By Jordan Baker, Founder of Fair Public Relations and former UK national journalist
Not everybody needs a full PR campaign.
Equally, not every publicity goal can be achieved by sending expert comments to journalists.
That is why Fair Public Relations now offers two deliberately different PR services.
Expert Commentary PR is a focused service for credible individual specialists whose knowledge can already be useful to journalists.
Standard PR is Fair's broader, account-managed service for businesses, founders and experts who need strategy, positioning, story development and a wider programme of proactive and reactive publicity.
The cheaper service is not simply Standard PR with fewer press releases.
It is a different product designed to solve a narrower problem.
What is Expert Commentary PR?
Expert Commentary PR is designed for somebody who already knows what they are an expert in.
That could be a qualified clinician responding to a health story, an accountant helping explain a business-finance issue, a financial adviser discussing pensions, a solicitor explaining a legal development, an HR specialist commenting on workplace culture or an interior designer explaining a seasonal design trend.
Their expertise is already established.
What they may not have is the time or PR knowledge required to identify appropriate opportunities, assess whether they are worth pursuing, prepare journalist-ready answers and pitch the media.
That is the work Fair handles.
We identify suitable reactive and proactive opportunities, gather genuine specialist input, draft and pitch commentary, manage journalist communication, follow up and monitor coverage.
Where there is a genuinely suitable angle, the service can also include up to two expert-commentary press releases in a month.
It is expert-source PR, not general company promotion.
What does full-service PR involve?
Fair's broader option is Standard PR.
This is for clients who need us to look at the bigger publicity picture.
A Standard PR client may need founder positioning.
They may have business announcements.
A product or service launch.
Interesting customer stories.
Original data.
Thought leadership.
A new location.
A wider reputation-building objective.
Or several different media routes that need to operate together.
Standard PR therefore includes broader journalist-led strategy, campaign development, proactive storytelling, reactive opportunities, press-release development, founder visibility and ongoing account management.
Jordan remains involved in strategy and account management, with fortnightly updates and monthly account calls forming part of the wider service structure.
What is the actual difference?
| Expert Commentary PR | Standard PR | |
|---|---|---|
| UK price | £397/month | £797/month |
| US price | US$497/month | US$997/month |
| Canada price | CAD$747/month | CAD$1,497/month |
| Initial commitment | Three months | Three months |
| Primary goal | Put credible individual expertise in front of journalists | Build a broader PR campaign around a business, founder, expert, product or service |
| Reactive expert opportunities | Yes | Yes |
| Proactive expert outreach | Yes | Yes |
| Expert-commentary releases | Up to two when genuinely suitable | Part of a wider content and campaign programme |
| Company announcements | No | Yes, where newsworthy |
| Product/service launches | No | Yes, where appropriate |
| Founder positioning strategy | No | Yes |
| Founder & Authority Positioning Session | No | Yes |
| Customer/real-life stories | No | May be included where appropriate |
| Complex data campaigns | No | Can form part of wider strategy |
| Monthly written reporting | Yes | Wider account reporting and updates |
| WhatsApp/team access | Yes | Yes |
| Regular account-management meetings | No | Monthly account calls |
| Jordan's ongoing strategic involvement | Not part of day-to-day delivery | Yes |
| Delivery model | Focused team-led expert outreach | Broader account-managed campaign |
Neither service guarantees publication, backlinks or particular titles.
Journalists still make editorial decisions.
Who benefits most from Expert Commentary PR?
The clearest fit is somebody whose knowledge itself is the media asset.
Imagine an employment lawyer who wants to explain workplace developments.
The story is not their firm's new website.
It is the legal knowledge.
Or consider a psychologist who can explain why a particular behaviour is becoming more common.
Again, their usefulness comes from the expertise.
The same principle applies to an accountant responding to a tax-related announcement or a designer explaining why a particular interiors trend is changing.
These people may not require a large positioning exercise every month.
They need somebody to find the right editorial opportunities and help them respond effectively.
When is Standard PR the better option?
Standard PR becomes more appropriate when the desired coverage is about more than the person's commentary.
Suppose a technology business wants publicity around a new product launch.
That is not simply an expert-commentary campaign.
We may need to understand the product, market, target buyers, competitive landscape, founder story, customer use cases and wider business strategy.
