When it comes time to hire a PR agency, how do you decide with which one to work?  The industry is filled with professionals at every level of knowledge and experience.

“Back in the day,” businesses made important decisions about their company internally, such as what events to have, who to invite to those events, how to best launch a new product, and so forth.  There was no Internet, no social media and no 24-hour news cycle.  What PR people had were media contacts…and he who had the best media contacts ruled.

We are often surprised when potential clients still place the most weight on who to hire based on what contacts a freelancer or agency seems to know.  And there are no lack of PR pros who will drop names for that very reason.  But it’s striking in today’s world where companies and entrepreneurs are much more sophisticated and are seeking experienced consultants in many areas, how simply “knowing people” is not nearly enough.

We were at a meeting this past week discussing a client’s product not yet on the market, and it won’t be launching for months.  The client looked to us to for counsel in regard to such things as how and when to launch the first products, potential distribution methods, price point recommendations and the pros and cons of an influencer outreach campaign.  At some point in the launch, “who we know” will come into play, but even then it’s less about what media you know, and really how to develop a compelling pitch that will get the attention of ANY journalist - buddy or not.

Even an expert who wants to become better known in their industry and primarily needs the support of a media relations campaign should look beyond those just touting media contacts.  For the experts with whom we work, we also support them in areas of their business such as strategic partnership identification and development, other creative ways in which to reach their customer, how to package and leverage the media coverage they get for even more awareness, and so forth.

Before seeking PR representation, take time to assess all the areas where you need counsel that public relations can provide.  If you find you need a broader range of support than just media contacts, then look beyond someone’s Rolodex to find the best fit for you.

Our client Julie* has built up multiple six-figure-revenue-streams for herself by leveraging her PR successes. Each of these additional revenue streams not only brings in a steady income for her, but also gets her additional major media coverage for her portfolio…for free!

How is she getting paid AND getting free PR? She’s doing this in several ways, but this week’s tip focuses on getting corporate sponsorship deals.

There are many corporations which offer a great product or service, but they need an outside spokesperson to deliver the messages to the media so that there is built-in “third party” credibility. In other words, in order to get media exposure for their own product, the company uses a related expert to talk about the product or service in media interviews.

For example, let’s look at an online dating site. In order to get covered by the media, a tactic the site may use is to conduct a PR campaign during which a relationship expert offers advice on “The Do’s And Don’ts of Online Dating.”  Said relationship expert could be you! IF, you have already had some PR success on your own and have proven to be media-worthy.

Further sponsorship opportunities abound with online marketing tactics such as Podcasts and webisodes. Just as with traditional media campaigns, these same corporations are hiring experts as spokespeople for their online marketing efforts.

In our work with corporate clients, we’ve hired experts in dozens of specialties and areas, ranging from interior designers to dance instructors to nutritionists. And very often, we identified these experts by searching websites to find those who had previous media exposure exhibited on their site, or we simply “discovered” them by watching or reading the news ourselves.  If this type of free exposure and income “pay day” sounds good to you, begin your media outreach today so that you, too, can generate a six-figure-revenue-stream for your business.

*Name has been changed for anonymity