PUBLIC RELATIONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

A QUICK TOUR:

PR means different things to different people. For the SME, it’s often a low cost way of getting media coverage for a business and its owners. For large companies, it’s the vehicle for managing issues and reputation, using third party media endorsements to influence different audiences – customers, potential customers, investors, employees (every one an ambassador), and the business community at large.
The public relations business started out as press agentry – you compose a news story about your business, send it to the news media; they print it and –bingo- you’re famous!
These days it’s rather more complicated and scientific, and not for amateurs. Over the decades PR has grown into a powerful industry which has created techniques for influencing and moving markets. The ever-exploding media is an important channel for PR output, but it can include virtually any communications activity up to, and even including, certain types of advertising.

SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADVERTISING AND PR?
Advertising is when you pay to place a message so people will see and act upon it. You buy it by the yard or the second; you control the message, and where and how it appears. You retain total control.
PR is more subtle. Your organization does or says something newsworthy. The media picks it up and writes about it. Other media see it and “run with the story”, as the saying goes. You do it regularly. Your profile increases. The market becomes familiarized, and comfortable with meeting your sales people and buying your product. And yes, you may become famous.
The problem with PR is that you control neither the message nor the medium. Editors may not find your activities newsworthy. Something more important might push you off the news page. A journalist may decide your product sucks, and give you a terrible review. Or someone in your organization gets indicted for fraud the day you launch a new product.
So most organizations, big or small, hire a PR consultancy to come up with the ideas, provide the communications channels, manage the process, do the hard work (and it is), maximize the chances of success and minimize the risk of it going wrong.

CHOOSING A PR CONSULTANCY:
PR consultancies come in all shapes are sizes, from big international corporations to one person with a laptop and a phone. Both have a place in the market, and both can be equally effective. It depends on the task. Choosing the right one is daunting. Most people ask around and seek recommendations, and most PR consultants get their business from referrals.

WHAT YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR:
Experience and understanding of your business and markets. If your market requires specialist knowledge, hire someone who has it.
Strategic brilliance. Whatever they recommend, it has to take you down a logical path to business success.
A track record in making things happen and delivering results. Ask for proof before you hire.
Energy, creativity, tenacity and follow through. This is an ideas business, but it can be tough.
A rapport with you and your staff. That doesn’t mean they have to become your best friends, but you must be on the same wavelength.
Integrity and honesty. The PR game has a bad reputation for “spin”. Have nothing to do with it.

HOW TO HIRE:
It’s common sense, but many people screw it up.
Prepare a brief- Your company, background, people, markets, ambitions, BUDGET and time scale. Keep it under your hat, for the moment.
Shortlist a few consultancies and have them in for a chat. Get them to do a credentials presentation. Decide who has the best fit with you and your company.
Select no more than 3 to pitch for the business. Give them the brief, and be prepared to discuss it openly and fully. Talk about money.
Decide how you are going to score the pitches you receive, and the relative weight you will give the experience, knowledge and reputation of the consultancy against the brilliance of their presentation.
Insist that the person who pitches is the person who will be in day to day control of your account.
Establish some key performance indicators in terms of output and outcome, and how you will measure them.
Be realistic about the budget. You will be paying clever people by the day, and they have organization overheads, just like you.
If you ask for full creative proposals (and I don’t recommend it), remember it will cost the pitching agency in terms of materials and time, so offer a token fee to the unsuccessful applicants.
Always ask for, and check, references.

PR TECHNIQUES – SOME OF THE THINGS YOUR CONSULTANTS MIGHT SUGGEST:
Positioning –the desired attributes and reputation you want your company to have (or which the market requires). Be prepared to modify your products, corporate policies, design, trading terms, business ethics, HR policies etc if it will help you to create and demonstrate positive perceptions about your business.
Media relations – making sure your target media know all about your new products, people, market successes, case histories, speeches, events.
Customer communication. Brochures, newsletters, mailers, email campaigns.
Events: Press Conferences, seminars, exhibitions, trade shows, open days, golf days, fundraisers.
Sponsorship- Why not the [your company] World Cup? Sponsor local charities, artists, environment projects, sports teams. It doesn’t have to be expensive.
Corporate social responsibility. Take part in activities that demonstrate you are a good corporate citizen. If you do, ensure you and your employees exemplify the appropriate values and behaviors.
Competitions – Depending on your product and market, obtain publicity by giving something away.
Surveys and research. Commission a survey to gain market knowledge and fuel for some great media stories. Good surveys are often headline news.
Crisis management. If yours is a business where things can go disastrously wrong in public, make sure you have a rehearsed contingency plan to communicate quickly and honestly with all those affected, especially the media.
These are the basics. A good consultant will be able to come up with a program which fits your organization like a glove.

MANAGING YOUR CONSULTANT:
Give them your time. Don’t delegate to a junior employee who has no experience or who has to refer decisions to you.
Listen to what they say and be prepared to adapt and change your business to achieve the desired positioning and profile.
Regular meetings. With an agenda, and a bullet point action list afterwards.
Make decisions and approve documents quickly.
SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Specific
Measurement criteria: Keep it simple and relevant. Focus on outcomes as much as outputs.
Take the long view. Building up a relationship with hard bitten journalists and others takes time. Not all your stories will succeed, for all sorts of good reasons. But repetition and persistence will pay off eventually.
Beware hubris. Don’t believe your own press cuttings. Let others do that!

Useful links on www.gaunt-cabc.com:
Using communications to improve the bottom line. How to define your budget.
http://www.gaunt-cabc.com/CorporateCommunications.html
Communications check-up for CEOs – You won’t succeed as an entrepreneur unless you communicate successfully with employees, customers and markets.
http://www.gaunt-cabc.com/Communicationscheckup.html

The author: Richard Gaunt is the principal of Gaunt-CABC,http://www.gaunt-cabc.com an award-winning international communications consultancy in London, England. It specializes in internal communications, organization change and B2B media relations in selected markets.

Richard is the co-editor of “Intelligent Measurement” -http://intelligentmeasurement.wordpress.com/,a Blog devoted to non-financial measurement in large organizations. He is also the founder and CEO of Benchpoint Ltd [http://www.benchpoint.com], which carries out online surveys using a unique, proprietary survey system, which delivers fully analyzed results in real time.

© Richard Gaunt 2006. All rights reserved.


PUBLIC RELATIONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS - To learn more about this author, visit Richard Gaunt's Website.

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