Or imagine a founder who says:
"I want to become better known, but I'm not sure what I should be known for."
That requires positioning work.
A restaurant opening a second location, a business announcing expansion, a consumer brand seeking product features or a company with an interesting real-life customer story all require broader campaign thinking.
Trying to squeeze that work into the cheaper Expert Commentary service would make the scope unclear for everybody.
Is Expert Commentary PR inferior because it costs less?
No.
It is narrower.
There is an important difference.
If a qualified professional only wants somebody to manage relevant expert-commentary outreach, paying for a wider strategic campaign they do not need may represent poor value.
Conversely, somebody wanting founder strategy, business announcements, product PR and regular senior account management is unlikely to get good value from buying a cheaper service that specifically excludes those things.
The useful question is not:
Which service costs less?
It is:
Which service contains the work required to achieve my actual PR objective?
What support does Expert Commentary PR include?
It is still a human PR service.
Clients receive portal visibility, monthly written reporting, team WhatsApp communication and the ability to book a purpose-led call when something useful needs discussing.
What it does not include is a standing monthly strategy meeting, unlimited consultancy or regular one-to-one strategic access to Jordan.
Ongoing delivery is led by Fair's PR team following the initial fit process.
That structure is part of why the service can be offered at £397 in the UK, US$497 in the US and CAD$747 in Canada.
Standard PR has a different servicing model because the campaign requires more strategic and account-management time.
Can you start with Expert Commentary PR and move to Standard PR?
Potentially.
A client's requirements can change.
Someone may initially only want commentary opportunities and later decide they have a new business story, product, launch or broader positioning goal.
If that happens, we can discuss whether Standard PR is the more appropriate future scope.
But Expert Commentary PR should not be treated as a workaround for buying a Standard PR campaign at half the price.
If the work required is clearly broader from the start, we will say so.
How do you decide which service is right for you?
Ask what the journalist is ultimately being asked to cover.
If the answer is:
"My professional knowledge about this subject"
Expert Commentary PR may fit.
If the answer is:
"My business, founder story, launch, product, new service, expansion, campaign or wider brand"
Standard PR is more likely to fit.
Then consider whether you already know your expert positioning.
A professional who can clearly say, "These are my credentials and these are the six subjects I can legitimately discuss" is very different from a founder who needs Fair to determine where their strongest public positioning lies.
Support expectations matter too.
If you want written reporting, responsive team contact and expert outreach managed for you, the specialist service may be sufficient.
If you expect regular account calls, broader campaign development and ongoing senior strategic involvement, choose the broader service.
What if you're still unsure?
Tell us what you actually want to achieve.
We would rather recommend the lower-priced service where it genuinely fits than persuade somebody to buy work they do not need.
Equally, we will not describe Expert Commentary PR as suitable when the brief is obviously a broader PR campaign.
Both services operate on the same Fair principle:
The scope should match the job.
Frequently asked questions
Is Expert Commentary PR simply a cheaper version of Standard PR?
No. Expert Commentary PR is a separate, narrower service focused on pitching genuine specialist knowledge to journalists. Standard PR includes broader campaign strategy, business storytelling and account management.
Can Expert Commentary PR promote my new product or company announcement?
No. Product launches, company announcements and wider brand campaigns fall outside the specialist commentary scope. Standard PR may be more suitable if those are your primary goals.
Do both services guarantee media coverage?
No. The team can research, write and pitch suitable opportunities, but journalists and editors independently decide whether and how to publish material.
What if I am a founder who also has useful professional expertise?
Your fit depends on what you want covered. Commentary based on a clearly established specialism may suit Expert Commentary PR. Building the founder's wider profile or publicising the company is usually a broader Standard PR brief.
Not sure which type of PR suits your goals?
Explore Our Services, Expert Commentary PR and Standard PR, or tell us what you hope to achieve.
We'll recommend the service that fits the work rather than automatically directing you to the cheaper or more expensive option.
About the author
Jordan Baker is the founder of Fair Public Relations and a former UK national journalist with more than a decade of experience in journalism and PR. He writes about small-business PR, SEO and GEO strategy, AI search, earned media and practical ways businesses can build credible visibility without wasting money on work they do not yet need.
View Jordan Baker’s media expert profile
