One proven method is finding someone who knows how to captivate the public’s attention; someone who has tried and proven techniques in marketing individuals or businesses. And that someone is a professional advertising or public relations agency.

Hiring an ad or PR agent can take you and whatever it is that you are promoting to levels of success that you only dream about. However, the key is hiring the right agency that will bring to the table talent, expertise and creativity that will enhance your image. You have to remember that you are the star, you already have what it takes to be nationally renowned; now what you need is an agency that has the resources to put together just the right advertising campaign to get you visible.

Either business or personal, life if full of success stories of how making the right choice produced the golden egg. But for every success story of how this agency gained national recognition and worked wonders for a company’s image, or that agency went above and beyond and monetary benefits were unimaginable, unfortunately, there are also horror stories with effects that could last a lifetime.

If you are reading this, the time has come in your business or professional career when you’ve decided to take it to the next level and hire a professional agency to help with your public image. To be sure that, in the end, you are telling one of the success stories and a horror story, let’s take a look at some precautions:

• Most important, have a clear idea of what your marketing and PR objectives are before you meet with potential agencies. Be firm, this is your company and your image; so don’t allow the agency to dictate to you what your marketing goals are. By knowing what you want before you begin interviewing agencies will help you stay in control of the direction your partnership takes you in.

• Don’t go at this alone; put together a team of your company’s top decision makers, or professionals with your best interest at heart. Working with your internal team will allow you to see the agency’s proposal or plan from many different points of view, and will ensure that there are not stones unturned.

• Its best that you have an established budget before you start interviewing agencies; you know exactly how much you can spend, and this will help in the selecting the right agency and the right services.

• Develop a timeline for this process, from selecting the agency and how long you plan to work with them. Designing a time frame and setting benchmarks will keep you on track with your campaign. When developing the timeline, factor in minor roadblocks or setbacks; by doing this will allow you to stay on track even if something unforeseen happens. Also, don’t hurry this process; haste makes waste, and you don’t want your efforts to go to waste.

• One way of knowing if you are working with an agency that has integrity and your best interest in mind, is if the agency recommends that you send your project/campaign out for bid. Bidding jobs is a very common practice and the agency that recommends this has great confidence in their product.

• Another sign that an agency that wants to exceed your expectations is by inquiring of previous efforts. A good agency will want to know what you’ve done in the past, what worked and what didn’t.

By planning your campaign before you begin looking for an agency, you will inherently improve your success of finding the right agency. And finding the right agency, you will enjoy the success of your campaign and national recognition.

Irene N. Watson is the Managing Editor of Review The Book, where authors can submit their book to be reviewed by a qualified reviewer Each reviewer will post the book review on at least ten different online sites giving you maximum exposure for your new book! Review The Book helps publishers gain mileage for their books.

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