An artist picks up a brush and dips it into paint to draw a picture. A public relations person picks up a pencil and puts words to paper. The main ingredient that links these two endeavors is creativity. Neither will succeed without it. In fact, the public relations person has a lot more variable to consider, compared to the paint artist. The PR professional must take into account the nature of his or her audience – their age, socio-economic status, the cost of the project, availability of electronic and written media outlets, even the weather and the environment. The list is endless.
             In what arena do PR professionals work? Chances are that with the exception of hard news, every story you read in a newspaper or magazine or hear on the electronic media has a degree of public relations. The paper writes a restaurant review. How do you think the food editor found out about the restaurant? A charity runs a celebrity golf tournament and you can't wait to join the group so you can play along side some Hollywood actor. Would you be so quick to pay and play if there were no celebrities in the field? The president of the United States goes to church and is seen exiting and getting into a limo as his dog greets him with a waving tail. Someone scheduled all that and then alerted the press so that there would be photographers and journalists on hand. That scheduler would be the White House Press Office, which is a quintessential PR tool, and the goal is public approval, which will translate into votes at election time. A doctor wants everyone to buy a skin cream she has just designed. She could advertise. But it is much more effective to have a movie star vouch for its anti-wrinkle miracles. And, more people will read the wrinkle cream story if it comes across as news, rather than believe it if it is a paid ad.
             This leads to the difference between paid advertising and a public relations-generated story. Cons...