Are you getting enough PR?

Public Relations had always been a mystery to me until recently.  In the 20 years of my legal career I can only think of one time when I was featured in a news story.  Otherwise, everything I did fell under the radar aside from any direct marketing I was providing to my network.  And believe it or not, I was fine with that.  However, I was ready to take my business to the next level, and being under the radar was no longer acceptable.  During the 3^rd and 4^th quarter of 2009, I spent some time thinking about PR, building relationships with experts in that field, and then actually working with them to de-mystify the process for me. 

What I found out was that like everything else, PR is about relationships.  I didn’t have relationships with journalists and TV news reporters, but these PR professionals did.  They showed me how to interact with media professionals and build those relationships, and they introduced me to those relationships.  Before I knew it, I was attracting PR to my events, to my business, and stories were being written about me and my company.  Click here.

It is clear now that what made the difference was me setting an intention about getting known.  I wanted to learn about PR, invest in it, and build relationships.  When I did those things, I got the results I wanted.  At first it seemed a little awkward.  In fact, PR occurred to me like cosmetic surgery.  You don’t tell people you are having a little work done, you just let them admire the results.   But once I realized PR was about building relationships with the right people, it was easy because I’d already learned how to create and build relationships with people in a variety of industries. 

I’d love to hear your experiences with attracting PR.  Do you find it a challenge getting the attention of the news media on air, or in the press?  Have you experienced more success with one type of PR versus another?  Have you worked with a PR coach or consultant?  How did that work for you?