Adopt this mind-set and read on!

What is PR?

“PR” is short for Public Relations and generally defines how you interact with your customers, business suppliers, financiers or peers. PR is usually conducted through the media.

Paying for advertising space - an alternative or supplement to PR - is sometimes an effective form of publicity if very well targeted but it is commonly expensive. However, you don't really have to spend much to generate good publicity for your service or products if you can think through who you want to reach out to and devise a PR strategy instead. The only resources needed are your time and some creative thought.

Publicising success stories through the media - newspapers, magazines, newsletters, radio, the web, television and even over mobile phones - is an industry unto itself. Many agencies and freelancers (of which I am one!) offer advice and practical help for a fee but anyone can do it with some planning.

Basically, your audience is more likely to trust a good PR story than believe any paid advertisement you buy so long as there is a wider “news” element involved.

Decent PR gives you a competitive edge and provides a good foundation for your marketing and sales efforts. Successful PR gets you noticed and talked about!

How to Start: The News Release

Also known as press releases, news releases are the lifeblood of much journalism today. They must not be obvious attempts to sell but should instead highlight a news angle of potential interest to your audiences.

So! …

• Do you have a new product or service to promote that will help put your town on the map or even stimulate the local economy by creating new jobs?
• Might you want people to know that you are hosting students from your local school in a guided tour of your business or offering them work experience placements?
• Are you or any member of staff taking part in a sponsored charitable event?
• Have you developed a caring approach to the environment in your business practices? Might employees, family or friends dedicate a specified time to clearing litter from a play park, section of a local river or a nearby beauty spot? Why not get t-shirts printed up with your name, logo and website address as a free “thank-you” to all who take part and invite the wider community to participate too?
• Have you won a recent award or landed a new business contract?
• Do you now offer initial price discounts or freebies for new customers?
• Might you organise and host a local debate on regional or national issues affecting your community that they would want to have a say on and which the local media might agree to pick up on?

The above list is only a start. Even notice of moving premises can interest local journalists enough for them to produce an article. However, your “news” must have some local relevance.

How to Put a News Release Together and Use it

A good news release will say what is happening, who is involved and explain clearly why, where and when in its first paragraph. You can expand on this in subsequent paragraphs but be aware that editors who are tight for space may look at cutting your story from the bottom upwards; so compose it with that in mind and get the important facts in at the start.

Avoid exaggeration or unjustifiable claims. Use adjectives very sparingly and try wherever possible to employ active verbs rather than passive ones (e.g., “we won the award” rather than “the award was won by us” …).

Know when to finish and write “ENDS” below the final paragraph. The equivalent length of one or, at most, two sides is about right. If you have additional information, you can also supply a “backgrounder” sheet providing extra information about the business, its history, employees and the services or products involved. Make sure you give clear details of the named person they can contact in order to follow up the story.

Although hiring an experienced journalist, copywriter or PR professional can provide a better chance of having the news release followed up, you may find that family and friends have writing skills they will contribute should you not feel confident handling it yourself.

A good news release effectively gives the media a complete but basic article requiring little editing before publication or broadcast. On that basis, it is more likely to be used.

Think about who you want to target with your release. Is it the general public? Your suppliers? Other businesses?

If you issue a release to a number of different media outlets, send them at the same time and make sure they are dated.

If you distribute releases by email, make sure the text is fully copied and pasted into the actual email body. You can also send a duplicate email with the text document also attached though it may be that filters block such attachments. If you submit on paper, use double spacing between the lines.

Clearly write “NEWS RELEASE” at the top. Write “for immediate release” directly underneath or, if there is a good reason, write “embargoed until xx/xx/xx” if there is a very good reason to delay publication or broadcast to a later date.

Phone the journalist or news editor of your chosen media later in the day - a good few hours after you think your emails should have arrived - to see if they are interested in the story. Don't be pushy as they are probably very busy dealing with any number of different stories. Ask if they also want pictures and do offer to arrange a time for them to come take photographs as appropriate.

Nominate one person to deal with the enquiries that should result from your news release and make sure they have enough free time to deal with them.

Once it is all Done

Keep clippings of any coverage you get. You can put copies in a presentation folder or on a notice board in any public waiting areas on your premises and this will give added life to your PR long after publication dates have come and gone. You could also incorporate copies of publicity clippings into your marketing packs you send to customers, suppliers, etc.

Positive Energy

Your business's enthusiasm to be an active part in the local community and a positive outlook will shine through your PR and media campaign. This can only be good for business! Good luck!

