Pay-for-Play

A popular way for contract PR professionals to be compensated for their efforts. In a Pay-for-Play arrangement, the PR person is paid only when an article appears featuring the company or the company’s products. The vast majority of PR firms shun this form of compensation because of its mercinary characteristics. On the opposing side of the argument, having a PR professional bare the risk of getting a firm’s name into print is most intriguing. Pay-for-Play should not be confused with Pray-for-Play, which is what many SMB firms do—Meaning: write a press release, put it out on a wire service and post it to their website, hope (and pray) someone will read the release, know what to do with it and write a compelling feature story trumpetting the company’s success. This is worse than wishful thinking—it’s a complete fantasy.