Make Public Relations Work for You
The public is the most important aspect of any business.
The public is the one who buys from you, and the public is the one who gives you
free advertisement. This is why it is important for your business to have a good
image in the public. This is accomplished through the correct use of public
relations strategies.
The tool that you can use for your business
to accomplish the above is called public
relations or PR. This is one of the most effective yet overlooked tools in the
business world. It is a fact that businesses that make use of public relations
as a marketing tool are far more successful in terms of gaining the public's
trust. May I interrupt myself and point out that their is a
strong correlation between spirituality and pro-active PR as compared to
reactive PR as in damage control.
Making your business more public friendly can mean gaining the confidence and
trust of the people. Public relations are a cheap and a more effective way to
do it. So, before you set out and get an expensive TV advertisement, try to
think of your options first. Think of public relations.
Setting out on a public relations campaign for your business may seem hard, but
it's relatively simple.
The first thing you have to do is get into the public's mind. As a consumer,
you definitely would want something for free. No matter what it is, you will
want it because it's free. Try and give out free samples of your product or services. If you create colognes and perfumes, give out small
bottle samples. If you are promoting a food product, try and let someone take
free samples of your new food product. Sign up your employees for a monthly or bi-annual
community project.
If you are the "selfish type", this may seem like the
most stupid business advice you have heard in a long time. We are currently
living in a world where charity and humanitarian causes are at the front line of
most business. Whether their intention is right or wrong is irrelevant. It is
always better to give from a prudent business perspective. Let your heart catch
up with your deeds later but start with the deeds and mindset of the winners.
By doing this you will create a connection with the public... making one with your God may require more than just
the physical actions I am always told. Since you gave them
something for free, chances are some of the people that tried your product will
like your product, you can be sure that they would want to have one again. They
will now look for it and buy it in the future. Giving charity also give a human element to your
business and not business-as-usual.
Never underestimate the power of suggestion. This is essentially a very
powerful public relations tool. Since giving away free samples of your new
product allows the public to try it, you will also be generating free
advertising. People who liked your product will surely tell their friends and
family about it and therefore, will create a chain of customers.
Another great public relations tool is promoting events for the
public to join in. You can create contests and other promos to help you promote
your product in public. By doing this, you will be creating a great marketing
tool to give the public the reason to buy your product. A recent very successful public campaign was done by
the cosmetic company Dove in which they got these elderly women to uncover and
start feeling good on their skins. It generated allot of publicity on all stages
of the campaign even appearing in the much converted Oprah Winfrey Show.
You can also relate your product to health benefits. For example, if you
manufacture shoes, you can try and entice the public to buy a good pair of
shoes from your company by sharing some fun facts on walking and the health
benefits they can get by doing this activity. You can also add something on why
people should by your product. Whether it is comfortable, or durable, it is up
to you to advertise your product.
Always remember that public relations are about making your company look good
in the eyes of the public. You have to gain the public's trust and confidence
in order to sell your products effectively.
By creating some kind of bond with the public and your company, you can expect
to see positive results in all areas.
Tune-Up: Anyone who is good at managing an enterprise should be good at reputation repair. The gap between operational management and reputation management is very little. Part of a PR campaign is being prepared: you can't prevent disasters, but you should be prepared to mitigate the impact.. Joseph Reriani - PR Consultant
This article is part of Joseph Reriani's "PR Tune-up Blog" newsletter posted to over 6,000 subscribers weekly. The newsletter was first published in 2002. For more articles and PR tune-up tips, please visit www.PrudentPressAgency.com and www.SkyNewswire.com. Joseph Reriani is a PR expert and Fellow with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations- United Kingdom. He is the President/CEO of Prudent International Inc and Executive Editor of Prudent Press Agency. He is also an Assistant Editor of SkyNewswire.com directed by Jackie Mugambi . He is a trained journalist and specializes in helping businesses, organizations, and individuals improve their public image by effectively employing the power of public relations. Mr Reriani can be reached at jreriani @ PrudentPressAgency.com. You may freely copy and re-publish this article without altering any part in the body.