Sitting at my kitchen table the other morning I decided, as I always do, to read some stories in the newspaper. I like our local newspaper as the writers they have working for them are very good and very thorough in the stories they are trying to translate.

I started reading some articles in their business section. One article I picked out in particular was talking about a handful companies and their stock prices as they are rising and falling based on certain factors and how society may be contributing to them. But what caught my eye was not the article itself but the advertisement located directly to its right on the page. The advertisement clearly stood out from the article, which I am sure was the company's intent when they ran it.

This advertisement was segmented away from the article by being boxed in with a thick dark border so as readers could tell it was not part of the article itself. Now I have seen advertisements like this before so it was nothing new, but it did remind me of the importance of how to relay what you are selling to the reader in the form of information as opposed to a “buy it now” type of advertisement.

The advertisement I was looking at was in the form of an article. The article told a story and painted a visual picture of what the product was, how it was used and who could benefit most from using it. It gave a variety of statistics, that although I did not personally verify, I am sure they can be validated with a little research.

This means of advertising to your customers appeals on a personal level. It doesn't matter if you are advertising in the newspaper, a magazine, on TV, radio or on the internet. The most affective forms of advertising today hit potential customers on an emotional level. This particular story does just that.

Imagine if you sold a product. Your product is used to help prevent fires in the home. You begin to write and advertisement in the form of an article that talks about how many homes are lost each year due to fires, how many lives it claims and so on. This makes your product appeal to them before they even know what it does. Now paint a picture to the reader as to how your product can reduce those numbers. Can you see how this form of advertising can be beneficial to you and the customer? Of course you can.

Before you submit your next advertisement, you should think about turning it into an article where you can paint an emotional picture for the reader. It may be the difference between some sales and a whole lot of sales.

Brands are buying into entertainment. Just count the number of incidental exposures of products you've seen on television and movies. Take for example, American Idol. Judge Simon Cowell is often seen drinking from a cup with the Coca Cola logo. In fact if you watch closely, the logo is also seen on the plasma TV screens on stage. In other words, branded entertainment is about placing the product either subtly or prominently within an entertainment product.

Product Placement can be verbal, like a mention in the show or visual where the product is seen. It is increasingly a tool used by marketers to push their brands into the limelight and increase awareness through such exposures. What ticks for the marketing folks is that their brand is not just associated with the entertainment, eg. a blockbuster movie or a much anticipated television series, it is also seen being associated with a celebrity when the actor uses the brand in the movie or the television programme. The association has added value for the brand. But branded entertainment has its setbacks.

It can be a matter of too much too soon. If the brand exposure is too subtle, the audience may not see it. If it is too prominent, the audience may get brand fatigue and develop a negative perception towards the brand. That is something you don't want happen to your brand. Think about it. As an audience, you want to be entertained. The last you need is to have brands plastered all over your screen.

After all, there is a place for that in the form of commercials and advertisements. The key is to balance the exposure and the placement so that you can have an edge when it comes to promoting your brand without over-killing it.
Branded entertainment is here to stay. So the next time you're in the theatres or at home watching TV, see if you can remember the brands that caught your attention.

One of the first things I learned that although this is a basic wrapper, the end flaps do not match any of the candy bars on the shelves in today's market. Therefore, I removed them. I was looking to design the package into something attractive that people would buy when they went to the candy shelves. I also wanted it to look original.

It took sometime to create this little masterpiece. Soon I had a finished product that I could show as a mockup.

This product would compete with all the candy bars on the market. It would be your standard candy bar aisle competing against Hershey's, Whatchanmacallit, Nestle Crunch, and the like. The customer you are looking to attract is more than likely ages 7 to 21. Although people of all ages eat chocolate, and you may use ads in a variety of different places, the younger the person the more sugar they are bound to eat.

This would be the ad for the chocolate bar to capture an audience.

So how do you foster this relationship you have with your customers?

First and foremost as with any relationships, it needs to be worked at and nurtured. Customers come in all shapes and sizes. There are the fans and there are the switchers. Let's take them on one at a time.

The fans

These are the die-hard fans of your brand. They are intensely attached to your brand and make repeated purchases. They form brand communities like chat groups or fan clubs eg. Mini convertible Club. There they bond with other brand users and promote the use of the brand. It's a great way to get positive word-of-mouth promotion. Hearing it from opinion leaders and brand advocators is more personable and believable. It's a powerful way of getting your brand message across to new customers too! Of course, fans of your brand need to be rewarded for their loyalty and support. They need to feel special and be given special privileges such as, be the first ones to know about new products or sales promotions, get rewarded with rewards points, discounts and one-off special edition premiums. In other words, they need to be handled with care and their feedback taken seriously because they give you a bigger share of wallet.

