Public Relations (PR) Q&A

Thanks Phil

Thought you might like to join this discussion @Mehvish Patel 

It depends on your budget and the time and resource you have available internally.  If you are a bigger business and can afford to pay $8k-$15k a month, it can make sense to hire a reputable agency. Just make sure you do your due diligence and set clear measurables/KPIs, so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to anticipated results. 

For startups and smaller businesses, who may find these costs prohibitive, there are some really simple tricks of the trade you can implement to save a tonne of cash.  A common misconception about PR is that it's all about contacts and that some sort of black magic is involved. With 15 years of experience in the industry, this isn't true.  It's about having a good story. The media aren't interested in anything else. They don't care if it's a business owner or a PR person telling it to them.  Most often, they would prefer to hear it from the business owner and there's no one better placed to tell your story than yourself. 

Once you have a good story, you need to tell it to the right person.  You can find the contacts by setting up google alerts for relevant keywords for your industry, looking up journalists on LinkedIn or Twitter and reaching out to them directly. Their contact details are normally readily available in bylines or you can get them on the phone by calling the switchboard. 

There are a number of other DIY PR opportunities you can leverage too, like SourceBottle (which connects you to journalists looking for content for stories). It's easy to put your hat in the ring for speaking opportunities too, again just make sure you are adding value - rather than a straight-up sales pitch.  PR is all about building credibility, so people buy from you.  

By way of introduction, I run PR Shed, which offers businesses all the tools they need to do their own PR. With step-by-step guides on how to attract media attention, access to media contacts, easy-to-use-templates and one-to-one time with industry experts, it’s an affordable pay-as-you-go solution designed to help SMEs get their brand in the media. 

Hi Andrew: Would that be business coaching? For effective PR, you'd need to position yourself as an expert. There are a few ways you can go about this. Tactic A - Media Relations. Journos are always looking for experts with interesting stories/points of view. Identify a fresh and interesting angle in your area and craft a concise media pitch. Identify publications that your market segment would be reading - then research/identify appropriate journo(s) in those pubs you should approach. Tactic B- Content Development. Same objective - raising your profile. Develop quality and high-value content targeted to your potential clients. Examples, blog posts (for your site and/or a contributed piece for an appropriate publication), SlideShares, eBooks. Look for guest blog opportunities, speaking gigs. The thing here is to be a little different from the rest. Too often pieces from "thought leaders" regurgitate the same info over and over. Hope this helps.