Most CEOs have a simple, though naive outlook – “If we only have 25 companies in the world who we can possibly do business with, and we know who we are, what the hell do I need PR – or an professional PR firm for?”

Secondly, with the commoditization of PR services and the belief set that all you have to do is write a crappy press release, put on BusinessWire or PR Newswire, and that’s it, many companies see no value in paying for valued services from PR pros who get it, are well connected, and understand the B 2 B social web.

There remains a constant of shopping on price and not understanding that you really do get what you pay for.

While this comment may seem to be negative, it’s actually a positive one. Finding good PR counsel is very much a self selecting process. Those of us in a position to do so, will often shop the client to be as much as they may shop for an advisory services firm. After the budget issue is resolved, I look for a great management team, sound IP, high barriers to entry, and a will to sustain a minimum six month relationship.

Jeff

I do, however, find the implication that freelancers are somehow second rate galling and, frankly, insulting.

Whilst there is every shade of freelance from ‘can’t get a job’ through to ‘kick ass’, there is equally every shade of agency from ‘charlatan’s who tie you up like a kipper for a year and deliver nothing’ through to, you’ve guessed it, ‘kick ass’.

I have years of hard earned PR experience, gained working with both big brands and start ups, agency and in-house, from simple advice & training through to full blown international campaigns. I can say categorically that ’smart’ is about ensuring that both parties, PR and client, work well together, understand the job in hand and are happy with the deal that they have forged together.

Stupid, on the other hand, is thinking that just because you have a smart expensive agency with flags and fountains, you are going to get anything other than a straight out of uni graduate, worked to the bone and unsupervised, pumped full of overblown promises and plotting their escape at the first opportunity. (And somewhere along the line clients will be paying for the flags and fountains).

Whilst I agree with many of the sentiments in this article regarding spending enough to get the job done, money spent & size of agency guarantee nothing beyond the bill each month & how many people you’re paying for. Much more important is adequate resource, chemistry and ability to deliver.