You’re looking to grow your business, build your client base, and find new customers. What’s the best way to find clients? Should you cold call? Use direct mail? Network? Advertise? Use social media? AdWords? All of those can work, depending on your business.

The best way to find clients is to actually have them find you. It’s a very different conversation when prospective clients contact you than when you make cold calls or initiate conversations with prospects who don’t know who you are. Think of how different it would be for a client to call and ask if he or she could hire you. That would be a truly motivated client.

But how do you change the dynamics? How do you shift the playing field so that your prospects are the ones that are initiating the conversation? One tried and true answer is to establish yourself as an expert in your field and the most effective way to accomplish that is through an effective PR campaign. A well thought out public relations campaign can frame you as the story and establish you as the expert. By being featured on TV and radio or in magazines and newspapers, you separate yourself from the competition; you are presented as a news story, not as an ad or a commercial. That changes the equation. Now prospective clients or customers who are in need of your type of service or product will contact you because you’ve established yourself as the authority, or your product has been featured as one of the best, or in a new product page, or you’ve been quoted. On the marketing end, that type of media coverage encourages viewers, readers and listeners to take action, whether that be making an appointment, purchasing a product, or visiting a store.

When it comes to PR and media relations, bottom line comes down to offering a good compelling story that also educates and informs. By presenting yourself as an expert, and an educator, both the media and the public will turn to you for information and advice. And, when they're looking to purchase a product or service in your field, you’ll be at the top of the list.

It’s said that we are judged by the company we keep. By being featured in the media you’re in the company of the newsworthy, and because of your association, you have suddenly leaped ahead of your competition. Via press coverage, you and your message will enter homes and businesses, not as an ad or commercial, but as a news story. When people seek you out, they will be seeking you out as a specialist, as someone who the media deems important enough to be featured in the press. You’ll have gained two things no amount of advertising could ever buy you - validation and credibility.

Media coverage also gives your customers and prospects a sense of urgency. By being featured on TV or in print, you and your company will be viewed as timely and news worthy. That drives action, which results in motivated prospects and more clients.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Author's Bio: 

Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based public relations company that has placed clients in: Time, Newsweek, 60 Minutes, CNN, USA Today, Oprah, The New York Times, Vogue, and other media. Anthony has been featured in: USA Today, Newsweek, The New York Times, , The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, Fox News, and other media outlets.