Hiring a Publicist: What You Need to Know to Get Results without Overspending

Let’s see if this sounds right: You want your business to get covered in the press, but you’re not sure how to make that happen? Well-meaning colleagues offer advice ranging from “hire a PR firm” to “find a freelance PR person” to “get a publicist?” If you’re confused about what these terms mean, and what you can expect—and what it will cost—you’re not alone. Chances are, if you’re running a small organization, a publicist is probably your best option. This article offers some thoughts on hiring a publicist without overspending. It’s based on Comms Factory’s 12+ years of experience serving as a publicist for a wide variety of small businesses, creatives, and entrepreneurs.

Do I need a publicist?

If you’re thinking, “I need a publicist,” you are likely looking for an individual who can help with public relations, rather than an agency. It’s worth taking a minute to clarify the differences between a publicist, a PR freelancer, and a PR firm?

There is a fair amount of overlap between a PR freelancer and a publicist. In some cases, a publicist is more junior and has less experience and capabilities. Other times, a PR freelancer will serve as a publicist on a project. It’s mostly a matter of scope.

Figuring out what you need depends somewhat on where your organization falls on what I call the “PR Maturity Scale.” This is not an official industry thing. It’s just a way I categorize potential clients and help them figure out what they need. I’ve borrowed the concept from the technology industry, where I often do content writing work.

If you’re at Stage II or III, you probably don’t need a publicist, unless you’re hiring one to augment your PR team or agency. Publicists are mostly for Stage I companies. These are businesses that are new to PR and may not have a good sense of what they can get out of the process.

Selecting a publicist

If you’ve decided to hire a professional publicist, you’ve taken the first step toward getting press coverage for your small business. A number of questions quickly arise: Where do I find a professional publicist? Today, this likely means working with an established freelancing platform like Fiverr or UpWork. What can I expect a professional publicist to do for me? Ideally, the publicist or PR freelancer will offer the range of services you need, but it pays to check, because some publicists have a limited repertoire of services, e.g., they only write press releases. What are the likely outcomes? It pays to be realistic, but aim high if you have a good story.

What to look for in a professional publicist

The publicist you select should come with proven experience. This means strong references. There are a lot of people out there calling themselves publicists. Some have very limited experience. They should have the skills you need, e.g., some experience in your category. If you’re an author, then the right publicist will be someone who has done some book work.

What do be careful about when selecting a professional publicist

We frequently get contacted by prospective clients who “had a bad experience” with a PR person. Sometimes, this means they bought a press release writing and distribution service from a distributor and were disappointed by the results. We caution you about the following potential pitfalls that arise when selecting a professional publicist:

• Minimal or misleading experience—Freelancers often overstate their qualifications. It’s smart to ask questions. For example, if someone says they have music PR experience, does this mean they were hired by a band to serve as a publicist or were they a fan who did a press release for free?
• Undisclosed use of artificial intelligence (AI)—AI programs like Anthropic Claude can do remarkably well in writing press releases, but in most cases, they are no substitute for a professional press release writer. AI-written press releases may contain inaccuracies and made-up quotes from nonexistent people.
• Deviations from standard practices—With the caveat that PR is evolving in the age of social media, reporters still expect a certain level of professionalism and traditional formatting of news announcements, etc. I’ve seen press releases that read like free association tweetstorms. This is not what you want in a publicist.
• Limited contacts—A publicist should either have relationships with media outlets or access to a comprehensive media contact platform like Muck Rack. We’ve had clients come to us saying, “We hired a publicist, but she only knew one reporter at the local paper. After she called the reporter, she was stuck.”

Setting realistic expectations for your relationship with a professional publicist

What results can you expect from a professional publicist? Ideally, hiring a publicist will result in meaningful media coverage. Some of this has to do with your profile and story. For example, if you’re a realtor in Miami, it will be hard for even the best publicist to get a profile of you in the New York Times. Now, perhaps the publicist could get you covered in the Miami Herald or on local TV. That’s a more realistic goal.

Budgeting for a publicist or PR freelancer

How do you budget for a publicist or PR freelancer? Your “go to” may be “I need a cheap PR firm,” and that may be your best approach. However, PR is a “you get what you pay for” field, so cheap is not always good. “Who is the cheapest publicist?” is not always the right question to ask. On freelance platforms, for example, there are inexperienced publicists offering misleading claims about what they can do for you. The price may be low, but the service will probably be terrible.

That said, it is possible to hire a low-cost PR firm that does good work. Especially early in your PR journey, you may need to identify a freelancer or publicist who can work for relatively low rates on limited scope projects. This is a good way to get to know each other and test drive the process. It’s a good method to gauge whether your business is newsworthy.

Conclusion

There is a publicist out there who can help you accomplish your PR goals on a budget you can afford. The key to success is to look for experience and scope the project so that the publicist can achieve meaningful goals. The publicist need not be expensive, either. A lot of good people will work for reasonable rates.

To learn about Comms Factory pay-as-you-go public services, visit https://commsfactory.net/our-services/

Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/reporter-against-red-car-10464786/