Hey Matt,

Glad you got that message.

The thing with any expense like PR is that it all comes down to the ROI you are looking for.

If you are looking to expand the brand and can take a bit of a financial loss in exchange for building the story, I think PR makes sense. It makes even more sense if there already is a story and you're looking to expand the reach of that story. But if your budget is tight and you can only afford expenses that stand a good chance of returning a profit, I personally think that PR budget would bring you a much bigger return if spent on advertising. At least then you'd have many hundreds (possibly thousands) of subscribers and the potential of long term profit. This is especially true if you are just getting started and don't have a huge story to tell just yet.

I really look at a career as a serious of small steps. Where are you now, where do you want to be, what is the first step on that journey? Then spend money wisely to take that first step. For most artists that means build a following. If you already have a good size following it starts to become about increasing brand awareness. That is where PR comes in, in my opinion.

I think it's a mistake to think that PR will create the following all on it's own. But it does have a place.

That make sense?

Sounds good. As a side note, you might recall in the most recent IC lesson Josh points out that his split testing actually showed better results using regular old FB testimonials then it did using media quotes. Just some food for thought.

Yeah, I thought it was interesting as well. It's something I've long insisted was the case but had never tested. Split testing reveals some really fascinating stuff.