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Public relations firms come in every flavor imaginable. From self-employed freelancers to multi-million-dollar firms, a myriad of options are available. The secret is to find the best fit for your own promotional needs.

Define your public relations goals. Consider input from top executives and department heads that will be directly involved in, or affected by, your company's public relations (PR) programs.

Hand-pick a set of candidate public relations agencies, and invite them to pitch. Putting out an all-points-bulletin will open the floodgates. You will need to hire additional staff just to turn down the ineligibles!

Create a reasonable timetable for the search, review, and decision-making process.

Narrow down the candidates to three firms. Gather agency credentials, capabilities information, references, case studies, and samples from each of them. Check out their web-sites, and talk to some of their existing clients, if possible.

Interview key players in each firm. Ask about their PR philosophy, methodologies, costs, billing arrangements, and more.

Go to the each agency's office to hear their presentation. Take a few strategic individuals with you, whose advice you trust.

Stroll through the office. Look at promotions on display. Observe the staff in action, and look for clues about work ethic and company morale.

During the presentation, be sure to hear from everyone on the team. Do they cooperate and work well together? Don't be oversold by agency principals once they land your account, you may never see them again. Get to know the junior staffers and the up-and-comers. Find out who will actually service your account.

You will want to evaluate each semi-finalist firm by its qualifications. However, do not disregard your own gut feelings. Client-agency chemistry is half of the battle. You will want to pick people you trust, and with whom you sense you can work well.

Establish measurable goals for your PR program. Once you hire a PR firm, you will rely on these objectives to measure whether they will have accomplished the work you will pay them to do.

Make the decision, and politely inform the runners-up immediately after you let the successful candidate firm in on the decision.

Learn more about this author, Linda Ann Nickerson.
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