6 red flags from prospective PR clients

Then you turn around one day and realize your new business pipeline is empty.

Self-employment can be like that. When I was first self-employed, I wanted to take on every single client who crossed my desk—even some who weren’t such a great fit.

I learned (in some cases the hard way) that there are certain prospective PR clients you should very much walk away from, even if you need the business.

Here are six red flags that should tell you to think twice about whether or not you want to take someone on as a PR client:

1. “ I want to be famous.”

During an early interview with a potential client, a fledgling sci-fi author whose husband had bankrolled her self-published novel, I heard the words no publicist outside of Sex and the City wants to hear.

One of the questions I had asked her was, “What do you hope to get out of hiring public relations support?”

Her answer was:

“I want to be on the New York Times bestseller list, I want my book to become a movie and I want to be famous.”