Small Business PR

Written by on July 15, 2008
Categories: Success Thinking

Small business PR is a great way to raise the profile of your business in a cost effective way. Integrated with your other marketing activities it can be powerful and productive. If you have been thinking about using PR to help promote your business, but don’t know where to start, then here are some handy tips to get you on your way.

Setting objectives – it’s essential to be clear about what you are aiming to achieve before your start. All your activity must focus on achieving your objectives – you will be much more effective if you take a planned approach to your PR rather than making attempts on an ad hoc basis. Also, it will help to ensure you are not distracted.

Understanding the media- if you are going to embark on doing your own PR then it’s essential to ‘tune in’ to the media and to learn to think like a journalist. If you can understand the mindset of a journalist then it will enable you to be more tailored in your approaches and to give them what they want – it’s then more likely you will be successful. Journalists will want different things, packaged in different ways depending on their target audiences, but there are also elements that are common.

Research – the more research you can do on your target press and media the better. You need to understand exactly how they work – their deadlines, the subjects they are interested in, the type of format they require for information. If you can identify key journalists and track them then you will soon build up a picture of what is likely to interest them.

Tools – if you are approaching a journalist about a story, or an idea, then you need to be prepared with the information you can give them. That might include a press release which outlines the news story, a briefing note, some background information, questions and answers, biographies, photography etc. It’s best to be prepared – it gives a good impression and will save you time and hassle.

Having something to say – getting profile in the press and media is about having something to say, whether that is announcing your own news or providing a comment on the back of someone else’s story. A journalist won’t be interested in a comment from someone who ‘sits on the fence’ – you need to come down one side of the other.

Maximising your small business PR takes hard work and perseverance but it is well worth the effort.

Access more free articles, tips and information on how to make the most of small business PR by visiting: http://www.smallbusinesspr.net

Debbie Leven is an award winning PR expert
http://www.smallbusinesspr.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_Leven
 

You might also enjoy this....

Tags: , ,

Comments are closed.