The switchers

These are the folks that have little attachment and loyalty to your brand. They are brand-switchers and are easily swayed by your competitor's brand messages. Even though they are aware of your brand but they don't quite identify or bond with it. In branding, your biggest challenge is to get the switchers to identify and like your brand. You want to move them from switching to trusting, liking and loving. In other words, switch them into fans. Understand their needs and why they're switching. Pay attention to what they're saying. Because they are already aware of your brand, you can focus on winning their trust and commitment.

It's all about building on that relationship you have with your customers. Remember, fans of brands do more than just rake in the sales. They bring in the new converts too!

Business Cards

If you are serious about your business you must have business cards. They are cheap and are a great way to attract potential prospects or customers. Simply hand them out to people who you feel may be interested in your business.

Also, whenever I visit a restaurant, bar, or club, I'll leave my business cards in all of the bathroom stalls. (Just make sure nobody is in there of course... lol!)

And don't laugh at this! It really works. When I visit the bathroom an hour or two later, I'll find that all of my business cards are gone and I'll have a fresh new set of sales the very next day.

You can get free professional looking business cards at Vista Print, all you have to pay is shipping and handling.

Fliers

With today's technology, flyers are very easy to make. You can simply design a flyer online and just print it out and make copies. Then you can post them in area businesses where you feel your potential customers may hang out. (Just make sure you ask permission from the business owner.)

Or simply hand out your flyers to people you meets on the street. Many bars and clubs don't have a problem with posting flyers in their establishments either, especially if you are a patron.

And don't forget about supermarkets! Many have bulletin boards, at least here in New Jersey where I live, and you can post your flyer there. There are hundreds of people walking into supermarkets everyday and they are in a buying mentality. Take advantage of it and post your flyers often.

My Brochure Maker is a site that lets you create and print flyers or brochures online for free:

Automobile Advertising

What...? Yes you read that right! Your car is not only a driving vehicle but a great advertising vehicle as well. You can stick magnetic signs or plates on your car with your company name and/or domain name for all to see.

Your business can be exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of people everyday whether your car is parked, you are driving, or even when you are stuck in traffic. It's fairly inexpensive and a great way to "drive" home your message.

Here are a couple of sites to check out for this very sort of thing:

• I.D. It Plates
• Magnetic Signs

Those are just a few of the ways to advertise off-line. I'm sure you can come up with other clever ways as well.

You've got a brain... use it!

Say you have a new brand you need to promote and raise top of mind awareness quickly. But you've a budget that is hopelessly pathetic. Plus the fact that your boss is breathing down your neck. What can you do? If you have been developing good relationships with the media, this is the time it would come in handy. If you haven't, you should start, quickly.
The thing to remember is that you need to have open and honest communication with the media. This is because you can only control your end of the message. You can't control what the reporters will write about your brand. The report can make or break your brand, so remember to do your homework first before jumping into the frenzy. Know who you want to reach. Pitch your stories to the right media. Be sure to make your releases newsworthy. Provide good story ideas and angles in your press kits and releases. Always be ready and available to field questions from the media. Relevance and timeliness are important factors to consider. Know your surroundings and what your competitors are up to. Plan your news releases to coincide when an event that will add to your visibility. Say if you're launching an environmental friendly car, you pitch the story to the media to tie in with World Environment Day for example.

An editorial gets you through the clutter of advertisement. It is more believable than an ad and it gives your brand more credibility. You'll get your eyeballs and it's more cost effective than buying ad space. Although you don't have much control over how the article could turn out, a positive story could at least get your boss off your back and get your brand off on a good footing.

 

80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers. Take care of these 20% and reduce your contact with the other 80%. Identify the characteristics of the 20% of your customers and target your advertising towards these lot. Soon, you will increase the percentage of the customers who are generating more revenue for you.

Customer Service

80% of complaints come from 20% of your customers. These customers are probably the most demanding and making the most complaints, but giving you very little sales. Try as far as possible to stop these customers from buying from you. Here's how you can do so. If you find customers are demanding more than what your company provides, simply say no to them and direct them to competitors who will be happy to obtain new customers.

Marketing

80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your advertizing campaign. Identify which advertising campaigns are successful in generating the most revenue. Cut down on advertizing in the other areas. In this way, you will find that your advertizing cost will dramatically reduce without making much difference to your sales.

