"We can write our own press releases. Why would we pay someone to do it?"

At Ripley PR, we understand why this question is asked, especially with many C-level executives and business owners trying to watch their bottom line.

Here's why you should rethink your strategy and have a public relations professional not only write your press releases, but to speak with the media on your company's behalf.

• Best Practice: The same spelling and grammar rules that you learned from your English teacher in grade school do not usually apply in the media spectrum. A PR pro knows to use best practices for journalistic writing, which means writing within The Associated Press Stylebook guidelines and producing original content. Reusing (or recycling) existing releases can hurt your credibility, rather than help, and not using "journalism grammar" rules can be the sole reason your release doesn't get coverage.

• Consistency: Public Relations should be viewed as an investment. It's not an effort that will give you results overnight, but with dedication it can be extremely beneficial for developing leads and credibility in your industry. That dedication to garnering "earned media coverage", requires consistency. A public relations agency has the ability to continuously produce content for your company and the expertise on the best ways to pitch it to the media.

• Relationships: A significant part of a public relations professional's job is to build relationships with key influencers in your market and industry, in order to leverage better coverage for your company. We take the time to nurture those relationships and build authority through content that is relevant and follows best practice.

• Tools: Most importantly we have the tools to do everything that is needed for great and relevant coverage, plus we are experts in it. We know what it takes to get the best possible coverage for your company in the media.

You can take your public relations efforts a step further by finding an agency that specializes in your industry. This increases your chances of valuable media coverage because the agency professionals know your industry, understand your business challenges and have already developed relationships with key trade media players in your industry.

Are you ready to make the investment in public relations? Ripley PR specializes in B2B public relations and has the experience and knowledge to help secure media coverage that will result in increased lead generation for your growing business.