There are a few ways to try to get your company’s name in the public domain and establish your business as the go-to in its niche. For example, a business owner can blog, tweet and send emails to a list of customers in the hopes those efforts will translate into cash register rings. Of course, those efforts take a lot of time, and time is a most valuable commodity.

There are countless public relations and marketing experts who specialize in accomplishing those communication efforts. If you want to work with someone local but don’t know where to turn, there are several places to look for referrals. Ask other entrepreneurs how they accomplish their marketing efforts, particularly business owners in your same line of work. You can also check the web sites of experts in your area to compare their services and pricing structures.

No surprise here that businesses can hire PR peeps outside their local area, so that’s another option. The wonders of technology have made that possibility so much more realistic.

Another option is to utilize an automated marketing system. According to Marketo, marketing automation is a category of technology that permits businesses to streamline, automate and measure their marketing tasks and workflows. Those efforts can increase operational efficiency and generate revenue more quickly.

It’s a growing industry, too. In the year 2010, companies offering automated marketing services earned $3.2 billion. In 2015, the industry is projected to generate $4.8 billion, according to Marketo.

An important consideration of automated marketing, where an outside company maintains your company’s contact list, generates and sends promotional emails to current and prospective customers and much more is cost. For example, according to its web site, SalesFusion’s least expensive option starts at $900 a month. Meanwhile, Act-On monthly rates start at $600. It’s definitely prudent to compare a variety of companies to determine where your company might enjoy the best ROI.

If you decide against automated marketing but still want to hire a pro to help generate your business some buzz, a private PR person or company might be the way to go. But at least one entrepreneur disagrees with hiring anyone to help promote

According to Kevin Fleming, co-founder of Contena, an online job board for creatives, “It’s almost always better to set up and execute your marketing strategy internally vs. hiring an outside consultant or marketing agency. As a business owner, it’s critical to embrace a marketer’s mindset – you need to be your product’s biggest evangelist from Day One. The truth is that no one should be more passionate about your product than you. In my experience, the startups and companies that embraced that mindset and philosophy were almost always more successful,” he said.

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Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer.