It's the Story, Not the Size of Your Business! By
Beth Silver, Doubet Consulting

Have you ever wondered why companies less established than
yours receive better press than you? Well, the answer may be
simple: they get publicity out there now while you're
waiting to grow before making your move. As an entrepreneur
or business owner, you need to be realistic about your
business, time, budgets, and marketing efforts, but if you
think about your business objectively for a moment, you may
have a story that an editor/journalist is looking for right
now—no matter what size your firm is.

The following tips will help you begin exploring PR
opportunities to widen your reach.

1. Know what public relations is. Public relations is simply
the relationship your organization has with the outside
world, which includes everyone—friends, relatives,
customers, future prospects, competitors, and employees, if
you have any. While the relationship you create with your
public can have a profound effect on your business, please
be aware that all of these people will not immediately make
a purchasing decision or change their mind if they only see
something once. With public relations, you must be
consistent with your message and your actions.

2. Know what public relations is not. PR is not advertising.
The purpose of PR is to inform the public about news and
events. You are not selling; you are providing tidbits of
information that you are hoping an editor or journalist will
see and use for their stories. Editors and journalists hate
hearing about promotional offers, for example, so if you
have one, consider using advertising instead of PR as your
marketing vehicle. Don't waste a great potential
relationship with an editor or journalist in hopes of
publicizing a quick promotion. If you do, these
professionals will ignore you when you do have real news to
report.

3. Have a plan and an angle. No matter what business you're
in, if you do not have a marketing or PR plan, you will find
business more difficult to obtain—and you will probably
annoy many editors along the way, too. If you are someone
who rushes into things and needs to see immediate results,
then publicity is not the right medium for you. Realize that
magazines and newspapers have strict editorial calendars,
deadlines, and space limitations to respect and they often
develop their stories over the course of several months.
Also, newspapers and magazines have to report important news
stories, which often moves planned stories aside. Keep these
parameters in mind as you create your marketing and PR plan.
In addition, make sure your publicity has a clear angle of
interest to the publication's readers. If it doesn't, the
editor will probably push it aside. In other words, remember
your target market. In this case, it is the readers of that
particular publication. Highlight news angles that appeal to
their interests. Businesses use Doubet to achieve effective
PR to leverage their assets, identify and pitch stories, and
showcase their expertise. Creating a PR plan will ensure
that you enhance your business by creating well-received
stories, by publicizing your news in the proper format and
within the time frame of the publications and ultimately, by
establishing strong relationships with the media.

4. Be respectful of an editor's timing requirements. Timing
is vital. Don't submit a press release on Monday for an
event your business is sponsoring on Tuesday. Editors will
ignore you. If a newsworthy occurrence comes out after your
event that creates a nice tie-in to your business, that's
OK—your press release can at least mention that your event
happened. If you do want to publicize a newsworthy story
linked to your business, make sure you do it early enough so
the media can react within their time frame. When contacting
media professionals, ask what their deadline is. Never ask
when your story will run.

At Doubet Consulting, I strategize with clients on public
relations so that they can formulate relationships with
their public and grow their business. PR is a lot of
fun—when you do it right.

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Beth Silver is managing director of Doubet Consulting,
a management and marketing consulting firm based in
New York City. Doubet teaches their clients
to be Target Advocates, and look at their individual
business as a first time prospect. For more
information, please visit www.doubetllc.com.