As an ex-journalist who now does a fair bit of financial PR, I'm often reading the business, money and property media.

And I find it startling just how dominated they are by the views of a tiny pool of 'experts'.

There are 000's of financial services and property experts out there: IFAs, mortgage brokers, estate agents, stockbrokers, economists, traders, insurance brokers. You may be one.

Despite this, too many of the business and money/property hacks out there repeatedly use a select and privileged few. Here's what I see when I read the financial and property pages:

[caption id="attachment_1548" align="alignnone" width="568"]

Groundhog Day![/caption]

You get the point.

Same old names, same old thoughts. Same old Michael Ballacks.

Now I'm not saying these 'experts' don't know what they're on about.

I'm just saying that there are tens of thousands of OTHER experts with equally insightful views but who are never seen or heard in the media.

This lack of diversity grated on me when I was an editor and it grates on me today.

Why such media elitism?

Why do so many business, personal finance and property journalists continually quote the same old rent-a-gobs?

The list of reasons below is by no means exhaustive, but it's a good start.

• Journalists are under ever more pressure to meet deadlines and get copy 'up' online. As a result, they are increasingly inclined to use close and reliable sources, i.e. the rent-a-gob that can give them a quick soundbite. Seeking out a new source who may not be as media-savvy or tuned into the speed with which journalists work can be time-consuming.

• Too many journalists are lazy b@stards. It's quicker and easier for them to quote a rent-a-gob. I was guilty of it myself. We all were. In recent years, however, it's a problem that has escalated. The media have become increasingly 'narrow'

• Fact. FS companies that can afford to employ an in-house pr resource or financial PR agency to constantly schmooze/liaise with key journalists enjoy greater access and influence within the media

• Too many journalists are as cliquey as hell. Simples!

• The bigger financial services and property companies have more resource to produce good media-friendly content, which keeps them in the news. Credit where credit's due

• Companies with expertise but who can't afford a financial pr firm, or an in-house resource, generally don't know how to approach journalists, what to give them or how to give it to them

• Many financial services and property firms are wary of the media and of being misquoted, mainly because to them journalists are an unknown quantity.

• As much as they would like to engage more with the media, many financial and property experts in smaller firms simply haven't got the time to build relationships with journalists and create the content that journalists want and need

Financial pr minus the risk

At Just In Time PR, we want to change the way things are right now.

We want to give the silent majority of smaller financial services and property companies out there a voice.

We're already doing it. But we want to do even more of it.

But how do you get new financial services and property firms into the media in big numbers?

We felt that the only way to achieve this was to shoulder the risk ourselves.

We therefore ONLY charge our clients IF they get media coverage.

As a result, companies that wouldn't have even contemplated PR are giving it a go.

The result is that we're putting hundreds of new names into the papers, online and on the telly.

Personally, I find it hugely satisfying and I genuinely think the media will be richer as a result.

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