This week on Inside PR, Terry and David talk about the questions that clients should ask before choosing an agency. Also, they welcome a comment from Lauren Oostveen. They play Chris Clarke’s commentary for the week. Finally, Terry does his segment of Inside PRoper English.

Show Notes

00:27 David introduces the show. He invites listener feedback through email at insideprcomments@gmail.com, the comment line at 206-600-4741, or comment on the Inside PR show blog.

01:45 David talks about the PR Network he started on Feedburner. Also, Terry talks about a service called Ripple that For Immediate Release has been using to monitor the number of FIR listeners.

05:09 Terry brings up this week’s only comment from Lauren Oostveen. Her question is about measurement and she sends along a link to Consultant Journal. He and David don’t have any experience in freelance consulting so instead offer up the question to any listeners with experience as freelancers.

10:50 David talks about being interviewed by a student at Yale University.

12:30 David kicks off this week’s topic. Terry and he are going to talk about the questions a client should ask before hiring a PR agency.

14:35 David thinks that an important question is who is on the account team, and who is the day-to-day contact at the agency? Terry says that agencies are sometimes guilty of the bait-and-switch move, where the president does the pitch but more junior people end up handling the account.

18:04 David asks the next question, where do I rank on budget? You want to find out how important your account is to the firm. At some agencies, a million-dollar budget means being the biggest account, whereas at other agencies it can be a lot lower on the food chain.

24:30 David and Terry talk about investing in current client relationships vs. investing in new business.

27:11 David asks another question: do you have a lot of turnover at your agency?

30:14 David poses two more questions for discussion: do you have billing ethics policies? or more broadly, do you have a code of professional conduct for the staff? Terry talks about retainers and out-of-pocket costs.

34:10 David introduces Chris Clarke’s commentary for the week.

35:26 Inside PRoper English for the week: infer and imply

37:50 David closes the show and invites listener comments: through email at insideprcomments@gmail.com, on the comment line at 206-600-4741, or comment on the Inside PR show blog. Also, they welcomes listeners to the Inside PR Blubrry site.

Music: our theme music is Streetwalker by CJacks, and is from the Podsafe Music Network; Roger Dey is our announcer.