Home topics small-business-resources hot-tips Hot Tips PR Hot Tips PR: The benefits of engaging an agency Sharon Zeev Poole July 9, 2012 There are many people out there in the world of business who are totally in the dark when it comes to understanding what it means to work in the field of public relations or PR. Despite the fact that 70 percent to 80 percent of news content about companies, products, the government, and people, is generated by the daily activities of people like me and my colleagues, a large portion of the population is unaware of the multi-million dollar industry that’s behind the article they just read with their morning coffee. So for the record, and in anticipation of the next time I get asked “What is PR?”, I wanted to clearly define what it is that we in the PR industry do. Public relations allows a brand to connect with the consumer, this is done through pitching to a number of channels including TV, radio, print and online. The exposure of your product or service may help influence an increase in sales, or keep the brand top of mind for future purchases. And this is not as simple as it sounds. Reason being is that PR as a marketing tool is no longer the “little known secret” it used to be. And, if you are a small business competing with other small businesses using PR as a marketing tool , there is a chance you could be