One of the biggest expenses that companies face is the cost of letting the world know that they exist, and getting the “word out.” Or what most people call advertising.  Most of the marketing consultants, and advertising agencies will convince you that you cannot live without conventional advertising.

Also most businesses go out of business, is because they simply cannot generate enough revenue to cover their costs, or their marketing is ineffective.

We are also all trained to think that advertising is something that you have to pay for.

Basically there a lot of “false beliefs” and misconceptions surrounding advertising.

What you need to know is that the best form of advertising is actually FREE, it is called “Public Relations.” Having someone talk positively about, you, your product or service is ultimately the aim of all forms of advertising.

What is important for you to understand is that there are two forms of Advertising.

1. Paid for Conventional advertising
2. Unpaid for Public Relations or PR.

Conventional advertising is when you pay a media outlet to get the “word out” for you.

This may be print, such as a Newspaper, Magazine, T.V., Radio, Internet etc. And P.R. or public relations, or “ Publicity” is FREE. This is having other people “talk positively about you.” The outlets for publicity can be the same, Newspaper, Magazine, T.V., Radio, Internet. The only difference is that you do not pay for it. They write about you, because you are “newsworthy.” You add value to their customers.

If you read my book, Marketing is King! www.marketingisking.com. You will have seen my definition for marketing

“Marketing is the process of bringing value to the marketplace. Value that others gain benefit from.”

So another way of looking at this is that

“PR is when you advertising, without having to spend a dime.”

But to get “publicity” you need to be highly trained in marketing. You need to be able to create a “press kits.” that get Media producers interested in what you do, to provide “hooks” that get them excited, and show them, that what you have to offer is “Newsworthy”. You need to be able to make the person or outlet that is writing about you, interviewing you, look good in front of its audience. Some of the best press kits, are “push button.”

They make have Q&A’s (Question and answers) photo’s. simple description of your offering.

“The secret to Public relations is to know that the publicity that is generated through conventional advertising, but is different in two respects

1. You did not pay for it
2. It is a lot more credible. As someone else is talking about you”

Other reasons that Public relations is the marketing professionals #1 tool is

1. Having other people talk about you is a lot more effective than you bragging about yourself, product, service or idea. It is called “ third party validation”
2. Publicity or Public Relations gives you instant credibility, and recognition.
3. Conventional advertising is considered to be “forceful,” whereas PR is considered to be welcoming.
4. Having someone write or talk about you in public automatically makes you Newsworthy
5. You can never afford to pay for the publicity that quality PR can get you.

Another way to look at the difference between advertising and public relations is
“Advertising is something that you pay for”
“Public Relations is something that you pray for!”

Coverage in the media is based on what the media considers to be Newsworthy, based on what they are covering at any point in time. The way that you engage the media is by putting together a press kit. This is the “tool” that is used to “pitch” your story to the media.

A conventional press kit would have one page summary of who you are, and why the media should be interested in what you have to offer. A excellent Press kit, would also have a sample or information of your product or service, and a Q&A (Question Answer) sheet.

You must constantly and continually develop relationships with editors of the media that you are trying to pitch to. What all editors want is a “go to person.” Someone that they can go to, so they can get a “expert” viewpoint on a subject.

If an editors picks up your “pitch” or story, you could easily end up on a national talk show, and this will immediately make you an expert.

“As an expert, people will start coming to you, you do not have to go to people”

And is this not the dream of any business?

Most people shy away from Public relations for a few reasons.

1. They don’t understand it. They think that public relations, is simply about keeping a good image in public. Far from it. Public relations is more than simply sending out press releases. It is more than responding to questions of the public. Quality public relations is all about your ability to get FREE advertising,
2. They think that public relations is about publicity, and publicity is a bad thing! Well advertising is publicity also, and there is a lot of bad advertising out in the marketplace also. And any form of publicity is actually a good thing!
3. They think that you need to hire a specialist to do this. Yes, a professional will certainly do a better job than you, but mainly because they have a database and existing relationships with the media. In place of professionals.

Of the three reasons above, only the third can be considered to be challengeable.

The goal of any business is to get and keep customers, and constantly show them the value that they can add. This can only happen if they know that you exist. You can either spend a lot of time and money doing this using conventional advertising. Or you can do what a Black Belt marketer do Make this happen at no cost, using PR. Any business that is successful will surly have a solid PR program in place, that consistently, gets other people to write and talk about them