Press Releases will NOT benefit your business. Media mentions that come from press releases will. They get you ten times more credibility than a paid advertisement . . . and the publicity is free.

Of course there is a price-tag attached, because in my 45 years of career experience with this function, I have only ever experienced one business owner who knew how to write and distribute press releases that got major media attention . . . therefore professional PR services that create, write and distribute (and badger media people) cost money.

So, the real the question is: will the cost of those services be more than covered by the sales that result from the public (or trade or professional) exposure that's generated?

You can only ever know by trying, but I strongly recommend doing a lot of homework before committing to a fee. Make sure the PR person's track-record is in fact what is represented. It's worth being a detective.