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What could you learn from Bill Gates about PR?

Companies need to pay attention to effective advertising and the profits gained. It seems to be an easy choice to cut advertising budgets because it's impossible to track the impact of PR in strict accounting terms. Tracking and analyzing your marketing efforts will allow you to see the impact to profit. Great marketing departments and their attention to detail show great company profits.

Companies need to pay attention to how these cuts hurt sales and sales leads. Add to that the fact that the print and broadcast coverage almost always comes with an online media counterpart re-purposing their stories. Free press gives your company a wide audience. The accounting and number guys need to realize that freezing PR budgets hurt the company.

In lean times, public relations still provides the highest value and greater return on investment than any other marketing tactic, including promotions and advertising. To increase that value, there are a number of 'performance-based' PR agencies that mitigate the risk of their clients and only get paid when they deliver solid placements. You never have a guarantee with a retainer-based PR firm. In these economic times, you want to make sure that the money you spend on PR for your company has results. With performance-based agencies, you actually pay only for press, not for intangibles like time and effort. Performance-based firms care about you and want you to succeed in your publicity efforts.

Public Relations offer the client the exposure and networking to get the publicity they deserve. The heart of PR is that clients will likely pay one-tenth or less of the cost of an advertising campaign.

The PR delivers a larger punch because it focuses on the placement of articles and broadcast spots in free media. Do you have a new children's book, appear in person for a book signing. An outlet like Barnes and Noble carries credibility. Your ideas and expertise in your medium requires attention.

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. But with performance-based PR agencies, companies don't need a Gates-sized bankroll to capitalize on the power of PR. 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.