Public Relations’ Bad PR

When placing stories in the media, you want to highlight you product or service, but you also have an equally important second objective. You want to educate. I don’t think that I can emphasize this point strongly enough. Public Relations has bad PR. It is known for its fluff and hype, for the sleight-of-hand work, and, whereas, all of that exists, the glitter and flash isn’t what makes for an effective campaign. What makes media placement effective is that it tells a story, it educates, it gives the public information on a particular topic or field that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

We represented a physician who was working on a new cancer drug and was in the midst of clinical tests. The first series had been quite promising. He was looking for patients with a certain type of cancer who were interested in participating in the study. He received hundreds of calls after a local TV interview ran, from people wanting to find out more information. These people would have never been aware of the study, and their opportunity to participate in it, if it had not been for the interview they saw. How about a couple of examples that are not quite so serious?

A skin care expert who has created her own make-up line, appeared on a TV segment teaching consumers how to buy cosmetics for less. The piece explained how to read and understand labels and how to shop for quality, yet inexpensive products. She was presented as an expert, her products were highlighted, and the public learned new information.

The President and CEO of an Internet company who specialized in B to B solutions, was interviewed in a national publication on the changing face of the Internet. He was able to discuss his company and the solutions it offered, establish himself as an expert in his field, and educate the public.

All of these pieces highlighted and focused on the client’s company, but they also educated. By watching the programs or reading the articles, the public learned new information. The pieces were informative and (hopefully) added to the quality of the viewers’ or readers’ lives. Done correctly, it educates, instructs, entertains, and whets the public’s appetite to know more. On the marketing end, it also stimulates your target audience to make an appointment, purchase a product, or to visit a store. But the bottom line comes down to presenting yourself as an expert, an educator, as someone whom both the media and the public turn to for information and advice, you are communicating with and educating the public.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2009

5 Public Relations Tips For Home-Based Business Owners

No matter what you read in textbooks, online or hear from anyone else, you need to realise that traditional mainstream media advertising doesn’t work. I mean, it can work if you have millions of dollars worth of advertising budget, but for most businesses it is not an effective tool.

Public relations techniques become the best option for home-based business owners, especially when you consider the possibilities presented from using both online and offline techniques.

The purpose of this article is to share with home-based business owners 5 tips that you can utilise relatively quickly.

Learn to write a basic press release- The press release follows a basic template that almost any business owner will be able to fulfill. You need to learn to write a basic press release so that every time your business does something newsworthy you can send off a press release to try and get some media coverage.

Start a blog and utilise social media- I definitely think that you cannot overlook mainstream media coverage but you should also start your own blog, set up a Facebook page and set up a Twitter account so you can reach out to your audience directly without having to worry about your message being mediated.

Join an online networking forum- You should also look at joining an online networking forum. There are plenty of online groups that you can join and there is bound to be one that is related to you your niche. You should join one or more of these forums in order to build your reputation as a respectable business owner.

Referral marketing is the best way to grow your business- Going out and getting a sale can be tough. It is much better to make referral marketing a large part of your business plan. You need to aim to get as much as possible of your business through referrals. My personal preference would be for 100% of business through referrals.

Credibility is more important than visibility- As a home-based business owner credibility is much more important than visibility. It is now much more about what you say and what others say about you then how many times people see your name.

The old rules of advertising no longer apply. You need to make sure that you utilise the PR tips that I mentioned above so that you can grow your business effectively in this new economy. Otherwise you will find that you are doomed to failure.

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