Five reasons to co-locate with a PR firm.

• Author: Bachman, Lisa
• Position: Guest column - Column

WITH BUSINESS MOVING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT, IT'S A challenge to grab the attention of potential customers. Many companies are hiring public relations firms to help increase awareness, change public opinion and educate key audiences on what their business does and how it can benefit their customers.

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Many companies are working out co-location options with their public relations firm. What is co-location? The public relations firm's representative actually works at your office, providing the client a multitude of benefits.

This working arrangement helps the PR professional to better understand the client's business from the inside out, which in turn helps your team make smart, strategic decisions regarding the most effective public relations program to fit your needs. While co-locating isn't a new concept with many industries, it's relatively new to the public relations profession.

PRACO, the largest privately held public relations and advertising agency in Colorado, has implemented successful co-location programs with many of its largest clients, including metro Denver's Transportation Expansion (T-REX) Project, the Colorado Springs Metro Interstate Expansion (COSMIX) Project, Ent Federal Credit Union and Saint Mary's Health System in Reno, Nev., to name a few. Each of these co-location arrangements has proven extremely successful and co-location has benefited both the client and the agency. Here is what PRACO--and its clients--have learned about co-locating.

1. It's a unique learning experience. Your public relations professional gets the opportunity to learn your business inside and out much faster than they otherwise would. They quickly learn how your employees, customers and stakeholders think, how your industry operates, what the sensitivities and protocols are. Through this inside understanding, they are able to quickly develop a public relations plan that will be on target and take into consideration internal sensitivities.

2. The public relations professional becomes an integrated member of your business team. While the public relations professional is co-located at your office, he or she can quickly develop relationships with staff, which, in the end, builds trust.

3. The public relations professional is included in the strategic-decision process. In essence, your public relations counsel has a seat at the table and key decisions are made only after public relations implications are taken into consideration. This...