Have you ever heard someone say 'It must be true!I saw it in print!' In terms of PR, an article published in a national publication can push your exposure further than just advertisements within the same title.

Why? Because America loves magazines. This can be seen by simply looking at the facts. According to Oxford Communications, there were a whopping 22,106 magazines in some 308 categories in 2006. That means there were 308 specific topics of interest that Americansactually, people all over the worldloved to read about last year.

Are We Overdosing on Ads?

Marsha Friedman, Chief Executive Officer of Event Management Services, a national publicity firm focusing on obtaining media attention for their clients says, "In almost all of the 22,106 magazines mentioned above, there are both advertising space and article space available." Many magazine readers can in fact respond to the ads in these publications, but what they purchase the magazine for is one reason alone: to READ it! The big problem with advertising is that people are overloaded, they can't keep their attention on any one thing for too long. Fordham University recently did a study on advertising!here is their findings:

Advertising is the most pervasive element of the pr mix: the average American family of four is exposed to 1,500 advertising messages a day!'

Wow. Marsha Friedman says, "That boils down to something like 300 to 400 ads for each of us each day, whether we like it or not. The reason? Because our brains will toss it to the side so we can focus on more important items. Does that mean that they aren't there? Absolutely not! As weird as it may sound, we are exposed to hundreds of ads every day that we don't even see!"

Now articles are another matter altogether.

Marsha Friedman adds, "Subscribers to those 22,106 magazines are hungry for information on their favorite subjects, so the articles there (unlike all those ads) are actually welcome. In these cases the audience is more accepting as the magazine is an "old trusted friend." This definitely gives you the upper hand."

"Here is a terrific example of the power of articles", says Friedman. "In the very early days of my career, I worked as the director of sales and marketing for a money manager. My job was to generate leads and bring in new clients who had a minimum of $100K to invest."

"A journalist from The Robb Report contacted me one day about doing a show on money managers, like my boss. While talking with my boss, the reporter discovered that he lived in the 90210 Zip Code (this was during the height of that popular TV show) drove a brand new Mercedes and was married to a famous actress. The result was that there was a big old article in his magazine, with a picture of my boss featured on the cover!"

Friedman continues, "When the story ran, it was like a financial earthquake! I practically became an order takerthe phones literally rang off the hook with investors who wanted their money managed by the firm. It was amazing how we went from 20 to 50 million dollars in such an amazingly short time!"

How many ads would it have taken to get him from $20 million to $50 million? Maybe the better question is, could ads have even done the job?If you would like to learn more about gaining national and local media exposure for your company, product or service, without the financial burden of monthly retainers, Friedman is available to be of service . Feel free to contact her directly at mfriedman@emsincorporated.com or visit her firm online at http://www.emsincorporated.com. As a PR expert Friedman has the ability to get the media attention that you desire without budget busting monthly retainers.

Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations for nearly two decades as CEO of Event Management Services, Inc (EMSI). If you would like to receive her free Ebook "How to Be a Great Talk Radio Guest" visit http://www.emsincorporated.com.