PR questions for Trent Freeman, president of PRTechConnect

Rude question, but a fair one:

PR firms have a solid reputation for taking money and not being accountable for results. Pushing a release over the wire is not results. Even getting an article published isn't necessarily results.

Results means something of tangible value -- non-crap leads is a good start. (Revenue is better but most companies can't measure it that well.)

What will they do to hold themselves accountable so they prove their ROI?

If the question cannot be answered directly and sensibly, then I would argue they have no place taking money for little startups.

$1000 per month is hardly what I would call "startup pricing"...

I also don't see how they are relevant or what they could possibly do for me/my company. How would a PR company have the contacts that are relevant and ones that get results (sales)?

I see firms like this akin to the big newspaper media companies who are struggling to retain clients and stay alive. I think I have a better idea whom to contact in my field/niche than a company like this would. They may have some useful guidance on the nature of PR, but I can think of plenty of things I would rather do with $999 or $1999 per month.

[EDIT]

So I guess my questions are:

• How are you relevant in this age?
• How do I know you have useful contacts in my industry?

• How can startups tell bad PR firms from good ones?

• Related to Tim & Jason's points, what are the metrics for PR? How would he quantify a PR firm's results?

• When do startups not need a PR firm?

• If a startup's lucky enough to get major primetime news coverage (like Chat Roulette, or twitter on CNN), what can they do to make the most of it?

• How can you get a call-to-action placed in coverage of your startup?