If you can’t afford to price of a media campaign, consider outreaching to the press yourself, with professional materials (press releases, pitch letters) and a media list.  A lot of small agencies will help you with this for a significantly reduced fee.  Plus, you’ll get experience first hand in publicizing your product!

One of the less pleasant things about being an agency is billing.  Somehow, money is a taboo subject to discuss.  But, it’s important to get a signed contract or letter of agreement before you start working for a client.  This can save you heartache later on.  This is your livelihood, so don’t sweep payment under the rug.  Get what was agreed upon and what is fair!

The way we get news has really changed since I started doing publicity nearly 20 years ago (yikes).  While the traditional means of getting news - television, newspapers and radio have not gone away, the internet has really revolutionized the industry.  Literally anyone can start their own media outlet.  It’s hard sometimes to tell the difference between websites that are major media outlets (or at least well-read) and those that aren’t.  But, in most cases, I like to embrace all sites.  You never know what site will grow and become important, and they won’t forget that you were gracious when they were small.