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There's More to PR than you think!

Guest post by: Karen McNulty

Article Overview: PR, or "Public Relations", is a whole subject on its own. It's easy to think that PR is all about getting into the press and seeing your business in print, but other PR methods are often forgotten.

There's More to PR than you think!

Relationships with all of your stake-holders are important, so when thinking about communications and partnerships with others it pays to look at the whole range of PR opportunities. Here are a few that you might not have thought about:

• Getting into the press (well we couldn't leave it out)! Making sure that you know who your local newspaper editor is, the features editor and business journalist will be incredibly useful. Drafting a press release around a good story will always get some attention and if you're lucky they'll use it as editorial.
• Investigate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) techniques. By keeping in touch with your existing customers and building your relationships with them, you will be improving your PR with your most important target audience. You can now find software to manage your contacts and customers, to help you track your meetings, telephone calls and plan ahead so that it is easy to keep in touch.
• Sponsorship. If you have the opportunity to sponsor a local or perhaps regional event, or some activity that perhaps ties in with your business, then that is a tremendous PR opportunity, often at a lower cost than you might think. Do you have a local football team or is there a business section in your local newspaper that you could contribute towards?
• Networking. We've talked about this before and it really is a subject in its own right, but... getting out there and talking about your business, sharing experiences with other business people and generally making contacts is an invaluable way of improving your PR.
• Success stories make great material for either local press or just to tell your customers. You might make a new appointment, win an award or even have raised money for charity. It might seem like showing off, but people really get to know your business when you keep the profile of these achievements out there. What about a story when you've been trading for your 1st year, 10th year or 20th year? Now that's success!
• Events. Hosting your own event is another effective method of building local relationships. You may consider some form of "open house" if you have business premises that lend themselves to that, or a celebration event (see above - if you've been trading for a year you could have a birthday event!). It helps your business to get better known in your area and of course you get to meets lots of people.
• Public Speaking. Yes really! Your area of expertise earns you the right to talk to an audience with authority and relevant knowledge. As a business person you can even speak about running your own business. Apart from being a good networking opportunity, you and your business will gain further recognition.

So developing your involvement with your local, regional or national community can pay dividends and you will find that it's actually all a rather enjoyable way to build "Public Relations".

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Article Tags: advertising a small business, marketing and public relations, marketing for small business, marketing for small businesses, public relations, small business marketing



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