I’ll be perfectly honest with you. Sending a press release the right way costs money. If you can’t write very well, you’ll need to pay someone to write your press release for you. But even if you do write your own press releases, you’ll still need to get them in the hands of the right reporters, and that costs money. And before you think posting your press releases on a free press release distribution website, just know that’s a terrible idea for a number of reasons. You won’t get results, and you might even get penalized by Google.

Of course, not every growing business has tons of money to throw at press release distribution, and I totally understand that. PR and marketing budgets can be pretty tight. In some cases, they might even be non-existent. The good news is there are still ways to get your news out there—albeit, maybe not as effectively—without spending much money at all.

Here are 6 cheap alternatives to sending out a press release:

1. Post the news on your blog—You’ll probably be writing a blog post about your news anyway, so why not share your news on your company blog and link reporters to the story? Your blog can be a powerful channel for distributing news, and if you can build up an audience of customers, influencers, and reporters who follow it, you can do an effective job of getting your news noticed.
2. Make an infographic—I’ve talked about using infographics in lieu of traditional press releases in the past. A well-designed infographic can quickly communicate your message in a way that captures the attention of all audiences. Use these tips to design great infographics.
3. Shoot a video—Engage your audience through sight and sound with a video news announcement. It’s free to post a video on YouTube, and you can share that video across Facebook, Twitter, email, your blog…you name it.
4. Use your email newsletter to share news—Hopefully, your company has an email newsletter with a strong subscriber base. If so, you can announce the latest company news in your newsletter. It might not reach everyone that you’d like, but when money’s tight, this is a good start for spreading the word.
5. Get social—Many journalists use social media to discover news and research stories. Sharing your important news on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites is a no-brainer. Make sure you spend time building relationships on these sites, though, or no one will pay attention to a thing you have to say.
6. Send a personal email pitch—Many reporters say they prefer receiving pitches via email. Instead of writing a press release and distributing it through a paid service, you could spend some time writing personalized email pitches to targeted reporters. Remember, personalize each pitch to the reporter you’re emailing, and keep it to the point.

Now, I want to hear from you. What are some of your favorite cheap alternatives to sending a press release? Leave a comment below!

This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (http://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Grab three ebooks, including My Facebook Formula, a free report on Facebook and why you should be using the largest social network for your business, here: http://www.ereleases.com/insider/freebooks.html