Since joining the “other side” of the media business and working in public relations as a publicist, I’ve heard a few things that make me scratch my head and ask, “Is this person serious?” Well, yes. Yes they are. I think many clients have certain expectations of a publicists they don’t realize are a little out of reach. When you’re not involved in the business, you may not fully understand how it works. Well, here are four tips… more like four things to stop saying to your publicist:

1. I’d love to just get on the Today Show. Yeah, you and everyone else. If it were that easy, you could hire any publicist in the world to do that for you. Hell, you could just call them up and do it yourself. It doesn’t mean I won’t work hard to get you there. It just means it doesn’t happen for most people.
2. How can we make a viral video? Uh, those things just happen. Again, if there was a formula to it, everyone would have one and they would not be called viral videos anymore. When you stop thinking about how to create a viral video, it might just happen!
3. Can I just try you out and pay you after you get me media exposure? No. The people I pay my mortgage to aren’t too keen on those kind of payment plans. But I’ll make you a deal: When your doctor works for free using countless hours of time and expertise and only charges you after all your illnesses are cured, then we’ll talk. This is a tough reality when you work in the service industry 🙁
4. You got me that coverage, which was great, but it didn’t really do anything for my business. I can only lead a horse to water. After I do that, it’s your job to make the horse drink it. I can give you some advice and we can troubleshoot some things, but again, a publicist can only do so much.

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