Almost as quickly as your doors are open, media sales representatives soliciting your business inundate you.  Certainly, if your colleagues are taking out ads, you should, too.  Right? Possibly, but there’s more to consider before you shell out the cash.

Many business owners believe that in order to keep themselves in the forefront of the market it would require them to purchase an ad, when in fact, it’s that and so much more.  Advertising can be very effective assuming that your are successfully appealing to the market you are attempting to reach, and positioning yourself as to how you would like to be positioned. 

Realistically, however, advertising alone can take your exposure only so far.  Advertising does serve a purpose, but without an effective Public Relations campaign to support it, the expense often generates poor results.  To not take advantage of all the Public Relations opportunities is like a surgeon performing surgery without the appropriate surgical tools.

Did you know that approximately 85% of the stories you read in newspapers and magazines, interviews you see on television or hear on the radio were secured by a publicist?  

The Public Relations Society of America has determined that an article, television profile, radio or Internet interview is up to seven time more believable than an advertisement, because it is more retainable and it shows more creditability.  

In local television programming, for instance, a 3-minute interview, which would have cost $4,000 for the same amount of time had it been purchased as an advertisement, is valued at a minimum of $12,000.  In all probability, that one interview reached several hundred thousand viewers depending on the location of your business.  

Publicity, commonly referred to as “free advertising” or “the cheapest form of advertising,” is the perfect solution for you as a business owner wanting to be positioned as an expert in your field by standing apart from the monotonous and endless sea of ads. 

Considering that a publicist’s one-month fee might equate to the price of one full-page ad in a glossy magazine makes great sense when considering value for value, dollar for dollar.

It is the job of your publicist to focus upon and obtain for you all appropriate and available media exposure, taking your business to the next level.  A comprehensive Public Relations campaign tailored to your business will dramatically increase the public’s awareness of your business.  

With an effective Public Relations campaign, your goal to stand apart from your competition will be achieved.  Ultimately, this will mean an increasing bottom-line profit for your business.