When I talk to mompreneurs about marketing, most remark that if they had more cash, they would buy more advertising to promote their business.

It’s actually rare that moms or other entrepreneurs mention getting PR in terms of growing their business. However, both PR and advertising are important in the marketing of a business, depending on what stage your business is at.

PR builds awareness of your product or service, and advertising supports the brand when it gets known.

With PR you get:

• Free Placement
• A Journalistic Slant – a journalist can write what they want no matter how you position your story
• A story that usually runs only once or twice (exceptions are when a newswire picks up the story)
• Credibility because it’s viewed as a third-party endorsement
• No guarantees and it can be time-consuming

With Advertising you get:

• Paid Placement
• Complete creative control
• Visibility and ads will run as often as you’re willing to pay
• Media-savvy consumers know it’s an ad, and tend to be skeptical
• A guaranteed date the ad will run and it’s easy if you have money to spend

PR builds credibility, Advertising builds visibility.

Let me give you an example regarding PR and advertising. An editor at the New York Times wrote over a quarter page plus a photo for a client. That article garnered lots of inquiries from customers and distributors wanting to carry their product. Another side benefit was that other reporters became interested in writing about the company.

That’s what’s cool about PR. Because it’s written by a journalist, there’s instant credibility and other people become more interested. If my client had taken out an ad of that size, it would have cost them, oh about $25,000. That’s a lot of money for something most of us wouldn’t even notice. That’s a lot of money for most of us, period.

So, although PR may be time consuming with no guarantees, it can also be very powerful especially for small businesses and mompreneurs with limited promotion budgets. If you can’t afford a professional publicist, don’t be afraid to learn how to do PR yourself. It’s one of the most cost-effective and credible ways to build a business.

Elena Verlee
www.PRinYourPajamas.com
Practical Publicity for the Time-Strapped Mom Entrepreneur

Follow me on Twitter
Link with me on LinkedIn