It’s clear that sales are the most important part of business: without them there is no business. But supporting sales is the all-important concept of “marketing communications.” In an extremely basic sense, marketing communications breaks down into two other basic concepts: advertising (which you pay for) and public relations (which you don’t pay for, at least in the same way as advertising).

Let’s face it: it’s easier for a business owner to pay to place an ad on a website than it is to build the relationship where the website (or newspaper, radio station or television news program) wants to cover your business for free. But easier doesn’t always mean better.

Think of the difference… nobody browses the web for ads. They go to a website for the content. Nobody watches television news for the commercials… they watch to see what’s important that day because they trust the news. And therein lies the value of PR for businesses… credibility.

The credibility of the news outlet (be it a website, radio program, newspaper or TV) is carried over to your company when they talk about your business. Credibility is only derived from public relations because it is the choice of the outlet to tell people about you.

You can try this out yourself with no cost other than your time, or you can find a local expert to help you. Yes, you’ll have to pay for their time, but you should never have to pay to get covered.