I got to meet with the PR firm Ruder Finn today in downtown San Francisco and our talk focused on how similiar the PR and online link building industries are. Let's examine the two side by side:

Public Relations:

1. Build a contact list of reporters, writers, press folks, etc.
2. Target a piece of client activity - a launch, a re-launch, an event, a new product, a new company, etc.
3. Target the people on the contact list most likely to be receptive to covering the activity
4. Pitch the activity of the client to the press folks in creative ways that will make them take notice
5. Measure success based on articles, stories and coverage

Organic Link Building:

1. Target a site and set of keywords/phrases or generic area of focus
2. Through competitive analysis and search, establish a list of the important link sources and potential link sources.
3. Send emails, make phone calls, send packages to folks to engage their interest and get them to provide links back to the content
4. Measure success via links and coverage online

SEO and Public Relations - two peas in a pod. Do you see opportunities for crossover here? I think that what the PR industry currently calls EPR (electronic) is a direct correlation. I wonder if we'll see Publicis snap up WeBuildPages or Fortune Interactive acquire Edelman (OK, so the former's more likely than the latter, but you get the gist).