By John Landsberg

     Sometimes it is easy to be jealous of folks in other professions.
     When you call your accountant, he gives you his hourly rate and approximately how many hours it will take to handle your needs. He does the work and sends you his bill. You pay it.
     You call your attorney and outline your problem. She lets you know about how much time it will take (along with various costs for filings) and she sends you a bill. You pay it.
     With some professions, people do the work and then you pay them right on the spot. There’s no muss or fuss. The work is done and payment is made.
     However, when talking about public relations—particularly the media relations aspect—things are not always so cut and dry. Sometimes it is difficult for clients to even understand what you are asking them to pay for.
     Despite what some PR professionals promise, there aren’t any guarantees for publicity. It is not an exact science.

More Stories, Less Time
     Publicity—the editorial kind, not the advertising kind—is tougher than ever to get these days. The time and space dedicated to news in mainstream media is continually shrinking.
     A typical half-hour of TV news is getting closer to almost 50 percent news and 50 percent advertising. Some publications run as high as 70-30 advertising to editorial copy.
     When you meet with a PR person, you are trying to determine if she is someone who can help your business. On the other hand, the PR person is sitting there trying to figure out why the news media would be interested at all in doing a story about your business. (PR professionals with journalism experience are far better in determining what might be a potentially newsworthy story.)
     For instance, what exactly is newsworthy about someone opening up a printer cartridge refill business? Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the type of business itself, but from a news perspective it seems cartridge refill businesses are popping up on every street corner these days.
     A good PR person might ask the owner how he got into the business. How many people refill cartridges? Is the owner involved in any local charities? What does the business do differently than other places? In today’s environment it might be interesting to discuss how refilling cartridges helps the environment.

A Different Angle
     A few years ago, I met with a potential wedding planner client. Lots of people do wedding planning these days, and many are not very newsworthy.
      I interviewed him and asked: What is the average cost of a wedding these days? Has he had any unique experiences? What are common mistakes couples make? Why should folks use a professional wedding planner when a friend possibly could do it?
      During my interview, I learned that with the rate of divorce going up each year, the wedding planner now often looks on it as a repeat business. If he does a good job with the first wedding, he may end up doing weddings for the same bride two, three or even four times. There’s a great hook for a media story!

Seek Professional Help
     All clients truly think their business is unique. And many times it simply isn’t. The joke is: “Your business is really unique—just like all the others.”
     The real problem in generating publicity for a client is sometimes it just doesn’t work. Even the best media relations professionals can develop news releases, pitch your business until they are blue in the face, and not have success.
     As an example, if a major publication (or TV or radio show) just did a story on your competitor, you are dead in the water. Unless you can come up with a completely unique story angle, they are not going to be interested in doing a story about your business for a long, long time.
     Let’s say you are a PR person and you have worked like crazy on behalf of your client, but were unsuccessful in getting publicity. There’s a very good chance the client will not want to pay you for your efforts.
      Compare this with a lawyer who might have lost a case, but  there’s no question she still should be paid for her time and effort. It’s the same with accountants or wedding planners.
     Why is it different for a PR person? I think much of it is that business people consider public relations a “soft” profession. It’s “easy” to do. While most business owners would never consider doing their own legal work or accounting, many feel they can tell their own story. Most are wrong.
      The old adage about legal work: “A man who represents himself has a fool for a client” is true. It also is true for businesses who think they can handle their own public relations efforts.
     Public relations is not an exact science, but it is one best left to professionals if you expect to ever see a story about your business in the news media. And when you hire professionals for services, they deserve to be paid just like you would pay your attorney, suppliers, accountants, etc.

John Landsberg is the owner of Bottomline Communications.