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PICK A PR OR DO IT YOURSELF?

Written by: Gwynne Chipperfield

Article Overview: When funds are limited, should you try to do your own PR? Consider the pros and cons.

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PICK A PR OR DO IT YOURSELF?

Money is tight when you are setting up in business and promoting your company or product (with no guarantee of success!) can be costly.

Should you bring in the professionals and pay the price or could you cut corners and create a name for yourself, by yourself?

Let us look at some pros and cons.

Daily rates for PR consultants in the UK range from GBP80 to GBP350 plus -approximately US $150 to US $650 plus - depending on their position and experience.

You do not need many hours work from your consultant to make a serious dent in your fragile start up budget!

So if you are going down the professional path, you should be very aware of what you may or may not get for your money.

What should you look for to get value?

Well, firstly, a PR who is honest enough to say where you are in the pecking order and what realistic chances you have of breaking into your chosen market.

A good PR will very soon gauge your media potential and will not build up false hopes or expectations.

You definitely do not want a PR who, on first acquaintance, boosts your ego, promises prime time TV, quality newspaper leader articles and expansive magazine features on the strength of a gin and tonic and a handshake.

Sadly, this happens! It turns out to be very expensive for you and almost certainly non productive.

A reliable PR will have a sound knowledge of and an interest in, your line of work. They will know the market for promotional material and, in most cases, know the journalists they are approaching on your behalf.

And they will be the sort of PR who can be trusted by the media to deliver a viable story, not a puffed up advert.

Your ideal PR will also be accessible. Any PR who always seems to be busy ‘at the moment’ with the ‘such and such’ account, is unlikely to be of much benefit to yours.

Right, so this is putting you off PR professionals a bit – no disrespect to them – and you fancy your chances going it alone.

Could it work?

Well, yes but it might take more time and energy than you may have to spare when you are launching your future livelihood.

Firstly you would need to take a very detached view of your business ‘baby’ – see it as others might see it and promote it from that standpoint.

This is more difficult than it sounds. Most entrepreneurs are so excited about their projects that it is difficult for them to understand that others might not be.

A seasoned PR can stand back and weather the storm, find new angles and maybe call in favours from his or her media friends.

You might end up just yelling things to sceptical journalists, like, “You don’t know what you’re missing – it’s the scoop of the century…” and so on and generally lose as much credibility in the media as you probably will in sales in the market place.

If you seriously want to cut out the PR person and go it alone, here are some tips.

Try to be objective about your enterprise. See it from the point of view of your potential customers and try to extract some newsworthiness as opposed to sales points.

Make contact with the media you think may be helpful. Tell a journalist or two your story before sending a blanket press release. Get their reaction. See if you can improve on the way you can promote your business as a result of their input.

Be available for interviews and prepare some sound bites.

If you are cooperative, honest, knowledgeable and interesting you will certainly grab a journalist’s attention.

Professional writers invariably prefer to deal with source rather than intermediaries so if you play your cards right you could get your publicity without having to employ a PR.

If you have the time and the personality and detachment to see your project in context and can deal with journalists without being prickly, go for it! You will save a lot of money.

However, if you do not have the time to deal with media people – if your core business tasks preclude this - then do not attempt to go it alone. Your best endeavours will end in very sub standard publicity.

Availability is very important and if you cannot guarantee it because of other pressures, you should certainly employ the services of a good PR to handle your media relations.

At the end of the day, if you are forced to seek professional assistance, shop around. Compare prices, services, reputations and personalities.

There is definitely a PR person for you out there somewhere. If you decide you need one, take your time and choose wisely.

Money is tight when you are setting up in business and promoting your company or product (with no guarantee of success!) can be costly.

Should you bring in the professionals and pay the price or could you cut corners and create a name for yourself, by yourself?

Let us look at some pros and cons.

Daily rates for PR consultants in the UK range from GBP80 to GBP350 plus -approximately US $150 to US $650 plus - depending on their position and experience.

You do not need many hours work from your consultant to make a serious dent in your fragile start up budget!

So if you are going down the professional path, you should be very aware of what you may or may not get for your money.

What should you look for to get value?

Well, firstly, a PR who is honest enough to say where you are in the pecking order and what realistic chances you have of breaking into your chosen market.

A good PR will very soon gauge your media potential and will not build up false hopes or expectations.

You definitely do not want a PR who, on first acquaintance, boosts your ego, promises prime time TV, quality newspaper leader articles and expansive magazine features on the strength of a gin and tonic and a handshake.

Sadly, this happens! It turns out to be very expensive for you and almost certainly non productive.

A reliable PR will have a sound knowledge of and an interest in, your line of work. They will know the market for promotional material and, in most cases, know the journalists they are approaching on your behalf.

And they will be the sort of PR who can be trusted by the media to deliver a viable story, not a puffed up advert.

Your ideal PR will also be accessible. Any PR who always seems to be busy ‘at the moment’ with the ‘such and such’ account, is unlikely to be of much benefit to yours.

Right, so this is putting you off PR professionals a bit – no disrespect to them – and you fancy your chances going it alone.

Could it work?

Well, yes but it might take more time and energy than you may have to spare when you are launching your future livelihood.

Firstly you would need to take a very detached view of your business ‘baby’ – see it as others might see it and promote it from that standpoint.

This is more difficult than it sounds. Most entrepreneurs are so excited about their projects that it is difficult for them to understand that others might not be.

A seasoned PR can stand back and weather the storm, find new angles and maybe call in favours from his or her media friends.

You might end up just yelling things to sceptical journalists, like, “You don’t know what you’re missing – it’s the scoop of the century…” and so on and generally lose as much credibility in the media as you probably will in sales in the market place.

If you seriously want to cut out the PR person and go it alone, here are some tips.

Try to be objective about your enterprise. See it from the point of view of your potential customers and try to extract some newsworthiness as opposed to sales points.

Make contact with the media you think may be helpful. Tell a journalist or two your story before sending a blanket press release. Get their reaction. See if you can improve on the way you can promote your business as a result of their input.

Be available for interviews and prepare some sound bites.

If you are cooperative, honest, knowledgeable and interesting you will certainly grab a journalist’s attention.

Professional writers invariably prefer to deal with source rather than intermediaries so if you play your cards right you could get your publicity without having to employ a PR.

If you have the time and the personality and detachment to see your project in context and can deal with journalists without being prickly, go for it! You will save a lot of money.

However, if you do not have the time to deal with media people – if your core business tasks preclude this - then do not attempt to go it alone. Your best endeavours will end in very sub standard publicity.

Availability is very important and if you cannot guarantee it because of other pressures, you should certainly employ the services of a good PR to handle your media relations.

At the end of the day, if you are forced to seek professional assistance, shop around. Compare prices, services, reputations and personalities.

There is definitely a PR person for you out there somewhere. If you decide you need one, take your time and choose wisely.

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About the Author: Gwynne Chipperfield
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bcc+gem publicity's founder and managing director, Gwynne Chipperfield MBE, started life as a political speech writer. Since then he has been managing editor of a successful weekly paid for newspaper, publicity officer, bbc tv news and current affairs, a city financial PR consultant and freelance journalist. He started bcc+gem in 1991 and is now supported by a talented creative team of family and friends.

Click here to visit Gwynne's website