An expensive PR firm will tell you otherwise. They might be right, if you're a celebrity or a big organization. In that case, it's a bad idea for you to try to do your own PR.
Yet for many individuals, small business owners and people just trying to break through -- whether it's in politics, entertainment or professional sports -- hiring an expensive PR firm is not an option. The budget isn't there.
There are other options.
You can do it yourself, though this is a bit tricky. It's hard to be objective about yourself or your business.
Another option is hiring a one-person PR shop, part-time, instead of a big PR firm, and putting a limit on what you do every month. Most firms charge by the hour. Put a lid on the hours per month, if that's all you can afford.
If money is tighter than that, I suggest getting a pro to (a) work with you on a media plan, (b) do training on how to do PR and (c) checking your first pieces of work before they get shipped out.
But if you really have to do it yourself -- with no budget -- don't just read books and how-to blogs before making a blog and a Twitter account and going wild with the press releases.
The more important step, if you're going to do it yourself, is buying people coffee.
I'm not joking.
Cups of coffee are far, far cheaper than even one hour of billable time at a big PR firm, which could run you $200 or more. For people doing their own publicity, you can't get a better return on your investment than cups of joe.
If you live in a small town, buy a cup of java for the editor of your community paper.
Tell her you're doing your own PR and want to know how the paper prefers to get things. Every paper is different. Maybe she hates e-mail and is one of the lone holdouts, clinging to her fax machine. You never know.
Do the same thing with the news producer at your local radio station. Ask him what he'd do in your shoes.
If you live in a big city, talk to your neighborhood papers, or the beat reporter for what you do.
People running for office should buy the political reporter a cup of joe.
Small business owners should buy the business reporter or editor a mocha.
Minor league baseball players should buy the sports reporter who covers the team a latte. Or a beer.
People are happy to talk about their job. And coffee isn't lunch or dinner, which is a little more formal and scary, more like a date with somebody you don't know. And many journalists won't accept lunch or dinner from a source they might cover.
Coffee is safe. It's not after work hours, when they want to see their family. It's quick and during their work day. They know it's probably fifteen minutes -- maybe an hour, if they enjoy talking to you and want to stick around that long. Nothing scary about that.
Ask them what they would do, in your shoes. Don't talk much. Don't pitch them stories you think they should write. Just ask them what they'd do.
Listen and take notes. And after you've done this, they'll remember your name, and you'll remember what to do to make their life easier. That's more valuable than anything else.