How to Hire PR That Works

In her book, "Media Training 101: A Guide to Meeting the Press," author Sally Stewart provides some great tips on hiring quality public relations. Here are some questions she encourages you to ask...

Who is going to be working on My Account?
Be aware that senior consultants may be the ones to meet with you during the new business pitch but then may hand your project over to junior staff members who have little experience.

When you hire Lori Bittenbender as your PR freelancer, I can guarantee that I will be working on your account. I am a senior-level PR professional and I work daily in media relations. You will have the benefits of my 10 years of PR experience working on your account!

Do I really need a big firm?
If you have a small company, then a PR freelancer or a boutique firm can do excellent PR for you at about half the cost! Visit the services section on my website to see what I can provide your company.

How should you be billed for the work?
As Sally explains in her book, "it is most cost effective for the client to pay a monthly retainer which is arrived at by the agency estimating how many hours it will take them to do the work every month." I always provide my clients a very detailed report at the end of the month that explains all of my publicity services provided. Sometimes it can take me an hour to write each report!

How will I know it's working?
Sally explains it beautifully, "...you need to give your public relations plan time to work. Getting a story or putting out a press release always takes longer than you think it will. You need to be working on multiple stories at the same time to build up your pipeline of results. It takes media lists, phone calls and more phone calls and pitch letters to accomplish it." Sally says that at the end of three months, you should start to see results. I've always managed to get results for my clients within three months!

Lori Bittenbender Public Relations

I look forward to seeing how my creative publicity proposals will build your brand and credibility, as well as position you as an expert and influence your target audience.

Contact me at lori at lb public relations dot com.