Friday is always my day to catch up on reading. As I was making my way through Forbes.com, I was excited to see a piece about PR in the entrepreneur section: “The Single Greatest Marketing Tool.” The piece started off by highlighting the benefits — especially to startups — that PR can have. I love seeing business media validating what we do, so this made my day …

… But I was quickly disappointed. Forbes’ initial advice for selecting a PR firm focused on very tactical activities. The article describes PR as a “squishy science” that often needs “tweaking.” I was hoping for a little more about how PR can directly affect a company’s bottom line, help brand a new start-up looking for funding, how PR can actually be measured, etc.

But wait – it gets better. Mid-way into the article, it shifts direction and actually offers “advice” to entrepreneurs looking to get PR in-house with little effort and little money. My favorite snippets (and yes, I’m paraphrasing slightly):

  • expert2_tnb.pngIf you don’t hire a PR firm, at least build a press kit. “Most of that material will end up in reporters’ garbage bin” but build one anyway to kick start your PR program. Oh, and be sure to include every piece of coverage your company has been in, because reporters will want to see that. I’m not even joking … THAT was the first tip given by Forbes to entrepreneurs.
  • Don’t have a big budget? Find a college intern for cheap labor. They’ll be smart enough to know what to do, even though they won’t have anyone giving them guidance, and their PR classes probably focused on dissecting the 25-year old Tylenol crisis and writing a PR plan for their college book store. (ok, I added that last part)
  • Apply for an award. If you want to win, though, make sure you follow the application’s guidelines.

Sorry for the snarky post. Apparently my excitement with Forbes talking about PR ended when I saw the line, “Trust us, most PR folks aren’t particularly effective–mainly because they haven’t bothered to really understand the publications they are targeting.”And I wonder why everyone seems to think they know PR …

Update: Looks like others in the industry aren’t impressed with the article, either. Shell Holtz has a much more thought out piece here, which I think is worth the read.