If you don't have a background in communications or journalism, crafting a press release is not an easy endeavor. I do it for a living and get paid nicely, but I went to college for four years for it. It makes doing my job a lot easier to have a background in media, communications and journalism.

That being said, there are some basics that could help you.

One: Identify you message. What are you trying to say to your audience? Once you've identified your message, stick to it and don't meander off on other tangents in the press release that could take the impact away from your release's primary message.

Two: Who is your audience? Determine who you want to read your press release. Are you trying to get coverage from The New York Times or from internet bloggers? Do you want tv and radio coverage? Small market? Big market? Are you trying to reach customers too? Knowing your audience is important and dictates the style of your writing and where you will issue the press release.

Three: The inverted pyramid. Imagine a pyramid standing on its point. The biggest part is up in the air and it gets smaller as you move toward the ground. Your press release should generally follow this style. The biggest, most important part of your message comes first because that's what people read first. The less important stuff...company profile, history, etc. goes toward the bottom.

Four: Keep it short and to the point. If your press release is longer than one page typed in Microsoft Word format, single space, it's probably too long and people won't read it fully. Keep it to about eight paragraphs of one or two (maybe three) sentences per graph. This will probably be more than enough info for your release.

Five: Don't just tell everyone how wonderful your client is or how they're the tops in their industry. Talk about the new product, service, feature, event, etc. that you are promoting. If you want to include a quote from the CEO saying "We're pleased to be selected for this important project. Our (product/service) is well-known and second to none." that's fine. Include it. But don't gush on and on about it. Stick to the facts and your release will be more effective.

Six: Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. Comb over it several times and fix every typo and grammar mistakes. Then have someone else in your company review it. And then the client. And then review it again. Make sure it's perfect. There's nothing worse than reading a company's press release and finding factual or grammatical errors. It's embarassing and you can bet customers will notice.

Hopefully that's helpful. If you're not familiar with the writing style involved in press releases and marketing literature, I'd suggest farming the work out to a professional. Just like web design is something anyone can do at an amateur level, only the pros can make it really look professional. Good luck with your writing.