So you’ve hung up your shingle and clients aren’t exactly beating a path to your door. What can you do? Well you might think standing out on the street with a megaphone will do the trick. And it may be one way to gain attention for your business, but an overall public relations plan incorporating a number of promotional ideas could be just what your business needs.

Public relations is communicating who you are, what you do and how you make a difference. It’s about having successful “relationships” with your “public”. They could be friends, clients, potential customers, competitors or the media who can all help spread the word about your business.

One way of communicating your message is through publicity or media relations. Sending out media releases to create awareness of your product or service through editorial coverage is great publicity and it is very effective. They say publicity is seven times more effective than advertising. But it is just one tactic of an overall public relations plan that you could incorporate.

Let’s look at a few other ideas:

* Newsletters email or hard copy – direct communication with your public, clients and customers. Send out some sort of communication to your data base at least once a quarter to keep “top of mind”

* Write articles about your area of expertise and submit them to business or consumer publications and online sites such as this one you are reading. I have had work come to me directly through published articles

* Fact sheets or a brochure. Include written information about you, your product or service with any mail outs

* Create a website. This is your online PR brochure but you need to keep telling people about it. Make sure you incorporate strategies to promote your site, such as include the domain name in every piece of communication collateral you have, whether it’s brochures, stickers, pens or caps. Put it everywhere

* Product launches and product giveaways to the media. Create “buzz” for your business by giving something away. Be generous as ultimately it will help with sales

* Public speaking – free speeches to Rotary clubs or other organisations is a good way of letting people know about your business and area of expertise. By being known as an expert on a particular topic and getting the word out perhaps the media will contact you

* Networking – join organisations of like minded people such as business networks or your local Chamber of Commerce. Build rapport and relationships to help spread the word about who you are and what you do

* Special events such as a trade show or entering business awards can help boost your profile. Why not hold a launch or an open day or even a cocktail party at your place of business to thank your clients or customers

* Sponsorships. If you can’t afford to hold your own event why not sponsor an event that somebody else is organising. Make sure your sponsorship is acknowledged on any advertising and other communication collateral

* Something as simple as sending thank you notes and letters is good personal PR

About the Author
Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications Consultancy and author of Apprentice to Business Ace - your inside-out guide to personal branding, is a business educator and speaker on personal branding through image and media. Sign up for free monthly tips at http://www.shinecomms.com.au/contactmanager/default.cfm. To learn more about how you can achieve recognition, enhance your image and shine, visit http://www.shinecomms.com.au.

Every smart business owner knows that visibility in the community is an essential part of a good marketing plan. One of the easiest ways to get that visibility is to use the media. Let print, radio, TV, and the Internet tell others who you are, what you do, and what you have to offer.

When the media’s eye is on you, it’s priceless. So much so, in fact, that the investment you make in retaining professional public relations services to get that attention is paid back many-fold. Not only is your message presented to countless consumers who read the paper, check out their favorite Internet blog, watch TV, or listen to radio, it can go well beyond that particular media moment. For example, copies of an article about you (permission granted by the publication and/or author, of course) can be inserted into your professional portfolio or posted on your Web site. Radio or TV interviews can be downloaded from your Web site for listening or viewing.

To get that visibility in the first place, you’ll want to consider hiring a public relations .professional While no one can guarantee news coverage, an experienced professional already has a media system in place that includes important details such as how to create and distribute a newsworthy press release to the most appropriate media contacts and has time to do the necessary follow-up which often includes customizing news angles, if needed, so that they fit the current needs of particular media venues.

Fees for pr services depends upon the range of assistance you require. A campaign that includes national as well as regional and localized media exposure will cost more than a campaign gearend towards local media only.

