PR dollars flowing a little less freely these days? PR NEWS went trolling for cost-saving tips from the experts and reeled in the following suggestions (not to mention a few
shamelessly transparent plugs):
- If you do not have enough personnel to execute a specific project, hire
a temp or intern for basic work and retain an agent on a consultancy basis
for outside strategic counsel. Use paid wire services only if absolutely necessary.
Be selective about what is news[worthy] and keep your distribution highly
targeted. There is usually a select group -- sometimes only a couple of writers
-- who might be interested in your story. I spend no more than $500 per month.-Sabine Heller, Director, PR, UGO Networks/ UnderGround Online, New York,
NY, [email protected]
- Big spending does not guarantee big results. Get rid of expensive flashy
press kits, souvenir bribes, VNR tapes, and costly, ineffective PR agencies.
Reporters don't care for any of this stuff. My first press kit was filled
only with photocopies of press releases and articles [and it did the trick].-Eli Kuo, Director of PR, InvoiceDealers Palo Alto, Calif., [email protected]
- Be cautious about how your agency is staffing your account. Having "cheaper,"
less experienced people working on your behalf can create a false economy.
Instead of settling for four juniors, insist on having one senior communicator
instead. That is, one who knows and understands your space and has valuable
established media relationships that can benefit you immediately.-Sherrilynne Starkie, Ignition Strategic Communications, Washington, DC,
[email protected]
- Leverage your media relations budget by hiring less expensive Canadian contractors.
The Canadian dollar is trading at record lows compared to the U.S. buck, while
hourly rates in Canada have stayed the same. We have relationships with the
media and can use email and the telephone just as well as our counterparts
in Seattle only 140 miles to the south. As of May 28, the U.S. dollar was
converting to Canadian at $1.52.-Wayne Hartrick, CEO, Verus Group/ Reputations.com Inc., Vancouver, BC