Hello, I have been talking with a PR firm, they want 5k a month to represent me. This seems kind of high, but they do have some big name clients and have provided me with examples of what they have done for clients including, TV appearances, Newspaper articles, magazine articles. Have any of you worked with a PR company before? Who were they? How did it work out? How much did they charge? Thanks in advance
Could you provide more details about your business? What stage of development are you at? Are you up and running or still trying to drum up business? Many people think that PR is the same exact thing as Marketing. It's an easy mistake since they are so similar but if you are looking more to get the word out about your business you might be better served with a marketing firm and save the PR guys for later when you are more established. Of course you could have been in business for years which means that a PR firm could be the way to go It's hard to tell without knowing much about your business
Are you sure that you even need one? Most don't. With just a little knowledge, they can do it themselves. TV appearances you can do yourself. Find their number to contact the producers. Pitch your idea, and if they are the least bit curious, they put you on their list. For the most part, that's it. For the rest, all you need is a damn good ad copywriter. Like me. Uh-hum. You then take his work and submit them to the papers and magazines you think will fit well. By the way, in most cases, a line of great ads in a slew of sources is far better than TV appearances. Quite often webmasters can do better than PR firms. And they say that they can do all of that for $5,000? *raises eyebrow* I don't know, brother. Hell, you can only get, maybe, 20 sources to advertise in with $5,000. Do the math. So a good PR firm has to charge much more than that if they say they can get you plenty of exposure (TV, radio, print advertising, articles....). Well, anyway, good luck with it.
We need more information about your company and the stage of business as Snarke has indicated. $5,000 may be quite reasonable for the benefits provided. On the other hand if you have marketing talent, you can probably do just as well doing it yourself. If you have more money than time, hire it out. There are a pile of great books and ebooks on the subject of public relations. Take a look at Paul Hartoonians blog or sign up for Marcia Yudkins email list. She has a bunch of free info on her blog regarding public relations and media. -Steve
Thanks for the replies guys, I looked at Paul Hartunian's site, is his product worth ~$700? My main goal right now is to get articles written about my company in major news papers and magazines and I am not sure the best way to go about it.
Hartunian teaches his method for getting publicity. Take a look at Marcia Yudkin. Google her blog. She has plenty of free info and some paid info products. If you can learn how to write a pitch letter suggesting and article to an editor or learn how to write a media release, you can save a pile of cash. Paying a PR firm $5000 may be worthwhile but it also may not be. In PR there are no Guarantess of success because it is an uncontrolled marketing method.
$5,000 isn't unreasonable for a PR firm with high profile clients, but it may or may not be necessary for your business. If you're looking to get into major newspapers and magazines, one thought might just be to outsource on an hourly basis to a virtual assistant with this type of experience. It'd probably cost you less, and you could stop if you weren't satisfied with the results without being out $5,000.
Yeah, I think $5,000 is a little too much. You should submit your sample to those article and blog website! Good luck.
Pay me 2.5/mo. and for 20 hours a week, I will be your personal hype man. I will call who you want me to call, and pitch what you want me to pitch. I will email/write/network and get you out there beyond your wildest dreams. Half price, twice the results.
Thanks for the replies guys, I am in talks with multiple PR companies right now and I am narrowing them down to the most cost effective ones.
Try to see if you can get them to give your samples of their work, free tips, to make sure they do indeed know what they are doing. That's what I do. A good, reputable PR, marketer would do this.