Tweet

Using PR is Just Plain Smart

Written by: Bob Kelly

Article Overview: Here's why it's smart: When public relations alters key audience perceptions, then reaches, persuades and moves that key audience to a behavior you desire, it clearly helps achieve your managerial objectives.

Using PR is Just Plain Smart

Please feel free to publish this article in your ezine, newsletter,
offline publication or website. Only requirement: you must use
the Robert A. Kelly byline and resource box. Net word count is
820 including guidelines and box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006.

Using PR Is Just Plain Smart

The name of the game is doing our part to achieve the
key objectives. And public relations best practice – properly
applied – does just that.

How? The driving force is public relations’ fundamental
premise which promises to harness your most important
external audiences in a way that actually helps reach those
very same business, non-profit, public entity or association
objectives.

Just look at that premise: “People act on their own perception
of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors
about which something can be done. When we create, change
or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-
to-desired-action those people whose behaviors affect the
organization, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.”

It strongly suggests that without the understanding of who
and what your organization is all about, the behaviors of
those important external audiences may hinder your
efforts and, left unattended, tie your organization in knots.

This sentence sums up the bottom line. When public relations
alters key audience perceptions, then reaches, persuades and
moves them to an action you desire, it clearly helps achieve
management’s objectives.

Do you enjoy that kind of support? You can if you employ a
program along these lines.

Decide at the start which outside audiences display behaviors
that most impact your organization, and list them. We’ll
concentrate here on that #1 external audience you believe has
the greatest effect on your operations. Of course, other
audiences may need your attention as well.

The obvious first step is to find out how members of that
“public,” as we call them, actually perceive your organization.
The best and quickest way to do this is to interact with those
people and ask questions that probe their perceptions. Listen
carefully for negative observations and remain alert to factual
errors, inaccuracies, misperceptions and even rumors.

These responses enable you to create a public relations goal
aimed directly at correcting the damaging perceptions,
especially misconceptions and inaccuracies.

Now, you get to select one of three available opinion strategies
that show you how you will reach your goal: create opinion
where there may be none; change existing opinion, or
reinforce it. Your public relations goal will lead you to the
proper strategy selection.

The meat of the program is usually the message you will send
to members of your target audience. After all, that message
will be charged with the task of altering people’s perceptions,
and that means it must be persuasive and compelling. It must
also be as clear as possible, and contain the facts and figures
needed to repair the perception damage. In short, your message
must be believable. You might also run it by a few members
of your target audience to be sure it has the desired effect on
the perception you are striving to alter.

Moving your message to many members of your #1 external
audience requires aggressive and carefully targeted
communications tactics. Public relations is fortunate to have
dozens of such tactics from which to choose. For example,
radio and newspaper interviews, letters-to-the-editor, face-to-
face meetings and speeches. Or you might select tactics such
as facility tours, brochures, community meetings, special
events and promotional activity.

In due course, after your communications tactics have spread
your message far and wide, you will want to know if you are
making any progress. Experience shows that remonitoring
your target audience is a must.

You will want to ask the same questions of audience members
you used during your data gathering exercise at the start of the
program.

Your objective, however, will be different. Now, you will be
looking for signs that the offending perception has begun to
be altered in the direction you desire. Should more work be
necessary, a possible change in the mix and frequency of your communications tactics can be made. And, of course, you would
want to review your message for clarity, impact and direction,
especially with regard to your supporting facts and figures.

Because we know that predictable behaviors tend to follow
changes in perception, your carefully planned public relations
effort is well-positioned to create key audience support for
management initiatives.

end

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has authored
245 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click
Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola
Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport
News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S.
Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The
White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia
University, major in public relations.
mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:www.PRCommentary.com

Related Articles
  Text vs. Images on your Website
  How Good is Your Guru?
  What Do You Need to Do To Move Your Sales Team To That Next Level?
  Staying on Top
  Successful?

