Before You Hire a PR Agency, Fix This First

There’s a very specific moment in a company’s growth when hiring a PR agency feels like the logical next step.

Revenue is moving. The business is no longer fragile. You’ve likely secured a few meaningful media placements, built brand awareness, and proven there’s demand. You’re thinking about national expansion, raising capital, increasing price points, entering enterprise conversations, or competing at a higher level.

And so the instinct is understandable: amplify. More visibility should mean more growth.

But here’s what I’ve seen repeatedly with founders and executives generating between $250,000 and $3 million annually: the issue isn’t usually a lack of exposure. It’s misalignment.

Press Is Not the Same Thing as Leverage

Press creates awareness. Leverage creates movement. Those two things are related, but they are not interchangeable. You can have strong media placements and still experience:

• Partnership conversations that stall

• Investor interest that doesn’t progress

• Enterprise inquiries that don’t convert

• Revenue growth that feels slower than it should

When that happens, the natural response is to assume you need more visibility. In many cases, what you actually need is clearer positioning.

Amplification multiplies whatever foundation it sits on. If your positioning is slightly misaligned with your next phase of growth, scaling visibility simply reinforces that misalignment at a larger volume. That’s not just inefficient. It’s expensive.

The $50K Positioning Oversight

A growth-stage company might invest $5,000 to $15,000 per month in PR execution. Over six months, that can easily reach $30,000 to $90,000. That investment makes sense if your positioning is aligned with your revenue objectives. It does not compound if your narrative still reflects where you started instead of where you’re going. This is where the disconnect shows up.

Your press may highlight your origin story while your next phase requires authority and scale-readiness. Your messaging may attract audience engagement while you’re trying to secure enterprise partnerships. Your visibility may emphasize aesthetics while investors are looking for operational credibility. None of those are catastrophic mistakes. They are subtle structural misalignments. But subtle misalignments compound quietly over time.

What Misalignment Actually Looks Like

It’s rarely dramatic. It often looks like this:

You’re featured in respected outlets, yet you still find yourself explaining what you do in important conversations. You’re attracting opportunities, but they’re not at the level you’re aiming for. Your brand looks impressive from the outside, but internally, you know it isn’t fully reflecting your next tier. Revenue is growing, but not in proportion to your exposure. Individually, these feel manageable. Collectively, they create drag. And drag slows scale.

Why This Happens Between $250K and $3M

This revenue range is transitional. You are no longer proving a concept. You are building a structure. At this stage, businesses often outgrow their original messaging before they consciously realize it. What worked at $100K may not work at $1M. What worked at $1M may not support a $5M trajectory. Visibility needs to evolve alongside the business model. If it doesn’t, amplification amplifies the wrong narrative.

A Real Example

I worked with a national consumer brand founder who had secured respected media placements and built strong engagement. On paper, the brand was visible. But enterprise retail conversations weren’t advancing.

After stepping back, we realized her public narrative emphasized lifestyle and aesthetic appeal — which had helped drive audience growth — but her expansion required operational credibility and scale-readiness. We didn’t increase her press.

We reframed her positioning, adjusted how her existing coverage was leveraged, and clarified how she presented her authority in partnership conversations.

Within sixty days, discussions shifted toward larger collaborators. The exposure hadn’t changed. The alignment had.

The Question to Ask Before You Amplify

Before you hire a PR firm, expand your media outreach, or increase amplification, ask yourself:

Does our public narrative reflect the level we’re operating at now — or the level we started at?

If those two are even slightly misaligned, scaling visibility can feel busy rather than strategic. The goal isn’t more attention. It’s acceleration.

When It Makes Sense to Step Back

If you’re preparing for:

• National expansion

• Investor conversations

• Enterprise partnerships

• Pricing increases

• Hiring an agency

• Entering a more competitive tier

And something feels slightly unfinished in how you’re positioned; that is usually a signal—not of failure, but of transition. Between $250K and $3M, structural clarity becomes more important than volume. Because visibility should compound. If it isn’t, it’s worth recalibrating before you amplify.

Visibility Should Feel Like Leverage

Visibility at this stage should:

Shorten sales cycles.

Elevate partnership quality.

Clarify authority in investor rooms.

Increase alignment between attention and revenue.

If it feels impressive but disconnected from growth, that’s not a media problem. It’s a positioning issue. And positioning is fixable.

If you’re navigating this phase and want to ensure your visibility supports your next level of growth before investing further in amplification, that’s exactly why I built the Growth Positioning Program.

Because before you scale attention, you want to make sure you’re scaling the right narrative. Visibility should accelerate your business. If it isn’t, that’s the place to begin.