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Hiring a public relations agency (P.R. agency) or publicist can be a great way for businesses to improve their image and reputation, as well as increase their visibility. However, it’s important for businesses to avoid making mistakes when choosing a PR agency or publicist, since these mistakes can lead to wasted time and money, and even damage to the business’s reputation.

As a former national network TV talk show producer, Marianne Schwab has worked with P.R. Agencies for over twenty-five years and shares some insight on what to do look for to make a good match with an agency and the business they’ll be representing. She says, “When I produced daily talk shows, I got a lot of pitches from P.R. agencies and some were great, but many publicists were kind of clueless and didn’t understand how to effectively pitch television talk shows to get results for their clients. Overall, publicists are generalists in P.R. and have to pitch print publications like magazines and newspapers or online publications so pitching broadcast outlets like podcasts, radio, and television talks shows and news programs requires an entirely different skill set and contact database that many publicists don’t have.”

Schwab says when businesses or entrepreneurs hire a PR agency or publicist they need to avoid making these mistakes because they won’t just cost money, but they’ll end up with little to no media results which is the goal when investing in a public relations campaign.

Mistake #1 – Not doing their homework. It’s important for businesses to thoroughly research and compare different PR agencies or publicists before making a hiring decision. This includes looking at the agency’s or publicist’s track record, understanding their approach to P.R., and getting references from other clients that include the media results. Schwab says, “It’s also important to look at the types of clients they have worked with and are currently representing for two reasons. First, they need to be the right fit for your industry or aligned with your brand, and second, confirm that they do not currently represent any competitors which would be a conflict of interest. This can sometimes be tricky if you’re thinking about working with a brand that specializes in beauty and skin care. On one hand, they have developed media contacts for that industry that can help you, but on the other hand, they may represent competing products or brands and that can be an issue.”

Mistake #2 – Failing to set clear and realistic goals or objectives. Before hiring a PR agency or publicist, it’s crucial for businesses to have a clear idea of what they hope to achieve through public relations. Goals might include increasing brand awareness, improving media coverage, or managing a crisis, but should also be measurable like securing a specific number of placements in print and broadcast with a specific number of impressions for the audience as well. “PR campaigns do take time to get traction and produce results so you need to be realistic about the time not only needed to achieve these goals,” Schwab says, “but also do not expect national coverage when local media may be far more effective and realistic.”

Mistake #3 – Not communicating effectively. Communication is key to the success of any PR campaign. It’s important for businesses to provide their PR agency or publicist with all relevant information they need to represent the client, including details about the business and its products or services, as well as any challenges or issues that need to be addressed. In turn, the PR agency or publicist should keep the business informed about the progress of the campaign and any opportunities or challenges that arise.

Mistake #4 – Not being open to expert consultation or feedback. A good PR agency or publicist will provide honest and constructive feedback to help the business improve its PR efforts. It’s important for businesses to be open to this feedback and be willing to make changes based on it. Marianne Schwab advises, “Remember that you have hired an expert and your results will depend on how much you respect their advice and heed it. I always love when a client is open to ideas that may push the envelope just a bit since those are the pitches that get the best results.”

Mistake #5 – Overpaying for services: There are also other considerations especially when it comes to the fee for public relations services. “I’ve seen some small businesses and entrepreneurs get talked into buying ‘too much P.R.’ for the size of their business. Retainers for small agencies start around $3,000 per month and the major P.R. agencies charge up to $25,000 and more. Small companies don’t need a big agency and it breaks my heart when I see them invest a boatload of money and get little to no results in media placements especially when I know I can guarantee meaningful media placements for clients,” Schwab comments.

By avoiding these mistakes, businesses can improve their chances of success when working with a PR agency or publicist. A well-planned and executed PR campaign can be a valuable investment for any business, helping to build its reputation and reach new audiences.

Marianne Schwab has worked as a producer for over 25 years in New York and Los Angeles. She is currently the Executive Producer of CMP Media Cafe where she works with clients to develop compelling media hooks and story angles that get them TV and radio interviews in today’s complicated media environment. She shares tips on Instagram and has created an online training that shares her insider secrets to promoting a business on TV talk shows and details the types of guests producers love to book as guests.

