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Topic: How do you ask for the money you're worth?
| Author | Message |
| Foreigner | Posted – 11/1/2007 10:44:33 AM | show profile Ok, here's a made-for-Cyrus Afzali- question (and anyone else who's so inclined to answer): if you've started building a PR business by picking a very good niche and being reasonably priced (not the greatest strategy), then worked hard and got some noteworthy product placements, what's the best way to raise your prices with new prospective clients who appear to be aware of what you charged your first few clients? And also, how do you actually educate them that it truly takes more time (and money) to get the job done properly than they would think? |
| Cyrus | Posted – 11/1/2007 11:31:09 AM | show profile I actually don't think there's anything wrong with that strategy. When you think about it, it's the main way standard businesses compete all the time. That said, one of the things that allow familiar businesses to lower their prices is reduced costs for materials. So even by lowering prices, they can in effect keep their profit margins relatively consistent. I too compete using reasonable costs as one angle, but I use the large PR firms as my comparison metric. That way, I avoid getting into bidding wars with wanna-be PR practitioners willing to do anything to get biz. One approach you could take is build a case that an increased budget will get them increased exposure. I'd make sure to point out that nothing can be guaranteed, but say that generally it's been proven over time. That way, people will look at your idea as partly an investment, not just an expense. All that said, some people will never be educated. I almost never take subcontracting jobs, but for some reason I decided to take one from a person needing help even though my current account load is at record-high levels. Anyway, I got tentative interest from the WSJ who may still write on it, but isn't making it a priority now. Honestly, I can understand that because even though I would never say that to a journalist, very little of what they're pitched is of critical importance. Anyway, when I do a campaign, in addition to building media lists from databases, I actually use Lex/Nex and other tools to find out who's been writing on a particular subject. That research time is crucial to my success, but is something many take for granted. So I'm close to the end of my small time allotment, and other than the WSJ, haven't really gotten anybody tremendously interested and she's upset, worrying about what she'll tell her client. I don't freak out if it's been two weeks, a month or more and nothing's happened yet because there's been countless times when a reporter has circled back to me on a pitch that was sent weeks ago. This may very well happen in this case as it did with my smallest retainer client and the WSJ last week. But I'd almost rather refund the 50 percent project fee I've received rather than have the hassle. All that's an example to say that education will always be a work in progress and some people will never get it. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| Foreigner | Posted – 11/1/2007 11:47:58 AM | show profile Thanks. The project that I'm currently being asked to consider is a big one, so I might ask them what they want to achieve, what they think would be a good outcome in terms of publicity, then say that the project requires a lot of research and follow-through on myriad details, and will incur expenses such as marketing collateral, travel costs, etc. , and ask if they have a budget before I prepare a proposal. I guess I should subtley get across the message "you get what you pay for" and if they have big media ambitions, tell them upfront the kind of time and trench work needed to write and pitch the media. Many clients think a general press release is the solution; the magic ingredient needed to generate good media coverage, but I tend to find that a generic media release is almost useless, and I do much better by tailoring individual, targeted pitches to reporters at publications (then I usually write a quick, general media release, but it's more to appease my client and have them feel they have a "product" than anything else - my story placements come from the personal emails.) |
| Foreigner | Posted – 11/1/2007 11:49:07 AM | show profile I guess I need to educate them on the targeted email approach and how it's timeconsuming but ultimately effective. |
| Cyrus | Posted – 11/1/2007 12:51:36 PM | show profile I never do press releases, as a rule. Two exceptions are for personnel announcements and financing announcements. In those cases, they're worth it because they get good pickup. I think a good prospective client would indeed understand a targeted campaign isn't always simply cookie cutter. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
