 Hiring a PR firm is a big step for any new or growing brand. If you've reached this point, congratulations, you’ve gotten farther than a lot of other brands ever have. Here are seven common myths to avoid when considering hiring a PR firm.
1. The Best PR Firms Are Really Big Choosing a big PR firm that works with big clients can be a bad choice for new and emerging brands for several reasons. Big PR firms are expensive for cost-conscious brands. Unless they have a “small brand” department big PR firms are mainly focused on their big, name-brand clients, because they look good, and they bring in most of the money. Most big PR firms don’t specialize in the nuances of startups. While they may have fancy reports and a fleet of underlings to meet with you regularly, big PR firms don’t usually understand the specific needs of budding entrepreneurship associated with startups. You’re better off looking for PR firms that specialize in, and have results for companies of a similar size and focus to yours.  As a new entrepreneur, you’ve been building your startup for months, and now you’re ready to start pitching to the venture capital community. You may be ready, but is your pitch deck? Are you sure you have the right elements to attract a VC?
 Do big PR firms work for startups? Should your startup hire a big PR firm? The siren song of larger, global PR firms, with their flashy results are tempting to many, but there are good reasons startups should avoid them, at least until they have tens of thousands of PR dollars to spend monthly on a firm, at which point, they will no longer be a startup.
If you have a startup looking for a PR firm, you can do better than a big firm. Here’s why.  Face it; some emails will never be read. Don't let yours be one of them. Here are seven deadly mistakes email marketers make.
1. The Subject Line Doesn't Get to the Point In Time - The first few words have to compel the reader to keep reading and open your email. If you're having a 25% off sale, lead with the words: "25% off." Don't lead with the words: "Today only, get a special, once-a-year promotion and enjoy 25% off your entire purchase."  Tis’ the season for pumpkin spice, Autumn leaves, peppermint, and eggnog everything. But there’s more to running successful holiday campaigns than slapping a red and green bow on your products and expecting them to sell. Here are three communications secrets to creating compelling holiday messaging that speaks to your audience, drives more conversions, and creates life-long customers.
 Whether you run a startup, a mid-size consumer product company, or another kind of successfully growing brand, you know how competitive the holiday season gets. Here are three tips to making your brand stand out during the holiday season.
 Face it; there are a lot of emails that will never be read. Don't let yours be one of them. Here are seven deadly mistakes email marketers make.
1. Your Subject Line Is Pointless. The first few words have to compel the reader to keep reading and open your email. If you're having a 25% off sale, lead with the words: "25% off." Don't lead with the words: "Today only, get a special, once-a-year promotion for 25% off your entire purchase." 2. Your Preview Text Wastes Space. You've seen it; that text that previews an email's content. Too many n00b brands and some established ones waste that space with boilerplate, unsubscribe text, or other, non-essential information. This is often a remnant of the email sending service you are using. Send a test to yourself before sending the email to a group. If the preview text is not your immediate content, modify your template so that information is placed elsewhere. Preview text should always be compelling. -- mac windows, gmail, outlook, iPhone Android  Every marketing director thinks their promo videos are great, but when was the last time you sat through another company's entire video ad and actually cared?
Don't waste your target market's time or brain power. Here are 8 tips that will make your next promotional video more successful, profitable, and compelling.  You've survived the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and even earned your startup a few media mentions in the process. You're finally taking off. As far as you're concerned, your name belongs up there with Musk, Zuckerberg, and Curie.
You may think the bulk of your PR work is done for the year, but it's only just begun. The difference between startups that flicker and fade and those who become household brands is all about media presence–continued media presence. Here are the most common PR mistakes startups make after CES.  Introducing the media to your startup is an important job–one that shouldn’t be done without careful research and consideration. Knowing what to expect from a potential PR firm is often challenging for startups. Here are some must-ask questions to address with any PR firm your startup is thinking of working with.
Who will do most of the daily work of promoting my startup? Large PR firms often have interns and in-experienced people on-hand to conduct research, preform initial pitches, and manage smaller accounts. Since you’re paying a PR firm to represent you, you should know what you’re paying for and how much of your account will be handled by “underlings” versus senior management. |
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Jacobson Communication is a one-woman PR firm that delivers game-changing public relations and brand development for extraordinary clients with a story to share.
For brands and causes working toward positive change; nonprofits, startups, do-gooding tech companies, outdoor brands, entertainment brands, theme parks, musicians, authors, special causes and more. I work with brands at every state, from concept to internationally recognition. Offering strategy, pitch-crafting, media relations that scale, brand engagement, advisement, and more! I also work with PR firms and internal PR teams who need out-of-the-box additional help. The Generative AI Skeptic
A Word About Generative AI, in Regards to Comms and Creativity
One of the values I bring to my clients is my ability to grasp the "big picture" and align it with the public's current moods, thought patterns, and needs. I believe my specific brain, my heart, my experience, and my personal methodology are what separates me from those who rely on what generative AI feeds them. I do not use generative AI, nor do I generally endorse its use for writing and creation in public relations, the music industry, or art. To all my fellow comms and creatives out there; stay human! Learn more about my thoughts on generative AI here: 
Editor's Note:
If you're not creating and sharing free speech, thought-piece, satirical graphics designed to point out when the media gets something drastically wrong, are you even on the internet? |
AI AND POTATOES
We Can Poison The Well Together
AI is stealing our data at the behest of mega-investment in a race where no one wins. So, is AI takeover really inevitable, or is it hype?
Will it really replace 80% of human jobs? How might one render it ridiculous and useless. Land AcknowledgementAcknowledgement to the southern Lushootseed-speaking Coast Salish Indigenous Peoples whose land I live and work on.
This land also includes the traditional land and waterways of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People of past and present. It is with honor and gratitude to the land itself, the plants, animals, and the Duwamish Tribe that I practice my work. This land is also on and adjacent to the traditional homelands and waterways of the Puyallup Tribe. The Puyallup people have lived on and stewarded these lands since the beginning of time and continue to do so today. I recognize that this land acknowledgement is one small step toward true allyship, and I commit to uplifting the voices, experiences, and histories of the Indigenous people of this land and beyond. To learn more about the Puyallup Tribal Language program, visit: https://www.puyalluptriballanguage.org Personal StatementIt is my hope that we all deepen our understanding, awareness, and relationship to where we live in the world, and that we, individually and as a group, do our part to heal the wounds caused by genocide, enslavement, displacement, and other such atrocities, many of which have been intentionally carried forward into our present day and built into modern systems of power. Here is a list of books that might help you on your way to decolonizing the mind.
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Copyright 2026 Jennifer Jacobson
Jacobson Communication, The Feral PR Consultant Please know that my thoughts are my own, and not necessarily those of my clients or those I work or have worked with. May your thoughts also be your own. |
