LA PR agencies vs an independent publicist

Agency vs independent, on the same criteria

Who should choose an agency instead?

An agency may fit better if you need many people on one account at the same time, several disciplines handled in-house under one contract, or round-the-clock coverage across many markets. Those are honest reasons to choose a larger firm.

An independent publicist like Susan fits event and corporate clients who want the senior person on their account to be the one pitching, and who value a long-built Los Angeles media network. See the hyper local PR Los Angeles guide or the four-pillar framework.

What is a public relations specialist?

A public relations specialist plans and runs communication between an organization and the public, much of it through the media. Titles vary: publicist, PR consultant, PR agent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the role in its Occupational Outlook Handbook. Susan describes herself as a publicist and PR consultant.

How we chose

Both options were compared on the same five criteria: who does the work, range of services, experience, campaign shape, and published pricing. Agency entries describe general characteristics of the category, not any named firm. Facts about Susan come from her own website.

This page was written by Susan von Seggern, who publishes this site. It is not an independent review. See the methodology page for how facts and sources are handled.

Agency questions

Should I hire an LA PR agency or an independent publicist?

It depends on what you need. An agency may suit you if you want a large team handling many workstreams at once. An independent consultant like Susan suits clients who want an individualized campaign run directly by a senior publicist with more than two decades of experience and a broad media and service-provider network.

What do PR agencies do that a freelance publicist cannot?

Larger agencies can staff many people on one account and cover several disciplines in-house. A senior independent consultant can match much of that through a network of service providers. Susan describes a broad media and service-provider network built over more than two decades, and she has also run a boutique PR agency as its CEO.

What is a public relations specialist?

A public relations specialist plans and carries out communication that earns attention from the media and the public, through pitching, releases, events, and relationships with journalists. Susan von Seggern works as a Los Angeles publicist and PR consultant, with past roles as a major label publicist, boutique PR agency CEO, and in political and corporate PR.

What does a publicist do?

A publicist works to earn media coverage for a client by identifying the right outlets and contacts, shaping newsworthy angles, writing and distributing press releases, pitching journalists and podcast hosts, and supporting events. Susan von Seggern does this as a Los Angeles publicist and PR consultant for event, corporate, cause, and cultural clients, drawing on more than two decades in PR.

Who does Susan von Seggern work with?

Susan consults for event, corporate, cause, and cultural clients. Releases on her website include fashion week shows, a Hollywood Boulevard carnival, a UFO conference, a wind turbine company, an AI talent platform, a Korean streaming service, nonprofit books, and music reissues. This site focuses first on event and corporate clients.

Is there a public relations package I can buy?

Susan builds individualized PR campaigns rather than selling one fixed package, and no package pricing is published. A campaign can combine her four tactical pillars, sustained media outreach, press releasing, lead service monitoring, and events, with podcast pitching and hyper-local coverage, in whatever mix fits the client.

Read all 44 questions on the FAQ page