Whats the difference between PR and advertising?
In advertising, you’re paying to control the message that you want delivered. Public relations means getting stories written about your company in the local press, business media, trade publications, and other media outlets. PR is an informative message about your company, but you don’t ultimately control the content. Why should small companies think about adding PR to their marketing plans? The public can be cynical. They have a lot of advertising messages thrown at them on a daily basis. I’ve seen new companies throw $10,000 into scattershot advertising and get almost no return for it. But when people read media articles, they’re going to take them more seriously than they do ads, especially if you can get a third party—maybe a former client or an expert of some kind—to comment positively in the article about your company. That lends you enormous credibility, it’s good content that’s not coming from you, and you don’t have to pay for it. Well, maybe you’re paying $5,000 a month for a
