 6,500 radio stations and Video Feature releases (VFR) to over 1,000 TV stations. We also distribute to thousands of online publications that use our material.

2. What’s new at NAPS?
Here is how NAPS has evolved into an even more comprehensive service for better and faster results:

TOP STORIES: We have added the top stories of 2011 to our www.napsnet.com site.

BLOGS: We have expanded our online reach and results by targeting thousands more blogs through Cision and other companies that provide contact lists.

SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING: We have expanded our social media monitoring capabilities by tracking through Meltwater Buzz and others.

WORD TAGGING: We are tagging keywords in print and TV releases for Search Engine Optimization. Look for examples on our NJ.com blog and on our YouTube site.

SITE WITHIN A FRAME: We now display, directly under each print release on our site, a website in a frame for a story that includes a hyperlink to help to get more page views on that site.

BANNERS: We now have banners running in major daily newspaper sites such as The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Those link back to the special section pages on our site, which people can page through like a blog.

PAGE VIEW COUNTERS: We now include page view counters on the bottom of each special section page. We also include on the first page of our reports the number of times each article was viewed on our site in the categories list above the special sections. The two numbers for page views can be added together to get the total.

TWITTER: We have Twitter Feeds to editors with nearly 3,000 followers.

FACEBOOK: We have all our articles available on our NAPS Facebook page.

SOCIAL MEDIA PLACEMENTS: We have a NAPS page for all our articles on social media sites such as Digg and Reddit.

PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS: We have reformatted the photos and captions on our site to make those easier for editors and readers to see and use.

REPORTS AVAILABLE IN EXCEL: We now offer the option to get reports in Excel automatically.

UVM AND UVD: We have added columns on our reports to measure unique visitors per month and unique visitors per day.

AQH AND CUME: We have added AQH and CUME numbers, from Arbitron, to our radio reports.

NEWSPAPER STATS: We have the latest statistics about newspapers in print and online available on our site, including a demographic breakdown of the users.

SPECIAL EVENTS: We have arranged to sponsor and attend many of the most important events of the leading trade organizations and publications including PRSA, PR News and PR Week. We have also lined up many media relations events with all the most important trade organizations to network with editors.

RSS FEED—Thousands of editors receive RSS feeds daily from our www.napsnet.com Web site. Stories go directly into the computers of editors as soon as those are posted.
1-HOUR POSTING—Stories are posted to www.napsnet.com 1 hour after approval.
MAILING EVERY 2-3 DAYS—CD’s and camera-ready proofs are mailed out every 2-3 days (within 5 days of approval). Printing is on only one side of the page for thousands who still cut and paste.
E-CLIPS—Clips are scanned and e-mailed to clients daily for faster results reporting. Originals are then sent by first-class mail. Clients are now starting to receive clips as early as a few days after their stories are approved.
MULTIPLE ONLINE CLIPPING BUREAUS—Several clipping bureaus are finding our stories in thousands of online publications. The internal NAPS clipping bureau is finding thousands of online placements that others miss because they don’t search every Web site. Clippings are often found by the NAPS staff faster than clipping bureaus can find and send those out.
E-MAIL DISTRIBUTION—Stories are e-mailed to editors daily, weekly or monthly on all topics or the topics of their choosing as they request.
HYPERLINKING STORIES—Web sites or key words in stories can be hyperlinked on our www.napsnet.com Web site so that editors can go directly to those Web sites from the stories posted.
PICK SECTIONS BY TOPIC-—Clients can choose to post their stories to a particular section of the www.napsnet.com Web site for optimal access by editors. The NAPS Media Relations Department sends links to editors by topics such as food, health, auto or home, for special sections when needed. CD’s are sent by topic for special sections.
ONLINE SEARCH ENGINE—Editors can search the www.napsnet.com Web site by using a key word or phrase in the search engine there.
HIGHEST-QUALITY ART—Art is available in color in several formats and more than one size to give editors the options they prefer. The NAPS staff artist is the most widely published in America and can provide drawings to help get the attention of editors.
MEDIA RELATIONS EVENTS—NAPS sponsors and exhibits at many events including SNA, IFPA, Interactive Media, APME, NAA, ASNE, AFCP and AAJA.

3. Who are your clients?
We work for most Fortune 500 companies, the top 20 PR firms, over 100 associations and many U.S. government agencies. Click here to see our clients.

4. Why buy a NAPS feature distribution?
Extend your reach to millions of additional readers, listeners and viewers nationwide. NAPS provides an easy, cost-effective method of getting your story out to nearly every newspaper in the U.S.