Personal branding has become one of the most important foundations for entrepreneurs as they build a business and professional reputation to promote their image to their ideal clients and there are three crucial keys to ensure personal branding success. Unfortunately, if these are not part of the initial business strategy, it can derail the best laid out plans since personal branding is much more than color combinations, fonts, and a cool logo. It is, in fact, an essential ingredient for every aspect of marketing a business that includes websites, social media posts, advertising, and everything digital.

Ross B. Williams, founder of Modern Profits, is a Personal Branding Strategist and he says, “When personal branding is done correctly, it will differentiate you from your competition and elevate your reputation, but business branding is very different from personal branding. Not only do you need to understand the difference between the two, but you also must understand why you need both. You can be successful at your business but if your personal branding is not aligned with who you are, you are missing opportunities that ultimately affect your bottom line.” 

Williams, who was recently interviewed on Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend, the local ABC-TV station, has a unique background as a personal branding strategist.  He has contributed multi-seven–figure sales revenue to several companies with his mastery of sales and uses his business building skills and digital marketing expertise to help successful business owners dramatically increase revenue by transforming their personal brand.  When he works with his clients, he incorporates three crucial keys to ensure personal branding success.

1. Personal branding should reflect the entrepreneur’s authentic self. A personal brand should be an accurate, yet authentic, version of who the entrepreneur is so they attract the types of clients with whom they want to work. According to Ross B. Williams, this is crucial for ultimate success, “I see a lot of successful entrepreneurs promoting their lifestyle on social media, for example, but I have no idea what they actually do, what business they’re in, or how I can help them by referring business. If people don’t know what you do, they can’t refer business to you and that is why a personal brand is so important.”

Ross continues, “The ultimate point to keep in mind is that people buy from people so your personal brand is a reflection of you even when you’re not the face of a company. Since you are promoting yourself, you need to create your branding assets according to your personality. If you are selling something that’s not true to you, others will feel it.” 

2. Entrepreneurs must build their personal brand alongside their business brand. Today, more than ever, it’s not enough to build a business brand, but entrepreneurs need to build a personal brand in tandem as they build their business. Why? Williams advises, “It’s imperative that you begin with the end in mind. If you have an exit strategy when you build your business to sell it five years down the road, you only want to be the ‘face’ of a successful business without having your name tied to the brand because if you do, you can’t sell your business as a separate brand.”

Ross goes on to say, “If you choose to sell your business someday without a personal brand developed alongside your company, you’d have to start another business from scratch and cannot use your name on your business.”

3. The logo and color combinations are just “gift wrap” for a personal brand. Many entrepreneurs start their personal branding with a logo and branding board, but it is much more complex and scientific, according to Williams, “Personal branding starts with how you make people feel with what you do in your business, how you want to be portrayed and have others see you, then you wrap it in colors and design. The graphic designer understands the creative color combinations, fun fonts, and logo design, but most don’t understand which colors, and even fonts, trigger emotions and attract clients to buy from you before they even get to peek inside the box. These are psychological touch points that can dramatically increase sales and ultimately revenues.”

Content creation for personal branding can be overwhelming for most business owners and that’s why Ross B. Williams has put this all together in a done for you package that’s simple for any business owner. The key is not to build a little bit at a time and then try to bring it all together since that’s chaotic or doesn’t match. “Effective personal branding demands that social media, photos, graphic design, and media are cohesive and congruent so that it extends your digital footprint and your omnipresence.” Ross concludes.

Ross helps coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs, and business owners build their personal brand with his brand accelerator package. This helps entrepreneurs perfect their messaging and expand their digital footprint with a website, funnel, social media, and press that seamlessly work together as a cohesive brand that people remember and buy from. 

Ross B. Williams works with clients based in the U.S. and around the world to develop personal branding strategies that get results. He is available for Personal Branding Strategy sessions and can be contacted at RossBWilliams.com or connect with Ross on Instragram.