Partners and Affiliates

20% of your affiliates are generating 80% of the income. Break all partnerships with affiliates which are not generating revenue for you and give your attention to those which are. You will find that you will spend less time doing things which will matter to your bottom line.

Products

80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your products. Identify which 20% of your products which are contributing to 80% of your revenue and concentrate on these. You need to improve on or eliminate the rest of the products. In this way, you are reducing inventory and other related costs for these unprofitable products.

Time Management

80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts and time. 80% of the time you spent in the office is probably doing things which are unimportant and does not contribute to your end-results at all. Identify those things which are important and do them first. Identify unimportant ones and eliminate them as far as possible.

Investment Portfolio

80% of your investment gains derive from 20% of your portfolio. Review your investment portfolio and identify which 20% of your stocks are generating 80% of you investment gains. Find out the reasons why these stocks have performed better than the rest, and continue to invest in these types of stocks. Eliminate the rest or move them to more lucrative and profitable ones.

Wardrobe

20% of the clothes in your wardrobe is worn 80% of the time. If you are aware of this, the next time you clear your wardrobe, you can be ruthless and discard clothes which you have not worn, but have stayed in your wardrobe for a long time. Give them away! You will also be aware that you have to be more careful when shopping because most of the things that you buy are often seldom or never worn. Live simply and you will enjoy more.

Being selective and doing less, may result in more. So, analyze your business and your life to ensure more efficient use of time and resources, and still generating the same, if not more revenue for your business.

Here are some valuable tips.

Be Consistent

Keep your brand message and brand image consistent. Customers build their trust on what you project and if there are inconsistencies in what you say and what they perceive, you’ll lose that trust in your brand. So if you say you can deliver brand x pizza in under an hour, make sure you keep to that.

Provide a Lifeline

If there are queries or problems, your customers need to know how they can reach you. You have to be accessible to them so that they that they can turn to you when things go wrong. A helpline, email, website are valuable tools that allow your customers to reach you.

Be Ready to Act

It’s one thing having customers call you, it’s another responding to their needs. It’s crucial to be responsive to your customers’ needs and concerns. Handle their feedback, whether positive or negative, well and professionally. This way, not only are you providing customer satisfaction, you are also building customer loyalty. Why is that important? It is because repeated customers are more cost effective than acquiring new customers. Make your customers happy and they’ll return.

Be Committed

That means making the customer feel that you’ve got their interest at heart. You are genuinely interested in serving them and giving them the best so that they can be satisfied. By doing that you’re building your trust bank. When crisis strikes, it’s what’s in your trust bank that will help you tide through the tough times.

So effectively, invest in a customer-oriented approach. In return, customers will respond with trust because they like your brand and because it satisfies them and meets their needs. That’s the key to building a successful brand relationship.

This is you if you have a brand to promote. You are the source of the brand. Together with your marketing communication agency, you decide on how to position your brand and who you want to reach. Once the brand position and the target audience are decided, you start developing your brand message.

The brand message

The brand message is what your company wants your customers and other stakeholders to perceive. All the information and experience of the brand should be designed into the message. Here's where the 4Ps of marketing; product, price, place (distribution) and promotion play a crucial part in how you design your brand message.

The communication channel

It's all about picking the right media to reach the right target audience. Knowing the habits of the target audience is important in deciding which media channel to communicate the brand message through. For example, if your target audience is car owners, advertising on radio would be a better bet than on a parenting magazine. Media channels include TV, radio, newspaper, magazines, billboards, internet, mailers and product placement on TV shows and movies.

Noise

People are being bombarded by advertisements every day, everywhere. So how do you get your brand message through all this noise and clutter? Well, your message will not be seen and heard if your copy is poorly produced, and has a lack of clarity. Bad timing of the release and clutter from your competitor's messages are also points you need to consider. So remember the lower the noise level, the higher chance of your brand message being seen and heard.

The customer

This is the group you want your brand message to reach and get a positive response. You want your customers to remember your brand, to like it enough to act upon a desire to purchase it. To help you hook the customer, your brand message needs to be simple and relevant. Also allow your customers to ask questions and to interact. This will create positive perception of your brand.

Feedback

You want to hear what your customers think about your product. This is an important key in any marketing communication. Besides gathering information about your customers, you can also generate more leads, provide more information to reinforce their liking for your brand and to be sure you are on the right track in your brand messaging and channel choices.