Friday 20 June 2014

Factors To Consider When Looking For The Best Media Relations Consultant

By Sherry Gross


Hiring external consultants for short term projects is becoming very common in businesses today. As in-house resources become sparse and impartiality is required, companies opt to hire consultants who can get the job done. However, hiring such an expert for the first time can be a little bit intimidating. This article provides essential information that will help your company or organization identify the best media relations consultant.

Word of mouth still remains the best approach to get information for many things including consultants. So if you know anybody or organization who has dealt with media consultants before, you can always ask them for referrals. Even if they are unable to refer you to a good adviser, they will warn you against the unscrupulous ones. This will still help you make an informed choice.

Experience also plays very crucial role in quality of services. Because of this, it is advisable to go with experienced consultants. You need someone who has been in the media consulting practice for long enough. Long enough here means a minimum of five years.

Of course you will also have to compensate the adviser for his/her services. And because there is no standard charge for this, each and every consultant is always likely to have unique charges. Because of this, comparison shopping is highly recommended. This will help you identify an adviser whose charges are within your organization range. At the same time, you also need to beware of suspiciously cheap consultants. Suspiciously low charges can sometimes mean lack of experience on the part of adviser.

Communication between you and the adviser is also going to be crucial. You need an expert with good communication protocol. Trying calling your prospective consultants office and see how fast your call is picked up. You can also drop an email to the consultants office and see how long he/she takes to respond. Do not commit into working with any adviser you are not convinced with his/her communication protocol.

Any serious consulting company will not fail to have personal website where they interact with customers. You can also read customer reviews from your prospective consultant website. This will further confirm to you whether he/she is the right choice for your organization.

You can also advertise on local dailies for qualified and interested consultants to apply. You need to specify the nature of the project and ask interested and qualified individuals to apply. If you want the best consultant, you must also start the search in good time, this is important because good consultants are always booked in advance.

Engaging a media consultant or consulting firm is a wise move. However, you need to carefully evaluate your options before making a choice. Otherwise, it will just turn out to be a waste of resources for your organization which is not what you want when you decide to engage media adviser.




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