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
LEADERS - L- Loyal E- Eager to learn and serve A- Active D- Delegate E- Efficient R- Reliable S- Smart
Re: 365 Foolish Mistakes Smart Managers Make - [quote="litekepr":2v18lglp]This morning's Google Alert held a pleasant surprise. WORTH MENTIONING A List of New Books Compiled by The Management and Government Information Center (MAGIC) Chinn Park Regional Library 703-792-4880Summer 2007 Indicates titles relating to the FISH Philosophy 365 Foolish Mistakes Smart Managers Make Every Day: How and Why to Avoid Them by Shri L. Henkel, 2006 interesting. Is anyone else here familiar with the FISH philosphy? i[/quote:2v18lglp] Congrats on the mention of your book! Hopefully it will drive up sales! For myself, I don't really care for their acronym... MAGIC. Gives people the subtle impression that good things happen at the snap of a finger instead of lots of hard work!
Are You a Businessgirl or a Businesswoman? - One thing that has irked me off and on for 30 years is the tendency of people - both men [i:2wryyhvf]and [/i:2wryyhvf]women, to refer to women, whatever their age, as 'girls' rather than women. College basketball announcers, coachers and players do it, as do the fans. These are 'girls' who are between the ages of 18 - 21, that's women in my book. Tennis players and announcers do it. John McEnroe called 'em girls and just when I was getting annoyed at him for being a bit of a male chauvanist, they interviewed player Lindsay Davenport - 30 years old, and she referred to 'em as girls as well. The Bond "girls" were girls up until the 90s, I admit, doing nothing more than providing someone for Bond to bed and rescue, but in the last few installments the "girl" has been more of a power player...nevertheless she's still a 'girl'. And of course there was the TV series The Golden Girls - which I liked by the way, but which featured mature women calling themselves girls And now here it is in the 2000s, and we get this: The Girl's Guide To Starting Your Own Business, by Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio. Their photos are on the cover - presumably the photo is of them and not models - and they are definitely women, not girls. And what "girly" chapter titles do they give us? "The Scary Stuff" (financial matters) and a chapter on ACTING Like an Adult. (Caps mine). So popular was this book, apparently, that they've now come out with a sequel: The Girl's Guide to Being a Boss (Without Being A Bitch): Valuable Lessons, Smart Suggestions, and true stories for succeeding as the CHICK-IN-CHARGE. (My caps) and once again I was tempted to take the book and throw it across the room. Let's indulge in [i:2wryyhvf]all [/i:2wryyhvf]the cliches, shall we? So I'd like to hear from other businesswomen out there. Do you find yourself referred to as a girl? Do you mind it? Do you like the culture that still propagates that mindset?
True Characteristics of an Entrepreneur - It is said that in order to become a successful individual in whatever endeavor you wish to take, you must have the right attitude and characteristics. This is also true with an entrepreneur. Not everyone can become an entrepreneur. What are the characteristics of an entrepreneur? Are they really important? Well, of course the characteristics are important because if you don’t possess them, you will have lower chances in terms of business success. The characteristics are as follows – 1. Risk taker – this is a very important characteristic of an entrepreneur. If you're not willing to take any risk, then you will not succeed as a businessperson. In the everyday course of the business, you will encounter a lot of problems and challenges which you need to decide the soonest. Some risks are worth taking after careful evaluation especially if it's for the good of the business. If you're not a risk taker, then you're not an effective entrepreneur and you're bound to fail in your business undertaking. 2. Smart – being smart is another characteristic of an entrepreneur. You have to be clever, keen, and witty in all your business dealings. You have to show mental alertness and intelligence so that you can win the respect and trust of customers and other clients. 3. A leader – leadership is a characteristic that is hard to find among individuals. Not many individuals have the nerve to take the lead. To become a good entrepreneur, you must be a leader. Some say that this is a born characteristic but if you don’t possess it, you can also learn to become a leader. You're quite lucky if you're a born leader because you only have to develop your other qualities and use them when you choose to become an entrepreneur. As a leader, you should be able to guide, influence, and direct people. This way, you can handle all your business activities with ease and fewer worries. 4. Inner passion for business – another important characteristic is having the right passion for business. You have to maintain your enthusiasm and interest in the business. As long as you have the right drive and passion, you can run the business for a long time. 5. Honest and trustworthy – some say that eighty percent of an entrepreneur's time is dedicated to pooling and attracting customers. This may be true because without the customers, the business will not exist. You have to be honest and trustworthy so that you can develop good will. There are other characteristics that an entrepreneur should possess. These characteristics help him or her do all the business responsibilities and obligations that need to be done. These are also the keys to business success. If you want to finance a certain business venture and run the business yourself, you should develop these characteristics. Without them, your business will soon fail and you will suffer the losses. Be thankful if you already have the characteristics of an entrepreneur. All you need to do now is to study the market carefully, think of a good business venture, and provide for the capital and you're all set.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Leading from Authenticity is a Beautiful Thing

How to choose your executive coach -1

How To Calculate A Minimum Fee For Your Services

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.