I was on Twitter (If you’re not on twitter, your company is already looking to become outdated, and possibly die out), and @ROIRoy  asked what we thought of the future of PR.  Let’s define PR first…PR – Public Relations… The Public’s perception of you… your communications with the public… getting in the papers… hmmmm…  it’s really EVERY SINGLE THING YOU DO…. because every single thing you do affects how the public perceives you.  In fact… you can read my post on Best Buy’s crappy customer service (by the way, yesterday in conversation, an associate mentioned they too had a similar experience in a NY Best Buy… so now we’re generating a buzz about how crappy Best Buy is… that’s what they call “Bad PR”), and see how I mention that bad customer service is bad PR.  But… if you take a more granular approach to what is PR, you might break it down into tactics:  Press Releases, Articles, Interviews, hosting events, public speaking, having a website, having a newsletter, social networking, sending out bulletins on those social networks…. the list goes on and on (literally… new stuff’s created every day).  So, skip ahead… what’s a PR Agency do?

They get you press…. often by means of a press release, or.. as wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations):

Public relations – often referred to as PR – gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment.^[2] Because public relations places exposure in credible third-party outlets, it offers a third-party legitimacy that advertising does not have.^[2] Common activities include speaking at conferences, working with the press, and employee communication.

PR can be used to build rapport with employees, customers, investors, voters, or the general public.^[2] Almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public arena employs some level of public relations. A number of specialties exist within the field of public relations, such as Media Relations, Investor Relations or Labor Relations.

So there you have it… it’s interacting with the world in ways that are not placing an ad… Now, the original topic I’m writing about was my chat on Twitter…

ROIRoy: where do you see PR heading in 2009? i think PR is in danger.
Me: PR is just evolving..still needs 2 get done(magazines/papers/radio/tv), but must include Social (like twitter). PR is anything u do.
ROIRoy:that’s my point, PR is everything you do now, what is the need for a middleman?
Me: distribution… infrastructure… they can get it to the masses. You can send 100′s of press releases.. or make one to PrWeb.
Me: 1 needs to “do it all” what you can, & pay the services that save you time, and get better results. Do it all if you don’t sleep
ROIRoy:true but we see equalization across the board, a high school kid in his bedroom can get 200k followers on YouTube
Me: but he may not know how to monetize it. There are 18 year old millionaires..but most kids don’t have the discipline to do much w/ it
Me: It’s not what you know.. it’s what you do with it… everyone has access to the same tools. It’s learning they’re there… and the best uses
ROIRoy: originality & creativity are key, i think that’s what people appreciate now more than ever, and trad. PR is losing voice
Me: it’s not someone else’s voice. It’s someone else’s network. You can drive FL -> Cali in your car. But faster to pay $200 and fly on
some company’s plane… and u can work on the flight.

So… Why’s that boldfaced? ’cause that’s when other tweeterer’s like my new pal who’s into PR, @Rat_Race, said that I should make a blog post… everyone seemed to like my taking a flight metaphor.  So… let me break it down now.

You!  Yes, you!  Human (assumedly), employed, or a business-owner (or unemployed, but can still figure out some use for this article), and are trying to figure out how to get your business (let’s say you’re the decision maker, and it’s your business) more clients.  You place ad, but they’re not converting (people aren’t buying).  Well.. everyone knows that people only buy from who they know, like, and trust.  How do you do that? Hire a PR firm, or do your own PR.  Ok… you can sit there and try to learn how to send out a proper press release, and how to set up a mailer that will get the public’s attention, or how to make a viral video (That doesn’t get you ridiculed off the web “Leave Brittney alone!!”).   Oh yeah… and keep learning, ’cause this stuff is changing daily!  And.. while you’re learning that, you have to do it as well, and don’t forget running your business.  Now, there’s a learning curve.  How much time and money are you going to waste trying to get it right?

In the car metaphor, you can drive your car (operate your business), and then talk on the phone (learning PR), while tying your shoe (trying to do PR), while drinking a soda (keeping track of your PR efforts), and smoking whatever it is that you smoke (following up with the reporters).  Yeah… there’s a chance you may crash your car… not to mention, you can’t pull out the laptop and finish that latest project (or watch porn.. whatever).  Now… you take a plane… The air conditioning works, you have a stewardess (flight attendant.. whatever) bring you a meal (for $90), you have a trained captain who’s done this before, you get there faster, you can sleep or work on the flight.  You might meet some interesting people that perhaps you network with…..

So whether it’s a PR Firm, or a marketing consultant like myself… you’re paying for experience and knowhow.  You’re letting someone else do what would take you years to learn… and do it right now, freeing up your time to work on what you need.  As Management Guru Peter Drucker said “Do what you do best, and outsource the rest.”  You could be all smug that you learned the latest trick, and finally learned how to optimize your site’s SEO by naming the images properly, and adding an alt and title tag.  Good for you… and while you’re doing that instead of running your business, I’m creating a Squidoo lens, a hubpages hub, getting answers in Yahoo answers, sending out press releases, setting up a facebook, a myspace, a blog, and pinging the crap out of everything… and submitting my videos (also optimized for SEO) to 40 video sites.  Isn’t it easier to say “Here Ori… take my money, and make my competition cry about the economy.”

You can mail out 300 press releases from home to 300 publications… but sending out one good press release (at the proper level) on PRweb.com will get your message to over 300 sources, as well as get it into the search engines, and offer you tracking… oh yeah… and it’s instant.  Though— if you want results, do the PRWeb thing, AND send out press releases to specific editors that are relevant to your company.

The reason you pay for a service, is because the people focus on the one thing.  And like any martial artist or musician can tell you, constant repetition (i.e. Practice and experience) is how you get from awful to mastery.  Trust me, you don’t want to be doing everything.  You might save $100 on gas…. but how much were those 3 days of driving time cost you?

As for me?  I’ll drive because I like to take photos along the way, meet new people, have adventures, and enjoy all the different energy drinks sold at different gas stations.  I have wireless internet, an assistant, a cell phone, and I can pull over and work anywhere.  If you need me to do some of this stuff for you– clear up some couch space, and plan an adventure!