Now, shape third element, body. Elaborate on your opening. Add descriptions and benefits, quotes and testimonials. Be sure all of your quotes begin and end with quotation marks and give credit and credentials to persons you quote.

For instance, instead of ending a quote with, "says Barbara Smith," end it with "says Barbara Smith, six figure online entrepreneur and highly praised lecturer on small business on World Wide Web. Isn't second way much more powerful and convincing (provided of course, it's true)? That's giving credit AND credentials.

Finally, close your press release with a short call to action. Use a sentence to summarize, then tell your readers how they may get more information. Don't go for jugular here, though; wait for a follow up contact to make your final sale. But do use action producing words like "get" and "now" ("Get more information "now" by phoning [your name] at [your phone number]).

A few final words are important now. Let me combine them with an exercise to help you remember five "w's" and one "h" of successful news writing. Make sure you thoroughly consider these questions as you plan and write your release:

Who…will benefit from reading your press release?

What…do you want them to know?

When…is your information available?

Where…can they find more information?

Why…is your information valuable in lives of your readers?

How…is your information unique? It's going to be submerged in a sea of press releases your intended publisher will have to review.

These are best means I know to get your press release published once it's submitted to an editor.

P.S. More on this topic can be found by reading Dr. Randall Hansen's Guide to Writing Successful Press Releases at http://www.stetson.edu/~rhansen/prguide.html.

P.P.S. Directories to find places to submit your press release can be found near end of same web page.

11. Use OCCASIONAL exclamation mark (!) to get your readers attention. Forget ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation points!!!

12. Be credible (big word, eh?) at all times. I try to write my articles in a "conversational style with dashes of my funny humour".

13. Use HUMOUR. People like to have a bit of fun with occasional laugh, whilst being informed on a serious subject. At least I believe so!

14. Write from "your heart", so that you come across as a REAL person. Just write what comes naturally with INTEGRITY... and BE YOURSELF.

15. Be totally honest in your writing and don't "borrow" too much from others content. It's so easy to "steal" on www - so do your own work and if you "borrow ideas or material, ACKNOWLEDGE. "Incidentally, in addition to my own material based on my experiences of internet marketing over past four years, in this article I have "borrowed" numerous ideas from some fine writers and well-known internet marketers - thanks a lot for, sharing your info, David, Michael, John, Meredith, oe and Edward).

16. Be humble…and don't talk down to your readers. (Who wrote that song, "It's so hard to be humble?"):

17. Use bullets in your articles - its makes points easy to follow... but beware of security in form of metal detectors!

18. Don't forget your byline, your "business card". Make sure that you resource box at end of article provides enough information to identify yourself and provide contact information. It's FREE advertising at it's best.

19. Offer a free report with your article - this is an easy way to collect a list of adresses for marketing your product(s). An instant target market.

20. Check all links in your article before submitting it.

21. Offer your articles by autoresponder

22. Conclude with a strong message. Your final point (and paragraph) should be a message that summarises your article or gets your reader to take further action, like "GET STARTED" (as I've done in this article).

23. Finally, make sure your layout is good (not one of my strong points!), as this greatly enhances your prospects of getting published. Use a spell-check. Go over your article carefully and be an editor yourself.

24. Make sure your article flows properly.

25. Re-read and re-read, until you get it "just right." then see what happens to your site traffic.

"Aim for perfection, but settle for excellence" in your article writing..