For financial planners, getting publicity, in the end, isn't about having contacts in the media.

Or about writing a great press release.

In the end, it's about one thing: it's about you.

You, and the knowledge and expertise you share every day with your clients.

The same knowledge that helps you recommend the right stocks, mutual funds, or municipal bonds.

The same expertise that your clients seek out when they want to plan a savings account for their child's education, formulate a retirement plan, or protect the value of their estate.

If you have any of that knowledge stuff (and you wouldn't still be in business if you didn't), you can get publicity. And you can use that publicity to build your business. I promise.

By the way, I've encountered many financial planners along the way who thought that getting impactful publicity was an impossible dream for them.

"I'm too small," they'd say.

"No one in the media cares about me."

I can't compete with the big guys."

To which I say, baloney! After which I say, yes, you can.

And after which I cite an old African proverb:

"Anyone who thinks you can be too small to make a difference has never spent a night alone in a closed room with a mosquito."

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.