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The number one mistake that those who are new to press releases make is that they make it sound too much like a sales letter. A press release is used to promote your company or product, but making you press release a rewrite of your 'Sales' page is not a good idea. A press release is written to get your business featured in a major newspaper, magazine, or web site. Hence, before you start writing your press release, I strongly recommend that you take some time to read some of the articles that are written in the Business sections of popular newspapers such as The New York Times or Wall Street Journal, as well as read some of the articles about businesses in a niche magazine or web site that matches the niche of your company. These news stories were most likely based on press releases that the company wrote and thus, you should see what type of information is included in these articles and then include similar information in your company's press release.

Although it would be nice if a major news publication wrote an article that went on praising your company and your product, the vast majority of credible news sources do not do this and instead provide the facts and their own opinions, not opinions presented in a press release. Hence, to get the most coverage and best possible results from your press release, simply state the facts and if you want to give opinions, do so in quotes as most news stories include direct quotes from company officials. The overall goal of a press release is to generate buzz and interest in your company's product or service; however, if you make your press release a reworded sales copy, you will get very little coverage from your release and many companies many press release distribution services may reject you press release all together.

Hence, the bottom line is this: Only state the facts in your press release and do not go too deep into giving opinions. When you finish writing your press release and proof read it, make sure it sounds like an article you would expect to find in a credible news source. If it does, than chances are you wrote a good press release and it will get picked up by many sources. If it doesn't, then you have some editing that you need to do to 'polish up your press release' and increase the chances of getting major news articles.