I need some Press Release Advice

I'm not sure how much is fiction on how good they are for link building. Same content with link to the same place is counted only once after Panda.

The basics of writing a good press release (that gets picked up by other news sites) is of course it has to be news worthy.

I have written press releases online that have gotten picked up by some really big sites.

If it just sounds like a sales page, don't bother and just write an article instead and post it somewhere to get just as much or more link juice.

A good headline that can somehow capture attention in a news fashion not in a sales fashion.

Get right to the point and mention who, what, where, when and how.

After that, have a quote from the owner or someone important related to the news story.

A bit more background information as how it got to this point.

Maybe one more quote from the same person about the news or another person related to the story about the news and how they feel about it.

One quote or maybe two but no more.

Then close out the PR with the data about the company without any superlatives.

Just the facts. Name, website, how long in business, website, and contact information---stuff like that,not necessarily that exact list.

You might read a lot of press releases off of news services to get the idea.

My best advice about press release:

... if you truly wish to have them picked up by larger agencies (which should be the case for anybody doing press releases) I beg of you to please learn proper AP (Associated Press) style.

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen somebody write a press release with hopes of getting it picked up by a large media company. Unfortunately, the person had absolutely no knowledge of AP Style and, ultimately, any hope of getting it syndicated vanished because of that.

... trust me, media companies will not take the time to place your press release in AP Style.

I spent years on the other side of the press release "fence" - as a news anchor who had to read them every day. Above all else, you need a press release that's newsworthy. Don't try to be clever and disguise a sales pitch as "news", unless you want your press release to wind up in the "round filing cabinet" (also known as the garbage can!)

You don't need catchy prose, or long flowing sentences (in fact, that's the opposite of broadcast and print writing!) A good press release will answer the 5 W's (who, what, where, when, and why), so that journalist can read it and know exactly why it's newsworthy and have all of the information they would need to turn a story.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their feedback on this, I will research all comments and feedback!

Make sure that the angle you use is newsworthy and that your press release does not come off sounding like an "Ad," which many marketers make the mistake of doing.

Use a place like prweb.com to distribute it. I hope that helps.