|
|
|
Cross Cultural Solutions for International Business
Globalisation, the expansion of intercontinental trade, technological advances and the increase in the number of companies dealing on the international stage have brought about a dramatic change in the frequency, context and means by which...
Maybe the Strongest PR on Planet Earth?
Strong for business, non-profit and association managers when they use the fundamental premise of public relations to produce external stakeholder behavior change – the kind that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives.
And...
PR: Ouch! Tells the Tale
Ever get the feeling that your public relations program isn’t doing much about the behaviors of your important outside audiences? Those audiences whose actions have the greatest impacts on your business?
Chances are your PR effort is focused...
Quality Care Options Announces New Employee Benefit Solution
Quality Care Options announces a revolutionary employee benefit that enables employers to be more competitive while saving expenses associated with caring for an employee’s elderly parent. Quality Care Options (QCO) is the first and only...
Why Go Public?
Why Go Public? By William Cate Published September 1999 [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] Or, visit the Global Village Investment Club Website: [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/] It...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Public Relations: Antidote for Small Business Failure
When small businesses fail, the wreckage is often assigned to
undercapitalization, among other mistakes. Seldom is failure
attributed to a lack of effective communications that might have
modified the behavior of sales prospects in a positive way, thus
averting bankruptcy.
In my view, raising money for new businesses is a skill best
left to others, but smart, aggressive communications is not. As the
entrepreneur, you cannot rely on your financing source to create the
broad public exposure your business needs if it is to survive. Ideally
from Day 1, you must take the lead in this vital effort accepting the
fact that good results come only after careful planning and
implementation of a realistic and workable public relations strategy.
Before you achieve real growth and prosperity, your target audiences
must not only become aware that your company exists, they must be
motivated to take action. Doing something about how your business
is perceived means a well-planned public relations program that can
reach, persuade and move those prospects to action.
And, by the way, not just prospects. Other target audiences need public
relations attention, too, if they are to take the actions you desire –
employees, residents and leaders of the community, unions, suppliers
and activists. Put another way, (and paraphrasing advertising great,
Bruce Barton), you will have relations – of some kind – with your
internal and external audiences whether you want them or not!
At the root of it all, is a simple truism we all know but tend to forget:
people act on their perception of the facts. If the small business owner
is to have an effect on those perceptions, he/she must deal with them
promptly and effectively.
So the question for you, Ms. or Mr. Small Business Wannabe, is, have you
thought about some of the unattended perceptions out there that could
nudge your fledgling business closer to bankruptcy than success?
Perceptions that, if left unattended, may well result in actions that run
counter to those you and your banker may desire?
For example:
0 If sales prospects are unaware of your product or service, you will
not get them as customers.
0 And if those customers don’t remain convinced of the value of your product
or service, you lose them.
0 If employees believe you don’t care about them, productivity suffers.
0 If a minority person believes you discriminate when you don’t, a
host of unnecessary problems may ensue.
0 If community residents don’t perceive your business as a good
place to work, you have employee hiring and retention problems.
0 If insurance carriers perceive you as a bad risk, they don’t provide
the business coverage you need.
0 If journalists are suspicious of your motives and you don’t convince
them otherwise, you get “bad press.”
0 If business people believe what some competitors say about your
firm, that joint venture you want so badly may not come about.
0 And, as you grow bigger, if government regulators believe your
products are not completely safe, sales will almost certainly be
negatively affected.
0 If legislators are unaware of your opinions or don’t believe you,
unwanted regulations result.
0 And, when you grow big enough to become a public company, if
security analysts believe you can’t manage your company, they
won’t recommend your company to investors.
Obviously, small businesses have limited resources to apply despite
potentially damaging and unattended perceptions held by those
audiences most important to the success of their businesses.
Still, there are certain cost-effective activities you can undertake to
reach them. And considering the survival nature of this topic, while
some expense is involved, you may wish to research nearby public
relations professionals willing to partner with you during the early
days of your enterprize.
Together, you may move in this direction:
First, rank your external audiences as to importance. For example,
#1 customers; #2 prospects; #3 employees; #4 local and trade media;
#5 your local business community; #6 community leaders, and so forth.
Second, as time permits, interact with members of each audience and
jot down their impressions of your business, especially problem areas.
Third, prepare tailored messages that not only provide details about
your product and service quality and diversity, but addresses problems
that surfaced during your conversations.
Fourth, consider the most effective means for communicating each
message to each audience. This may include simple meetings, briefings,
news releases, news announcement luncheons, media
interviews, facility tours, special promotional events, a brochure,
and a variety of other communications tactics.
