(Richard Laermer, author of Punk Marketing)

I stopped by RLM PR two weeks ago to meet CEO Richard Laermer. Like all good PR people, he loves to talk. I expected to get about 30 minutes. I left two hours later, with more ideas than I have time to chase, and inspired to do more with the ones I have.

The reason he's so convincing--and likely very authoritative with his clients--is because he practices the things many of us only preach.

He writes books. He's been a guest on cable news shows and had a show himself (TLC's "Taking Care of Business"). He was a journalist prior to getting in to PR. He speaks at conferences. He writes the popular BadPitch blog.

Yet Laermer admits there is always more to learn. Check out his TalentZoo column to see what happens when an experienced PR person hires a publicist. You may be inspired to handle your clients differently, and limit the barrage of what I call the "whattabouts".