5. How does it work?
Send us background material, such as press releases, Web information, brochures, fact sheets, etc. and we will propose, at no cost or obligation, a story or series of stories that will get fabulous pickup all over America. Our experienced writers are experts at what formats will get the best coverage. We have artists (the most widely published in America) who will provide eye-catching line drawings or photos if needed.

6. Do you distribute electronically?
We e-mail stories to editors daily, weekly or monthly, as they request, on various topics such as health, food, auto and home or every story if they choose. We mail CD-ROM’s to editors and post stories on www.napsnet.com, which has an RSS feed that thousands of editors subscribe to and from which they receive our direct computer feeds daily. Many of our stories are on Google News.

7. How soon will I see pickup?
Pickup can occur within hours of when it’s posted on our Web site. Please allow at least one to two weeks for the first clips to come back to you. Most usage will be within the first four to six months, though some stories run for a year or more. Online reports will be updated weekly for every period that you receive clips for up to a year after distribution.

8. How do you know each story will get results?
After 50 years of being in this business, we know what to expect. We work for most Fortune 500 companies, the top 20 PR firms, over 100 associations and many government agencies. We are confident that if you take our advice on which formats to use for your story, you will get the maximum number of placements you were promised. NAPS releases save newspaper editors time and money. Many of the suburban papers are low on staff, time and budget. The editors of these papers need something that is ready to run. They are hungry for good feature releases in camera-ready or computer-ready copy form. After nearly 50 years of being the industry leader in national feature news distribution, NAPS is used by thousands of editors as a reliable source of quality feature stories. Our top-notch, veteran writers use our unique formats and industry standard (AP)-style writing to produce maximum results.

9. What does the guarantee mean?
If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the results of your releases, we will develop and distribute another release - even on a different subject - FREE!

10. What is the timing?
We post stories to our www.napsnet.com Web site within one hour after approval. We mail CD’s and camera-ready repro proofs to editors every two to three days within five days of approval. Ideally, you should give us approval for release about three months in advance of a deadline for maximum pickup. For example, a holiday season release should be approved for distribution in the latter part of September (even a bit sooner, if possible).

11. What are the results?
Each feature article will get 100 to 400 placements. Each RFR will get 300 to 400 placements. Each VFR will get 100 to 150 placements. Some of the best stories get 2,000 newspaper placements with over 75 million in readership, 1,000 radio placements with over 76 million in listenership or 250 TV placements with over 64 million in viewership.
Click here to see a sample newspaper report.
Click here to see a sample radio report.
Click here to see a sample television report.

12. Will I get coverage in the large markets?
Nearly all of your placements will be in top 100 markets. Most of the suburban, community papers are in large, wealthy media markets. We cover America’s 10,000 newspapers with over 225 million in cumulative circulation, about 167 million of which are in weekly community newspapers in the wealthy suburbs. Our media list includes 1,600 dailies, 8,400 weeklies and thousands of Web sites. We also cover 6,500 radio stations and 1,000 TV stations.

13. How many words are in a release?
One column is about 175 words, two columns are about 420 words and three columns are about 600 words, plus a photo or graphic.

14. Do we save any money by writing the release ourselves?
We offer proposals at no cost or obligation. The writing is free! Our writers are paid a salary, not per project. They are really the experts at what will get the best results. They have been writing for our clients, which include most Fortune 500 companies, the top 20 PR firms, over 100 associations and many U.S. government agencies, for many years and they are happy to offer their suggestions. The cost is the same whether you write it or we do.

15. Why are images so important to the story?
Art includes our clipping symbol, which helps our clipping bureau track our stories. Editors prefer having stories with art because it’s eye-catching, so it will help improve readership.

16. Will a photo or a drawing get more pickup?
For recipe, travel, fashion and beauty releases, beautiful color photos can work better than line drawings. If beautiful photos are not available, our artists can prepare a line drawing to enhance the story. Our artist is the most widely published in America and many of our best results have been achieved for stories that have included line art.

17. Can we use the feature story for our own distribution purposes?
Please feel free to use your approved story to your best advantage. Many of our clients post our stories to their Web sites. We supply 100 slicks for you to distribute and you can order extra slicks if you need more.

18. Can you check to see if our contacts are on your mailing list?
If you send us your list, we will include your contacts in our mailing list at no additional charge. Chances are they are already on our list, but we can add new names if you have any.

19. Do you have regional distribution capabilities?
We have the capability to do regional distribution. However, unless your story is not able to be distributed nationally, the best use of your budget would be to do a national distribution because your cost per placement is much more cost efficient. You can expect about 100 placements with a national release but with a regional you don’t know what to expect. It actually costs more to do a regional than a national release. Because it goes out in its own envelope with its own stamp, regional releases are not on our CD’s.