PR for Your Business: Free VS Paid

marketing media pr Jun 08, 2025

Let’s talk PR (Public Relations). PR is one of the Marketing Avenues available to you. There's free and paid PR. Free PR can be attainable through building relationships and getting featured on blogs, podcasts, local news outlets, and small magazines. For the big-name outlets (Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, Fox, New York Times, Etc.) You'll need to work with a PR firm to be featured (Unless you have some huge technological breakthrough or cure cancer or something.)

Now, for some reason, lately, the internet has been in an uproar about people paying for PR, as if it's dishonest, which is f*cking ridiculous. Getting pissed of about people paying for PR is like getting upset that Coca-Cola pays for their ad spots on TV. It’s Marketing! "But Amanda, what about buying your way onto a Top 10 List? Doesn't that make them total BS?" I'm actually glad this conversation is happening now because I can give insider advice/insight! I was recently scouted by a PR firm to be part of the Top 10 Female Business coaches of 2021 List (coming out soon) so I can tell you how the process goes:

I had to go through an Interview to be considered
To be on the list it was mandatory to be a 6-Figure Earner
I had to provide client testimonials (proof I provide results)
They reviewed my website and social media
They made it clear the feature would not bring instant buyers (something I knew because I have been doing Marketing for years) so they wanted to know how I intended to leverage the feature.

My interviewer and I had a candid conversation, and he told me for a Top 10 Feature they typically would interview 10 people to fill 1 seat (or 100 people to be able to fill the list). And yes, once I was selected, I had to pay for the feature (they run a business after all!) While I can't speak for all PR firms, reputable ones care about putting out good information. So, the top 10 lists while yes people must pay to be on there, you can't just throw money at it and get on one.

The cream of the crop rises to the top.

There are several virtual magazines out there that you can pay to have your articles featured on. BRAINZ GLOBAL is one of them. I pay to be an executive contributor with them. Just like the top 10 list, I had to go through an interview process first. While the articles go up as I submit them, it's up to the editor to decide which articles get featured on the Magazine cover (of the 5 articles I've submitted 2 have made the Magazine cover so far). Another example of how you must provide quality for any feature to matter and get in front of the widest audience.

As a buyer:

You should never hire someone or purchase something just because it was featured on a major outlet. Do your due diligence.
If a business believes in themselves enough to invest in marketing, and you like the sound of what they do, go investigate their social media, website, and follow them for a while to get a better sense of how they serve clients and show up.

As a business:

Paying for PR does not mean you'll get a flood of sales just off the publication (you’ll rarely get any) it’s about how you leverage that feature to build authority with your audience.
Get both free and paid PR to balance things out and get your SEO way up (the goal of PR is to bring in a wider following; it’s your job to convert followers into paying clients).
If you don't deliver results, the PR won't matter. You can't build a sustainable exponentially growing business if your product or service is crap. Word will get out. Provide excellence.

Grab our Ultimate PR List Here.

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PR for Your Business: Free VS Paid

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