PR, when most effective, is almost always going to be used as a vehicle to solidify your other marketing efforts. This means that most often, PR is not a standalone service, but rather, it is factored into your marketing strategy as an integral part of the whole picture.

While anyone can do PR, its really the relationships that make things happen. If you don’t have the relationships and you’re asking strangers for press, why are they going to listen to you? Unless you’ve done something very uncommon and extraordinary, don’t expect results. A good agency is better equipped to get you the kind of coverage you deserve. Not only can the agency “spin” it right, but it most likely already has the key relationships required to make things happen.

IDEA: If you have a smaller company that offers a new retail product, try employing someone very visible in the local community to start visibly using your product, and talk about its merits to everyone. People in the consumer role tend to follow social leaders, so use this to your advantage.

For example, if you have a new sports drink you want to promote, you could try going to a local gym and providing select people with free product in exchange for visibly carrying it around and talk about their enjoyment of your product. These people would be the ones that seem to know everyone, that project the idea of health, stay at the gym for a while, and are generally well respected and admired by other gym goers.