How do you handle public relations for your small business these days? Things have changed a lot, what with business increasingly being done online and with the explosion of blogging and social media for business communications and marketing. We’ve prepared this roundup of small business PR news and hope that you’ll add some thoughts of your own in the comment section. What’s new with PR at your company?
Tips & Advice
Picking the brain of a social media genius. Torrey McGraw talks with PR expert and entrepreneur Sarah Evans to learn how small business people can create a media empire of their own around their product, service or personal brand. Have you ever wondered how the best known social media “celebrities” built their following? Welcome to PR in the online world. Grind & Thrive
The Studio 54 effect helps market Google Plus. What can we learn from the way Google has launched its latest social media product Google Plus? Quite allot actually because even without the marketing might of the search engine titan any small business should be able to create the same effect for their own product or service. All that’s needed is the right pitch. Sales du Jour.com
Self-development
Is all publicity good publicity? Before you answer this question, check out the link to see the extent one entrepreneur may have gone to promoting his new startup. Then ask yourself, would you hire a wedding catering service with this kind of reputation? Getting attention is really only part of the equation. Guardian.co.uk
Always put your company first. It might sound like the worst PR imaginable to suggest that, when it comes to your customers, their needs must always be secondary to your business. It all comes from a simple concept. You and your customers have different priorities. Yours must be to build your business because theirs certainly is not. Here’s how to handle the situation. Bloomberg Businessweek
Entrepreneurship
When PR firms are the startups. Public relations is not just a department withing your small business. It can be a small business too. Here’s the story of a trend toward new startups in the PR field. Why should your business consider an outside PR firm? Well, PR is hard work, and so is creating the greatest product or service on the planet. Where would you rather spend your time? London Evening Standard
PR demand seems never-ending. The need for public relations in companies large and small is constant, as this interesting article suggests. The problem is that so much of the effort in PR these days seems centered on changing or saving some one’s public image or reputation after the fact. PR should be part of your brand’s DNA from the beginning. What have you done to build in good PR? Belfast Telegraph
Marketing
PR should be in your marketing plan. Here are 10 things you’ll want to definitely have in your next marketing plan and many of them are related to PR. One of the big problems with public relations these days is that it’s still seen as limited to its more traditional role of writing press releases and preparing business leaders for interviews. Today, PR extends from customer loyalty to feedback and all points in between. How all encompassing is your PR? smartcompany
Are you advocating for your customers? This article on PR firms pushing their clients’ agendas, got us thinking. Are you an advocate for your customers’ needs? We’re not talking here about marketing just to make a sale. We’re talking about an ongoing effort to support your customers and step in when needed. What can you do for your best customers today? StarTribune
Conclusion
Advice on fixing yet another kind of relations. This time not public relations but relations with your partners are at stake. While bad PR can tear a company’s reputation with customers apart, bad relations with partners, in a new venture or a long-time operation, can threaten everything you’ve worked for. Here’s how to fix what’s broken. Bloomberg Businessweek
China’s Red Cross chooses microblogging PR. On the heels of a scandal and presumably to boost support throughout the country, the Red Cross Society of China recently signed up for a microblogging account. The account now has 16,000 followers, 2,000 comments and one article has been re-posted 1,000 times. How could microblogging and blogging platforms generate good PR for your business? The People’s Daily
Funny that it was a post on PR small business today! Yesterday, on Independence Day, I published the first press release on TeaParty.nu. I am using a service called MyNewsdesk. It has plenty of social media features included in the service. Here is the press release:
http://www.mynewsdesk.com/us/pressroom/teapartynu/pressrelease/view/teaparty-nu-is-launching-on-independence-day-658642
See how you could share the press release on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
Read Mike Rooseboom’s post on Mynewsdesk: Social PR: A PR Pro’s Guide to Social Media.
http://blog.mynewsdesk.com/2011/05/11/social-pr/
I think that tips and advice is one of the best avenues an Entrepreneur can follow. It allows them to leverage their skills without coming across as sales-y.