When building a company, especially as an entrepreneur you have to decide where to spend your dollars to get the most bang for the buck. The hardest part is recognizing the difference between your marketing dollars and your advertising dollars. Now I dont spend much of anything on advertisng as far as print media. I do spend online as far as my website, search engine marketing and search engine optimization and keywords. My canvass marketing is done by attending events and driving with signs on my cars.
PR, if done right, is the best marketing expense you can have. Now some people try and do their own PR,and I have been one of those people before in the past. The only problem was that when you own the business, you think it's the best thing in the world. but other people may not see it as newsworthy as you do. plus in my opinion, you have to devote your time to doing whats best, mine is moving vehicles not writing press releases and contacting the media on story ideas. PR takes time and you have to have great contacts, writing skills, and the ability to sell a story idea. i use Susan Friedman @ FMPR. people, i gotta tell you, the lady knows what she is doing. PR is something that you have to have a skill at doing. it is something that every business owner needs. there is nothing like media touting and blowing your horn for you and your business. and when you get really good on camera, you become the go to guy for anything related to your business or category.