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Public Relations Is Not a Dirty Phrase!
By John Joyce, President
Red, Incorporated
Strategic Marketing and Design
Many businesses spend a lot of money on advertising and marketing and overlook the advantage of supplementing those valuable communications tools with public relations. And it can be done with very little added expense.
Newspapers, magazines and the broadcast media are often willing (and sometimes eager) to provide their advertisers with “free” editorial material to go next to their ads or spots.
Public relations may take many forms – from print articles placed in consumer and trade press to cause-related marketing – and virtually all are effective ways of building awareness, thanks to the credibility PR carries. Cause-related marketing means linking your business and your efforts to a charitable or worthy cause.
According to a report from Media Post, a new trade group called the Cause Marketing Forum predicts cause marketing spending will top $1 billion by the end of 2004, as more and more businesses make it an integral part of their PR programs.
But as a small business owner it’s important to make yourself known – of course in a positive way – amid all the ads and other “distractions” that bombard your customers or potential customers every day.
In other words, as they say, it’s critical to get the most bang for your buck.
Stretch your budget by developing a low cost public relations campaign that you can handle yourself or through an individual consultant. While advertising certainly is necessary, PR can be a much more powerful tool because it lends credibility to you and your company.
Here are a few PR tips to consider:
- Write. Or have someone write material that you can offer to your customers, potential customers, newspapers, magazines, editorials, letters, etc. But a caution here: Advertising is what you pay for – PR is what you pray for!
- Speak. If you can’t write a speech, don’t worry. There are plenty of public or semi-public forums where you should feel comfortable sharing your expertise freely with colleagues or potential customers. (Maybe the Chamber of Commerce is one!)
- Work the Crowd. It’s a standard sales cliché, but the more you put yourself in front of the public (or targeted audience or groups), that’s free publicity. After all, YOU are your business and who better to promote that business than YOU!
- Volunteer. You will be amazed at the return on your investment for volunteering. The benefits might not be seen for a while, but this is an excellent long-term investment.
- Listen. The opportunities to promote your business are endless. Take note of what others are doing and there’s no shame in cloning what they do.
