Be on the Cover

PR for People® launches news portal, becomes its own media

For people without access to wealth and connections, it’s nearly impossible to get noticed by the media. It’s a system gamed by people with money, according to Patricia Vaccarino, founder of PR for People®. Large PR firms cost upwards of $5K a month—and that’s for the C-team, according to Vaccarino.It’s hard to make your mark when you’re busy trying to make your rent.

“I’ve met so many people who were unhappy with their PR firms or consultants, but the reality is they weren’t spending enough money on PR professionals in order to achieve a successful outcome. And they didn’t know that. No one at the PR firm told them. They thought they got a good deal but what they got was little or nothing.”

Most people are not aware that over 80% of what they see and hear as news has been put there by high-priced PR firms, and that’s a scary thought. PR is expensive. So if only rich people can afford to pay for PR, then we have a problem. That’s a problem Ms. Vaccarino wants to solve.

Determined to give people fair access to the press to showcase their gifts, she created PR for People® as a spinoff of her firm, Xanthus Communications, in 2007. PR for People® allows people to build online press kits and offers a Media Switchboard Service, which connects journalists’ media queries to those who can offer expertise. In 2012,came The Connector magazine, which shares high-quality news stories about PR for People’s® clients and others.

Vaccarino is now taking her deeply held philosophy of fairness a step farther: enter PR for People’s® news portal at www.prforpeople.com.  “I have solved the problem of becoming an affordable PR product by becoming our own media outlet,” Vaccarino explains.  “We’ve redefined the concept of PR and the media.” With reporters on the ground in cities across the country, Vaccarino will give an even louder voice to people and their stories. “Everyone deserves to be recognized for their talent, hard work, and achievements.  Everyone deserves to be on the cover of a magazine,” she says.

Why not bypass the press and just use social media, as many people do? “The problem with social media is that everyone is screaming,” says Vaccarino. “A lot of what is on social media is flatly ignored because it’s junk. Social media will allow you to push to your own fans or following, but it doesn’t give you instant access to the media. PR for People gives people a platform to get news coverage.  We leverage news stories about people by pushing out every article on social media. We use social media, it doesn’t use us.”

A self-described working-class kid from Yonkers, Vaccarino doesn’t distance herself from her early roots—in fact, she embraces them. “I am proud of who I am,” she says, “My father was Sicilian and he was in the liquor business. My father was also a decorated war veteran who fought on the front lines in Korea. He believed in the American people. He would be proud of what I’m doing with PR for People.”

Vaccarino says she draws on those early values to live with the discipline and grit it takes to sweat through multiple ballet classes and cross training sessions a week, even at age 58. “My ballet training is a metaphor for exploring excellence and what I’m doing with PR for People.  I am building PR for People® with the same discipline, excellence, and focus as when I train in ballet or with anything else I pursue.  I believe in PR for People® and I believe people deserve the opportunity to tell their stories to the world.”

 The PR for People® news portal has launched.