Pay Per Clip: Public Relations Performance. Guaranteed.

This is the downside of PR. I was talking with Conrad from Publicize.com yesterday at LAUNCH (why is it in all caps anyway) and this really is the crapshoot of PR. You either pay for an ongoing campaign (full service) and get what they can arrange as coverage, or you do some DIY and see if you get lucky. Sorta like buying lottery tickets. Buy a lot (full service PR) you've got a good change of a winner, buy one a week (DIY or minimal PR) very rare you get that big hit. Here is just the guts of what you're paying for in that PR. "PRINT placements can range from a brief appearance (or “mention”) in a key local newspaper or magazine for $850, to a company profile in a mid-size business trade publication for about $3,000, and on up to a full feature in a high level national or international outlet for $5,000." They're estimating a rate of $20K a quarter for this service. Great for those that have investment money to burn, or are making that much of a profit (figure 5-10% of your income going into press and marketing), not even viable for bootstraped cos or early angel rounds. I wonder what they charge for an Oprah mention. Or Jon Stewart.