PR for Small Businesses

Marketing for any small business is essential, and, of all of the forms of marketing available including advertising, direct marketing and Internet marketing, an effective public relations campaign remains the only form of marketing that can reach a target market and offer credibility and validation. Think about it, if you were to read an ad for a small business in a newspaper, or read an article about that same business where the owner was featured discussing his or her product or service and being presented as an expert, which would grab your attention? My bet is the article.

In the Internet world, the ways you can utilize PR have changed, but the basics of an effective public relations campaign remains the same. It all comes down to your stories. Effective PR is about effective story telling. How can your business reflect your uniqueness? By integrating who you are with what you do. To accomplish this, you need to understand how to capitalize on your unique abilities to help make your business grow and differentiate it from your competitors.

Never before have people been able to share information on such a global scale and with such dizzying speed. Along with newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and the Internet, more and more avenues of communication are becoming available. In many ways, media is magic-it is modern day alchemy.

View your business as a living, breathing being. You gave it life and it needs guidance and structure. Determine where you want the business to go. Start defining your business, your image and your message. Now, what about taking your message to hundreds, thousands, possibly millions of potential clients and/or customers? How? Two words: public relations. This is something you can attempt on your own, but if you can afford it you can seek out the professionals for help. They know the business, have the contacts and in the long run, can save you time and money. Our PR firm has represented hundreds of small businesses and has placed clients in a wide range of local and national media outlets including Time, USA Today, Oprah, the Today Show, People, the Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other media outlets. Each company we’ve worked with has had a unique story. Your job is to find yours.

Through public relations, small businesses can compete with the big boys. It’s possible to do an interview in the morning and have a story saturate the nation by lunchtime. Effective media placement and public relations can legitimize, validate, sell products, bring in clients, forge new alliances, bring you in contact with benefactors you never knew existed, and take you into the offices, boardrooms and even bedrooms of the most powerful people in the world.

Whether you run an established business, are starting a new venture, or serve as a consultant, an effective PR campaign can help build your business or company. So, take some time to define your business and your message. Develop your stories; discover what is newsworthy about your business. Now launch a PR campaign, take your stories to the media and prepare for success.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2009