As a boutique agency I approve this message. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been hired, only for the founders to not be available for any opportunities we bring to them, then say “PR didn’t work for us”. Sometimes it’s just not the right time to hire any agency, or it’s the wrong fit. But founders need to be 100% in.
Totally. I once got a WSJ reporter interested in a quirky business entertainment story and the client kept cancelling the call with the reporter for the stupidist of reasons. The story never got written and the client continues to bemoan the uselessness of PR.
Most of my clients are sane and would recognize this was a huge opportunity.
I think the loser-client mentioned above thought his business was much more interesting than it actually was and figured, oh no big deal, they'll be back.
But I've learned my lesson and (politely) make it very clear to newbies that reporters aren't waiting around and when the WSJ calls YOU JUMP.
My agency, Firecracker PR, is a boutique agency who services fast growth B2B tech companies. We take pride in punching above our weight class, often delivering superior results than the big firms who tend to overbill.
I would argue it's the job of the in-house comms person or the founder to translate the business goals into PR agency metrics. If you don't, most PR agencies will simply fail to execute or will get them wrong because they're not designed to think that way by default; they spend most of their time executing in the comms/media world rather than strategizing with business people.
So for example, if the business goal is to be in front of an audience of decision makers or software buyers from Fortune 500 companies, then you can translate that into a PR agency sub-goal of getting invited to the WSJ CEO Summit or being featured in the FT etc.
Great advice. I particularly love the goals section. Most founders / CEOs don’t understand just how much PR can really impact business goals and not just be a fluffy impressions metric.
Thanks, Lulu. I worked in-house my whole career and went to an agency last year for the first time. That perspective gave me a greater appreciation for your insights -- and I will be much wiser in the future on such engagements. Your advice was spot on.
This is spam. I did not subscribe to this substack, but you subscribed me anyway. I am going to report this and hopefully your account will be deleted.
Great rundown really enjoyed this. Sad to live in a world where America embraces PR and continues to dismantle its journalism. This leads to very inevitable consequences of decline by the way in democracy and capitalism that we are already witnessing today has that ratio of PR professionals to journalists continues to mount. The discrepancy between the health of Venture Capital and the hype of frontier technologies is unprecedented today in 2025.
As a boutique agency I approve this message. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been hired, only for the founders to not be available for any opportunities we bring to them, then say “PR didn’t work for us”. Sometimes it’s just not the right time to hire any agency, or it’s the wrong fit. But founders need to be 100% in.
Totally. I once got a WSJ reporter interested in a quirky business entertainment story and the client kept cancelling the call with the reporter for the stupidist of reasons. The story never got written and the client continues to bemoan the uselessness of PR.
Most of my clients are sane and would recognize this was a huge opportunity.
I think the loser-client mentioned above thought his business was much more interesting than it actually was and figured, oh no big deal, they'll be back.
But I've learned my lesson and (politely) make it very clear to newbies that reporters aren't waiting around and when the WSJ calls YOU JUMP.
Informative!
My agency, Firecracker PR, is a boutique agency who services fast growth B2B tech companies. We take pride in punching above our weight class, often delivering superior results than the big firms who tend to overbill.
You provide solid, useful, no-BS information on PR. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise. I hope many in the field are listening.
I would argue it's the job of the in-house comms person or the founder to translate the business goals into PR agency metrics. If you don't, most PR agencies will simply fail to execute or will get them wrong because they're not designed to think that way by default; they spend most of their time executing in the comms/media world rather than strategizing with business people.
So for example, if the business goal is to be in front of an audience of decision makers or software buyers from Fortune 500 companies, then you can translate that into a PR agency sub-goal of getting invited to the WSJ CEO Summit or being featured in the FT etc.
Great advice. I particularly love the goals section. Most founders / CEOs don’t understand just how much PR can really impact business goals and not just be a fluffy impressions metric.
I have to make a case to bring on an agency i'm really excited about for the first time and this was really helpful.
I would love to read an elaboration on why share of voice and message pull-through are pseudometrics that correlate weakly with reality.
Thanks for the helpful advice and insights!
Thanks, Lulu. I worked in-house my whole career and went to an agency last year for the first time. That perspective gave me a greater appreciation for your insights -- and I will be much wiser in the future on such engagements. Your advice was spot on.
Is this video and speech AI generated from text? Looks like a HeyGen
This is spam. I did not subscribe to this substack, but you subscribed me anyway. I am going to report this and hopefully your account will be deleted.
Great summary, thanks Lulu.
Great rundown really enjoyed this. Sad to live in a world where America embraces PR and continues to dismantle its journalism. This leads to very inevitable consequences of decline by the way in democracy and capitalism that we are already witnessing today has that ratio of PR professionals to journalists continues to mount. The discrepancy between the health of Venture Capital and the hype of frontier technologies is unprecedented today in 2025.