3 essentials for avoiding common PR rip-offs

Better knowledge can help entrepreneurs fend off charlatans and save money

“I just paid a small fortune to a big PR agency and have nothing to show for it!”

“We hired a freelance copywriter, and he took our money and ran.”

“I paid a lot of money for media placements. Isn’t that how it works?”

These are just some of the unhappy questions I hear from entrepreneurs on a regular basis, and I can understand why.

There is a lot of information out there, so it’s easy to rely on a consultant to help you get through the maze of PR, social media and search engine optimization. Before you hire that expert, here are a few things to keep in mind:

PR does not equal press release

When someone mentions that you need public relations, do you think of a press release?

Although press releases (especially SEO press releases) are an important part of public relations, that’s not what PR stands for. In a nutshell, public relations is basically sending out a specific message to a targeted audience for a desired result.

The main point of creating this buzz is to get your target market—and media members who cover that market—to talk about your products and services. This creates third-party credibility that you simply can’t buy.