💎 DIY PR vs PR Agencies vs Done-With-You Mentoring — Which Gets the Best Publicity Results?
You’ve built something remarkable — but the world hasn’t quite caught up yet.
You watch others with half your expertise being quoted, interviewed, and featured everywhere… while you quietly think, that should be me.
It’s not about ego. It’s about impact — getting your message to the people who need it most.
Publicity changes everything.
It gives you visibility, credibility, and a level of authority no ad or funnel can buy.
But with so many ways to get featured, the real question isn’t if you should pursue publicity — it’s how.
For most entrepreneurs, there are three options:
1️⃣ Doing your own PR
2️⃣ Hiring a PR agency
3️⃣ Working with a publicity mentor
Each path can create visibility — but what happens after you’re seen makes all the difference.
How much control do you keep?
How much do you learn?
And how well does that visibility translate into real business growth, authority and sales?
Let’s look at each option and what it truly delivers — starting with the most common first step for many entrepreneurs: going the DIY route.
1️⃣ DIY PR — Great for Getting Started
Doing your own publicity is empowering. It’s affordable, hands-on, and gives you direct insight into how the media works. Many entrepreneurs begin this way — writing press releases, pitching journalists, and even landing their first interviews.
It’s exciting at first. You prove to yourself that publicity is possible.
But after those early wins, most people hit a plateau. Without strategic guidance, it’s hard to know which stories journalists truly want, how to sustain coverage, or how to turn interviews into income.
✅ Pros:
Low cost and full creative control
Builds media understanding and confidence
Keeps communication direct and personal
⚠️ Cons:
Results are inconsistent
Difficult to scale without insider knowledge
Lacks training on how to perform in media or convert coverage into clients
DIY PR builds experience — but not mastery. It’s an important first step, yet without deeper media understanding, it often leads to short-lived attention rather than lasting authority.
2️⃣ Hiring a PR Agency — Hands-Off, But Limiting
PR agencies can secure impressive exposure quickly. They already have journalist connections, know how to write professional pitches, and can get your story in front of the right people.
It’s a convenient, hands-off approach — but one that often comes with trade-offs.
Agencies own the relationships. They decide which stories to push, how to position you, and what gets said on your behalf. You may be featured, but you’re rarely part of the conversation.
When the contract ends, the access ends too. And while you’ve been represented, you haven’t learned how to represent yourself.
What’s missing is ownership — of both your message and your growth. And because agencies focus on visibility, not performance, they don’t teach you how to handle interviews confidently or how to turn coverage into commercial results.
✅ Pros:
Saves time and effort
Professional storytelling and outreach
Quick visibility possible
⚠️ Cons:
You don’t keep the media relationships
Limited control over your message and positioning
No development of interview or sales-conversion skills
Momentum fades when the retainer stops
A PR agency can help you be seen. But it rarely helps you be understood — and that’s where the real credibility (and profit) lies.
3️⃣ Done-With-You Publicity Mentoring — Personalised, Empowering, Profitable
This is the most transformative approach.
Done-with-you publicity mentoring is bespoke — tailored to you, your brand, and your long-term goals.
It’s not about outsourcing your voice. It’s about refining it.
You work directly with an experienced media mentor who helps you:
Develop irresistible story angles that align with your expertise and audience
Build genuine, lasting journalist relationships
Gain media training so you perform confidently on camera, on air, and in interviews
Learn how to turn visibility into sales without ever sounding salesy
Repurpose coverage to amplify your authority and client reach
Master a repeatable system for publicity success — one you can continue to use long after the mentorship ends
Every strategy, every pitch, every interview is personalised to your voice and your vision.
And unlike working with a PR agency, you keep everything — the knowledge, the skills, and the contacts.
When the mentorship ends, you know exactly what to do, how to do it, and who to contact. You’ve built relationships directly with journalists who now see you as the go-to expert.
✅ Pros:
Personalised, one-to-one guidance
You keep every journalist relationship — even after the mentorship ends
You maintain total control of your message and brand voice
You gain elite-level media and interview training
You learn to turn every feature into leads, clients, and sales
You master a lifelong, repeatable system for publicity success — an investment that keeps delivering results long after the mentoring ends
⚠️ Cons:
Requires your active participation — but that’s what makes it powerful. Every skill you gain here is yours to keep: an investment in your future visibility, credibility, and income.
Mentoring bridges the gap between visibility and profitability.
It empowers you to speak the language of the media while staying true to your brand — and that’s what turns coverage into lasting credibility.
💎 Why Mentoring Creates Exceptional Results
Mentoring is the missing link between getting press and getting paid.
It gives you not just access to publicity, but the tools to perform with confidence and monetise every opportunity that comes your way.
You gain:
Clarity on what journalists truly value
The ability to pitch and present with precision
Skills to communicate powerfully in every interview
A system to convert visibility into measurable business growth
DIY PR helps you learn.
PR agencies help you get featured.
But mentoring helps you lead — with authority, alignment, and authenticity.
This approach has turned talented experts into trusted media voices, thought leaders, and go-to authorities in their fields — people who no longer chase opportunities, but attract them naturally.
When the world finally sees what you see — your expertise, your message, your mastery — everything shifts.
Doors open. Journalists call. Clients say yes before you’ve even made the offer.
That’s what happens when you stop waiting to be discovered and start communicating like the recognised authority you already are.
And that’s exactly what done-with-you publicity mentoring makes possible.
💎 Experience a Personalised Media Review
If you’re ready to be featured on top media platforms — and gain the credibility, authority, and premium clients that come with it — Sharon’s Magnetic Media Review is your next step.
This bespoke audit shows you exactly how to position yourself for high-impact publicity that gets you noticed by journalists, trusted by audiences, and remembered as the expert everyone wants to work with.
✨ About the Author
Sharon Bolt is the founder of Get Free Publicity Today and The Magnetic Media Empire™, and is internationally recognised as The Mindset Media Expert.
She’s been featured on BBC, ITV, Channel 5, FOX, CBS, NBC, The Guardian, The Independent, and Entrepreneur.com, to name but a few.
Sharon helps elite entrepreneurs and maverick thought leaders gain iconic visibility and credibility through strategic, high-impact media coverage.
Her signature approach blends mindset mastery with world-class publicity strategy — turning interviews into influence, exposure into authority, and visibility into sales.
I didn’t get one single interview on my own. Then I signed up with Sharon and 2 days later I was on global TV. It was so impressive! Everyone saw me as a next-level expert — the credibility shift was huge.
Christelle Biiga - Personal Empowerment Coach
Sharon is the consummate professional. She got me on a global platform that was viewed by millions of people, which helped me get more clients. Sharon is the best and I highly recommend her.
Suzanne Sibilla - Life and Business Strategist
As soon as I announced on social media that I was going to be interviewed on an international news show, people reached out to me wanting to help, wanting to contribute – I saw results immediately.
Guillaume McMartin – Founder, Planet Karma Movement
Copyrights © 2025 Get Free Publicity Today.