Many of the entrepreneurs usually underestimate the meaning of public relations and relate it to a mere press release. However, in reality, it is just a small part as PR is everything you communicate with your customers, employees, stake holders and media.
Why is it important?
Without spending on advertising, you can still share your message, create marketing buzz and generate sales and leads and all this is achieved simply by communicating with media and your customers. It is for free but you will have to spend some time and effort on it.
The most important thing is third party credibility that is achieved when outsiders talk about your offerings and you cannot get it in any other way.
How to get started?
The first step for getting started with public relations is to find out your desired goal and make an action plan to attain it. It is important to know what you actually want to achieve and when.
Next step is to find out and list down the people you will need to contact. For this, think about who will be interested in your story? They can be reporters, producers, bloggers and editors; call them and give your introduction.
After that, you will have to develop a working relationship with them and keep sending news and stories about your organization. You have to prove yourself a great source for them with valuable information.
Now, let’s talk about communication with partners and customers. There are many options as you can use monthly newsletter, e-mails, social media, free eReports and many other things.
You may also want to get attention through your online presence and for this; you can make use of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) copywriting that is a great tool.
Small business public relations: the best chance
Always keep this thing in mind that public relation is not about a press release for everyone. It is about intelligent communication.
You have to provide valuable information and make sure that the customers know you offer and it fulfills their needs.
You will certainly have to take some time out and make an effort to set goals, find information, make an action plan and make use of SEO to deliver your message to targeted audience. But the results will be outstanding as you will manage to quickly increase sales, build credibility and create awareness in a cost effective manner.
Once you get started with it, you may hire a qualified SEO copywriter and a publicist in order to keep the things going while you take care of your core business duties.
Entrepreneurial success is a direct outcome of SEO and public relations while staying in your budget. But, it needs much effort and devotion to bring the desired results.