Does PR really work?

Ok...all for truth in blogging?

First, I was a radio guy. Then, I become an ad guy.

Nowhere, was I ever a PR Guy. Oh sure, my firm did PR, but I kept my distance from the PR people. I never really "believed" in PR.

I kinda always thought PR was the biggest waste of time. Actually, that's not entirely true. What I really thought, was for most businesses, PR was a total waste of time. It's not that I didn't believe that free publicity was great...no...I thought that your average car dealership, carpet store, electronics retailer etc. had absolutely NO CHANCE of having a story worth telling.

I mean seriously...what life-interest story can you really do about carpet or TV's. And NO ONE wants to read a story in the paper or magazine about your latest store or state-of-the-art toaster!

However, I have to admit that for certain businesses with an interesting story, PR is fantastic!

One of my side businesses is that I'm a partner in a barbeque restaurant in La Grange, IL. It's called Q BBQ and it's just great authentic bbq from all of the great BBQ centers of America

(Texas, Memphis and the Carolina's). One of my roles in the business is the marketing of Q.

We started with a soft-opening to make sure the kinks were all worked out. Well, our soft-open wasn't very soft. We hit the ground running and never looked back. Therefore, we never had the opportunity to implement our marketing plan as designed. However, we did have the opportunity to tell our story via some wonderful public relations.

Over a 3-4 month period, Q BBQ has been featured on several TV shows, newspapers, magazines and of course blogs. And the results have been incredible! I couldn't have "paid" for this kind of exposure. :-)

So, I guess the moral of my little story is this...

If you have an interesting story then PR can be wonderful, if you have an experienced PR team that has stellar connections within the media.

If you are a basic, run-of-the-mill business...well...then you should probably spend more time with your marketing/advertising guy. They'll help you create a narrative that you can sell!