If you think your PR budget doesn’t allow for professional assistance, think again. There may be a way (perhaps several) you can reduce those fees. Here are a few ideas about how to generate the revenue so that you can enlist professional services:

1. If you offer fee-based events/workshops, consider securing underwriters to cover the cost of “free” seats or tickets for students or seniors. Honor the underwriters with name recognition, program mention, or even naming seats after them.

a. Underwriters can offset your costs so that you have more funds available for PR purposes. In some instances, PR costs themselves can be underwritten.

b. Underwriters are often other businesses that could benefit from being part of what you are doing. If you offer travel workshops, for example, maybe a local travel agency would be willing to become an underwriter.

c. If the event is hosted by a non-profit, the underwriters can receive tax credit.

2. Consider collaborating with another organization when promoting a service, event, or product.

a. This mutually beneficial arrangement can allow for shared staffing as well as shared publicity expenses.

b. Your partner may be able to contribute to your PR budget in exchange for mention in any article or mailers connected to the event or product launch.

c. These collaborations can also include in-kind assistance. For example, you could hold your retirement planning seminar in a mortgage company conference room that has been “donated” by the mortgage company. Their staff may even help set the room up. This reduces your overhead.

d. Your collaborating group may even be willing to share mailing labels and/or email data base.

3. Use your company newsletter to offer advertising space at reasonable rates.

a. Consider expanding your newsletter’s distribution base because that offers greater visibility. It can be as simple as placing extra newsletters in coffee shops or other places your clientele is most likely to frequent.

4. Do you have an item or service you can raffle off to customers for a good cause? A portion of the raffle ticket fees can be directed toward your PR budget. The rest can go to whatever cause you have selected to support.

a. Donate a percentage of the proceeds to a local kids’ club, senior center, or animal shelter. Everyone loves to be part of a cause that is meaningful and close to home.

Hopefully, these suggestions have sparked some ideas of your own about how to pay for public relations services and how to reach out to your community to invite support. Some of the examples cited here may be more appropriate than others for your situation. That’s fine. Not everyone is going to cover their PR budget by selling raffle tickets. But remember that inviting others to work with you for mutual benefit will always generate good will. That good will, placed in the hands of a competent PR professional whose fees have been offset by your collaborative efforts, can in turn become the subject of yet more media attention.

About the Author
Since 2000, Karen Pierce Gonzalez Public Relations has provided public relations services for businesses, non-profits, art and culture organizations, and individual professionals locally, regionally, and nationally. Founder and president Karen Pierce Gonzalez has twenty-five years experience in the media having worked as a journalist for such media as the San Francisco Chronicle, Marin Independent Journal, and Point Reyes Light newspapers as well a numerous local and national magazines. She knows what makes the news and what does not. Want to know more? Visit Karen Pierce Gonzalez Public Relations at http://www.karenpiercegonzalez.com Also check out her blog: http://kpgpublicrelations.blogspot.com

A PR product or service launching is a perfect way to build momentum slowly. It handles the first and most important hurdle to overcome in building a brand — credibility.

Step 1: Be a leak-er. The media adores describing events that are “going” to occur. Use it and use it to its longest capacity. Don’t jump out too soon.

Step 2: The Slow Buildup. Like a rose, slow gets more beautiful to people the more it unfolds. It is the way people expect and are comfortable with, respect it.

Step 3: Recruit natural allies to support your launch and buildup. Especially, the enemy of your competitors.

Step 4: Bottom-up rollout. You don’t want to jump up to the roof and yell, people just think you’re crazy. Begin at the lowest rung on the ladder first. Consider each rung a media outlet. Each media creates its own momentum, its own attraction.

Step 5: Listen and Adjust. Be very aware of credible comments and adjust accordingly. Don’t react but do respond.

Step 6: Make message modifications. What attributes are working and build on them. Observe media feedback and watch for media nosebleeds.

Step 7: Patience. Launch occurs after PR has run its course, not before. Have a big D-day planned with a massive approach.

After PR comes advertising and not before. The advertising handles the conventional hurdle — being popular enough so people buy. Conventional, people buying because other people are buying, never comes before credibility. Credibility is why the most effective brand launching starts with PR.

About the Author
Catherine Franz, a Business Coach, specialized in writing, marketing and product development. Newsletters and additional articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com. An expanded view on this topic, “Brand Building: The Ideal Way” is available in the articles section.