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An increasing number of small public relations firms are run by women, and they head some of the bigger ones. In fact, women now outnumber men in the business, says the Public Relations Society of America. Mass Media Exposure Besides writing brochures, proposals, speeches and other materials designed to improve your company's image, these firms help you work with the mass media on news and feature outlets to publish, broadcast and, via the Internet, provide them with favorable information about your company. A growing number of PR professionals focus on getting that media endorsement that your customers and prospects find so credible. PR pros also work for you vis-ŕ-vis the media in a crisis. Mary Graybill, solo practitioner in Los Angeles, prevented the publication of an erroneous news story charging her client with polluting. Learning a reporter was writing that her client, a processor and recycler of scrap metal, was moving noxious dirt, she found and identified the true source of the problem. Graybill got the Hazardous Materials Inspector's office to confirm that the offending odor came from a nearby sewer line, not from the material her client was properly removing. Smaller May Be Better The key to successful PR is finding the right firm for you. Smaller accounts are usually more important to smaller firms. You'd have more clout, for example, with one like Young & Associates, a Rockville, Md., high-tech firm that targets telecommunications and the Internet. Its eight employees work as a team on each account, drawing on each member's expertise. "Our mission," says President Jean Young, "is to have a measurable impact on each client's bottom line." Often, she says, “a public relations is a way to reach a short-term goal, such as going public." You can also hire a public relations firm for a simple, one-time assignment, such as writing a brochure or news release. Or you can retain a firm to handle a variety of tasks on a continuing basis for as long as you wish. That might involve not only writing an article about your products or services, but also contacting the appropriate publications and broadcasters to get them to run the story.
Finding the right
agency
McDonald Media Services in Studio City, Calif., specializes in media relations also teaches its clients how to deal with the media themselves and coaches the' writing and delivering speeches. "In some cases," says owner Meg McDonald, "i one of several agencies our clients use on a regular basis" -- each for its particular expertise. "We bring the media's viewpoint as to how to put a story together," says McDonald who, like many PR pros, has a degree in journalism and has worked in media. "At end of each project, or on a monthly basis for retainer accounts, we provide a spreadsheet that shows our client what the coverage we helped arrange would cost if they had advertised instead." In an ongoing arrangement, a PR firm can design a program to be implemented over a period of weeks, months or years. The firm would help you set your goal: establish the objectives to achieve them. A comprehensive program would also determine your target audiences, create activities and events to convey your me and even develop those messages. The program should provide a timetable for executing each component and an overall budget. Rates for an ongoing program for small business accounts range up from $2,500 month, depending on the number of hours you contract for. Rates for project we generally start at about $75 an hour, with a minimum of $750, but there are many exceptions to that. Durazo Communications specializes in the Hispanic market, with clients such as Target Stores, Mervyn’s and GTE. The Los Angeles firm sometimes teams with the big boys such as Fleishman-Hillard and Burson-Marsteller when they need Durazo’s expertise, says Executive VP Dan Durazo. “Since delivering information electronically for our clients has been growing in importance,” he says, “our www.noticiaswire.com is the first wire service for Hispanic media. We come up with specific market events of interest to our clients and help them with the media relations opportunities that might be unique for each client with Hispanic outlets to create a cost-effective program for them that will help meet their goals.” The Hispanic market has grown tremendously in recent years, says Durazo. “It’s the largest ethnic group in southern California and will be the largest ethnic group in the country within 20 years. “It’s also a much younger group than the general market, so our clients are looking at it to sell diapers and baby foods and those types of products.”
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