The 7 essentials of budgeting your PR dollars

I received an email yesterday from a friend asking what to do with their website. She articulated the pros and cons of revamping her website. I struggled to respond, and finally wrote this back:

“I think that I get too excited about shiny objects to give you an objective opinion.”

Her email led me down an interesting rabbit hole: How often do we budget “shiny objects” incongruent with our PR plan? How often do we invest in these “shiny objects” only to find that we could have achieved far more with different tactics?

I’ve felt this regret often. One instance stuck with me. The CEO of my company hired a consultant to create business efficiencies, and the consultant kept a perpetual contract for after-work. When I came into the company, it was evident their tactics were limiting our sales.

When I pointed this out (with the finesse of a blunt instrument), I began an adversarial relationship with (sadly) the primary motor of our business. (Feel free to ignore any posts I write on diplomacy).

My point: Vetting the merits of PR tactics should be done in planning. Otherwise we become psychologically or practically committed to unsound tactics.