This Entrepreneur Can Get Your Story on 2,300+ Publishers

Let's face it: investing in public relations often falls to the bottom of the to-do list, especially if you're a startup or cash-tight company. The everyday hustle and grind of developing a product or service, building a team and forging investor and customer relationships places huge demand on company bandwidth.

But ignoring PR also means that you aren't taking advantage of one the most powerful brand-launching tools at your disposal.

According to Rick Smith, Founder and CEO of NewsUSA, companies should be making PR a priority — especially in the early brand development stages. "You use PR to build a brand, and advertising to maintain a brand. Therefore, anyone building a company or brand, or introducing a product, should be using PR before advertising," says Smith. "Plus, it's more cost-effective. You can say so much more [with PR]; it's more credible and believable, and you can share the media placements on social media."

When used effectively, PR can help a company gain market insights, cultivate a strong brand identity and perhaps most importantly, develop trust with customers, investors and media outlets. Even if hiring an in-house PR team or outside PR agency isn't in your budget, chances are you're going to have to enlist some kind of help along the way. This is where news content and media placement services come in handy.

Smith founded NewsUSA in 1987 after successfully growing and selling NewsCanada over a period of seven years. With millions of media impressions received each day, NewsUSA has grown to become the nation's premier PR advertising and news feature placement service, offering an effective alternative to traditional media advertising services. They're essentially a one-stop shop for PR, providing not only writing and distribution, but also campaign reporting.

While NewsUSA is well-known for its print services and radio spots, its team also prides themselves on being nimble and responsive to new tech and market needs. As Smith states, "technology has made story placement and article sharing much more instant and massive" — making investment in online content a must for growing brands in today's market.

NewsUSA provides a series of online content services to help their clients in this area, including infographics, embedded video and social media syndication tools targeted at top platforms such as Buzzfeed, Reddit and Pinterest. In addition to these services, they've developed TrackIt: a tracking tool that calculates the value of content placements and generates metrics-driven reports for clients.

In today's news climate, however, the key to any PR strategy is premium editorial placement and reach. And the only way to expand your reach is to build trust with publishers who are looking for high-quality content that savvy consumers will actually want to read.

Smith brought hard-earned knowledge and connections to NewsUSA; and with over 10,000 national brands and over 2,300 content publisher partners under its belt, the company has a distinct advantage in the market.

But this wide-reaching network wasn't built overnight. "It's been 31 years of earning the trust of thousands of publishers based on our reliable supply of expertly written articles and consistent outreach," says Smith.

Having built three companies over the past four decades, Smith has a good understanding of the value of return on investment for every dollar spent. NewsUSA was created with this in mind and continues to strive to reduce the stress and high costs that often come along with hiring a PR firm.

Unlike other PR agencies that may require a lengthy commitment or be unable to promise more than vague deliverables, NewsUSA offers quick, guaranteed placements. Indeed, their website is flooded with testimonials from companies that have been blown away by the ease of working with them. Among these happy customers is Tony Fouladpour, director of PR at Michelin North America, who says that "working with NewsUSA was an easy process… the results were better than expected and the reports were easy to understand and thorough."

But you don't have to be a large-scale company like Michelin to enjoy the perks that PR services like this offer. Whether you're a startup that's strapped for cash or just a company that's never invested in PR before, hiring a media placement expert will give you the publicity you need to promote your brand or product. In other words, no matter what your size or budget may be, your company will thrive if you understand the value of telling your story — especially in a way that guarantees it'll be heard.