1. Choosing your consultant
A competitive industry is great from a consumer’s point of view. It can mean lots of choices. But time constraints can still make a decision difficult when it comes to choosing a consultant. Will they offer value for money and be able to produce tangible results?

It is really important to engage a PR strategy at the seeding of your business. So much about a new business is newsworthy. But PR is more than publicity. It’s about communication and preparation of a communication strategy that ensures consistency of all your marketing and business communications. An audit by a professional and that is why they are called communication professionals, will determine your key messages and ensure that every piece of communication makes mention of them.
Tip 1 – avoid the waffle that can ensue when you don’t have a clear communication strategy

2. How much will it cost?

Typically a consultant will offer a variety of ways to charge for work. A retainer is one way, where you contract with the consultant for a defined period of time for a specified set of work. An hourly rate is another. There is also the option of a project based fee structure. BE AWARE no one can guarantee media placement. Some firms will offer pay for performance for publicity. This means that you only pay for placement. This fee will vary according to the placement, with some publications commanding a premium fee of sometimes up to a couple of thousand of dollars.

Tip 2 – there are no guarantees for media placement.

3. Return on investment
Research is critical before and after campaigns, otherwise how will you measure success. This can sometimes be the most costly part of the whole process. The research will determine the success of a plan that includes raising awareness. This is a very common component of PR and takes time to achieve, never usually less than six to 12 months. Media monitoring is a crucial element and should be costed into the project, media releases are often run without notice from the newspaper. How will you know if this happens without monitoring?

Tip 3 – be prepared to work closely with your consultant for at least six months

4. Planning

This is a must, you should never consider taking on a project where you did not have clearly defined objectives and an action plan. Otherwise how would you proceed and how do you rate your campaign, which brings us to the next tip.

Tip 4 – Plan well with measurable concise performance objectives

5. Evaluation

Project based PR will have a list of deliverables therefore giving you a point at which to measure the effectiveness of the consultant and your strategies. Meet regularly with your consultant. Plans are not set in stone, business or PR plans and must be flexible. A creative consultant will always be looking for ways to improve and will want to run their ideas by you regularly. After all a measure of what they do is creative. Be patient, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Raising a businesses’ profile takes time and dedicated and persistent effort.

Tip 5 – Be proactive and look for it in your consultant
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