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Launching a public relations campaign can be confronting. Many people are uncomfortable and resist the mere thought of launching a PR campaign. As one client explained to me, he didn’t want to do interviews, he didn’t want to be a star; he simply wanted his business to be successful. I understood exactly what he meant. His focus was on his business, on the bottom line, and being featured in a newspaper or on a TV segment didn’t mean much to him, unless it affected the bottom line. But there was also something else going on. He was shy and embarrassed and being interviewed, or sitting in front of a TV camera, scared the heck out of him. If you feel that way, ask yourself what you’re willing to do to be successful. Are you willing to utilize the most powerful marketing tool available? Are you willing to take risks, utilize the magic of the media, and give your business a real chance for success?

If your response is yes, remember very few people are naturals when it comes to the media. It’s a skill and one that can be learned. I generally suggest that people take at least a couple of hours of media training before launching a campaign. It helps you focus, helps you relax and shows you how to tell your story in the most comfortable, organic way possible. It also teaches you how to meet the media’s needs as well as your own. Our trainer is Ann Convery, she has prepared clients for interviews in a wide range of media outlets from Oprah and 60 Minutes to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Her specialty is helping you refine and condense your story. She teaches people how to present themselves as experts in their field in a relaxed effective manner. Her focus is on showing you how to present yourself not as a celebrity, but as an authority.

Effective media placement isn’t about wanting to be a star or wanting to appear on the media – it’s about success. It truly is about the bottom line. It’s about establishing yourself as an expert in your field and zooming beyond your competition. But media relations is also a cumulative process. One interview does not a PR campaign make. But done effectively and consistently, media relations is a creative, effective, relatively inexpensive, and dynamic way to achieve success. Remember your goal is not to position yourself as a “star” or an entertainer, but as a trusted expert in your field. You are establishing yourself as an invaluable resource for the media. If the PR process is uncomfortable for you, try thinking of it this way, you probably don’t like to pay the bills, or do the books, or purchase supplies, but you do all those things because it’s part of doing business. All those processes are a part of your bottom line. PR should be at the top of that list, because unlike those other tasks, PR can generate cash flow, bring you clients and build your brand. It should be an integral part of your business equation. You do it because you want to be successful. You do it so your business can grow and prosper.