How will you know that your efforts are changing perceptions for
the better? Over time, you should notice increased awareness of your
business, especially how it’s doing in the marketplace; increased
receptiveness to your messages by customers; a growing public
perception of the role your business plays in its industry and in the
community; and, of course, growing numbers of prospects.
Such results are tracked by speaking on a regular basis with people
among each of your key audiences, by monitoring print and broadcast
media for mentions of your messages or viewpoints, and by
interaction with key customers and prospects.
Remember what is at stake – nothing less than the survival of your
business!
So, keep an eye on what’s most important, and remember that people
in your community or marketing area behave like everyone else –
they take actions based on their perception of the facts they hear about
you and your business.
And that means you must deal promptly and effectively with those
perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach them and to persuade
them to your way of thinking, thus moving them to take actions that
lead to the success of your business.
end
About the Author
Bob Kelly, public relations consultant, was director of public
relations for Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-Public Relations, Texaco Inc.;
VP-Public Relations, Olin Corp.; VP-Public Relations, Newport
News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications,
U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press
secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net
|
|
|
|
|
| PR.com: Directory of Businesses Jobs Press Releases Products ... |
| Comprehensive Directory of Businesses, Jobs, Products, Services, Press Releases, News, & Articles in all Industries. Promote your business. FREE. |
| www.pr.com |
|
| PR Newswire - news distribution, targeting and monitoring |
| News and press release distribution services for small business marketing, corporate public relations and investor relations, government and organizational ... |
| www.prnewswire.com |
|
| PR Week Magazine |
| News and features about the public relations industry, with links to US, UK, Asian, and German editions. |
| www.prweek.com |
|
| Public relations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Public relations (PR) is the art of managing communication between an organization and its ... PR historians say the first PR firm, the Publicity Bureau, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Puerto Rico - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Hyperlinked encyclopedia article covers the country's history, government and politics, geography, economy, demographics, language and culture. |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) |
| Largest professional organization of public relations specialists representing business, consulting firms, government, associations, schools, ... |
| www.prsa.org |
|
| CIA - The World Factbook -- Puerto Rico |
| Profile of Puerto Rico by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). |
| https: |
|
| Center for Media and Democracy - Publishers of PR Watch |
| A nonprofit, public interest organization dedicated to investigative reporting on the public relations industry. |
| www.prwatch.org |
|
| Puerto Rico Vacations | Puerto Rico Tourism Company | Puerto Rico ... |
| Puerto Rico Tourism Company Official site includes nightlife, area sports, culture, and travel information. |
| www.gotopuertorico.com |
|
| PR: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with pr on Technorati. ... This page shows everything that has been tagged with pr. To contribute to this page include this code ... |
| www.technorati.com |
|
| Edelman |
| Full service global public relations firm. Includes company profile, management team, practice areas, industries served, case histories, client listings, ... |
| www.edelman.com |
|
| LEWIS PR - global public relations |
| LEWIS PR is a global public relations consultancy working with leading and emerging brands and delivering predictable results tied tightly to client goals. |
| www.lewispr.com |
|
| IANA | .pr - Puerto Rico |
| University of Puerto Rico Gauss Laboratory Facundo Bueso Building Office 265 ... Puerto Rico Email: tech@uprr.pr Voice: +787 765 3263 Fax: +787 754 0757 ... |
| www.iana.org |
|
| Online Public Relations Home Page |
| Free online resource for public relations professionals. |
| www.online-pr.com |
|
| Chartered Institute of Public Relations, CIPR, the professional ... |
| The CIPR is the professional body for the UK public relations industry, providing PR training and events, PR news and research, and a PR jobs board. |
| www.ipr.org.uk |
|
| PR News Online — Trusted Source for Public Relations News, PR ... |
| The latest news on public relations delivered FREE right to your inbox. ... Psycho-Geometrics Help You Know What 'Shape' Your PR Team's Personality Is In ... |
| www.prnewsonline.com |
|
| O'Dwyer's Public Relations News - odwyerpr.com |
| Features breaking news about the public relations industry, a database of PR firms, listing of PR service firms, client search tool and job postings. |
| www.odwyerpr.com |
|
| PR News Online — Trusted Source for Public Relations News, PR ... |
| E-letter. The latest news on public relations delivered FREE right to your inbox. ... Share ideas with your peers in PR News' just-launched Forum ... |
| www.prandmarketing.com |
|
| Linux PR: |
| Comprehensive Press Release and Public Relations resource for the Linux community. |
| www.linuxpr.com |
|
| Escape to Puerto Rico - Your Internet Guide to Puerto Rico |
| Internet guide to everything Puerto Rico. Offers lots of photos, accommodations and travel information from around the Island. |
| escape.topuertorico.com |
|
|