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What could you learn from Bill Gates about PR?

The economy is tight and corporations tighten their belts down to that last notch, unfortunately PR is usually one of the first few items on the budget that's frozen or cut completely. If your marketing is tracked correctly, you will see the impact to your company. Tracking and analyzing your marketing efforts will allow you to see the impact to profit. Be smart with your marketing and PR to document the strategies and profitable impact to the company.

A cut in funding for company advertising and marketing hurts your company. Print and broadcast advertising gives your company exposure. Search engines reach potential new clients worldwide. When you make cuts in the PR, you hurt your companies' profits.

Company public relations means connecting with the community and potential sales worldwide. The results achieved with a performance-based agency give the client the PR results and exposure they were looking for. Retainer-based firms operate on the principle of making their 'best efforts' to get your company press. With retainer-based firms, you're paying more for their time than for the press you were looking for. You pay for the print, radio and local and national TV exposure. They are unlike retainer-based firms who track and bill for every hour of their time.

Part of the issue facing corporations is the lack of understanding of the difference between PR and advertising. The heart of PR is that clients will likely pay one-tenth or less of the cost of an advertising campaign.

Your name can be printed free in national magazines, you can be interviewed on radio or appear on national TV. Are you a financial guru? Appear on a national TV interview. An outlet like Fox News carries credibility. If the editors of these outlets deem the company or client worthy of news coverage, then there must be something special about them.

Gates was one of the few software geniuses of his era who also understood the differences between advertising and public relations, and was able to maximize both to his company's favor. Trusting in your performance-based PR firm to drive your ideas is the first step to your success. There is no need to pay a retainer for someone's hourly efforts that do not received the same results.

At the end of the day, companies can't survive the lean times without a steady stream of customers coming to their doorsteps, and PR can deliver them without busting the bank.

Marsha Friedman is a nationally recognized publicity expert, writer, national radio personality, public speaker and CEO of EMS Incorporated, a national PR firm with a 20 year record of excellence. Every day she consults individuals and businesses about how to harness the power of publicity. Visit her online and claim your free PR video (a $100 value) for no charge today.