DON’T ‘SELL’ – THEY’RE NOT BUYING

The new-product press release that’s written in the second person, as if the editor is a prospective customer (‘You and your family will appreciate the SuperCleaner’s smooth, silent operation...’) is doomed. He doesn’t buy products, he buys stories. And if he printed this story exactly as written, his magazine would appear to be directly endorsing the product, which he certainly will not do – that’s the job of advertisements. Will he spare the time to go through it and amend it for you? Almost certainly not. The bin awaits.