Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

A lot of my readers are home business people. PR experts, should they even consider hooking up with a PR firm? I would love to hear the advise so I can share it.


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Melanie Rembrandt
CEO, Rembrandt Communications®, LLC
Visit www.rembrandtwrites.com for valuable PR tips and SEO copywriting help!
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ImNiche

I agree with Melanie`s advice. I will also add that what elvel of service they need depends on their business goals.

Funny… I JUST crossed this bridge.  I actually hired some gals to handle my PR. They have connections in this town and a bunch nationally. After hiring them, I was in the newspaper 2 days later and today I did my first live TV interview on a local show called “Low Country Live”. It`s so hard to know where to spend your hard earned, limited resources. I was on the fence when I closed my eyes and said "Okay, you`re hired" but now... I`m really thinking it was money well spent. Personally for me it`s so hard to be a manufacturer, online retail store, and wholesaler. A lot of people just pick one business and go with it.. Inventing, manufacturing and selling your own product is like running three kinds of companies at the same time, so I just couldn`t do it all. Nobody can deal with tooling and Taiwan but me, so I couldn`t delegate "manufacturing", I`m not at the point where order fulfillment can go away so I couldn`t delegate "retail,  and I felt it important to maintain the personal link to my retailer store buyers and customers, so I couldn`t delegate "wholesale", sooooo, PR was the logical choice for me to outsource.  I like to think I can do it all, but I’m smart enough to know I just can’t.  ImNiche, I’m not a PR expert, I’m a PR customer but I hope I’ve given you insight from another perspective.

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Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
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The more I watch CNBC and read, the more I feel P.R. first, then advertising.  Remember the show Cheers, the theme song about going where everybody knows your name?  I think that sums it up.  Advertising, if no one knows who you are and you are not branded as a credible business for the long term is not really smart.  I started with ads online, including on organic sites, my target audience and nothing.  Why?  No brand recognition.   P.R. then advertising.

Public relations has become such a multifaceted tool for growing awareness about a company and its products and services. Whether you are interested in drawing more people to your web site, getting more attention from the local or national media, or being invited to be a part of shows like Oprah, you need to set some goals for what you`d like PR to do for you. Depending on your goals (and your personal penchant for learning about the fast-changing field of PR), reaching out to a PR expert may be a worthwhile endeavor.

If you hope to increase online awareness, you may be able to do it on your own - with perhaps some minimal guidance from a PR expert - through sites like prweb.com, participation in blogs, and posts in forums such as Startup Nation. These contribute to a low cost PR plan for small to mid-sized businesses that results in big hits on sites like Google News and Yahoo News. Over time, online PR submissions build upon one another and can lead to a growing list of pre-qualified contacts, especially for service-based businesses.

Networking and leveraging contacts is also a means to placement. This year, I was given a column write-up in one of the largest papers in NJ because a friend of mine - who had written a book I contributed to - recommended me to the columnist as a local contributor. The column was specifically slanted to home based businesses. It appeared in print and online. Look for a similar column in your area.

If, instead, you aspire to get into national publications and onto network TV, PR is not your specialty, and you have no personal contacts, reaching out to someone with contacts, expertise, and a track record of success in these areas would certainly be helpful in reaching this goal faster and with less effort.

So consider your ultimate goal and base your PR partnering decision on that. Don`t pass up small opportunities - like chances to be included in others` publications - that give you interesting news to share and build your PR efforts a little at a time. And if all you need is a little mentoring to format a press release, edit it, and post it online, that works, too. Start with the goal of one press release per month or one every other month, whatever you feel is doable.

Most importantly, it is critical that you are prepared for the inquiries resulting from the press you receive. The larger the audience for the press, the larger the potential response. Tailor your PR efforts to meet your current resource constraints or have resources lined up in the wings in case the added business comes through. After all, if you can`t serve a pre-qualified customer at the moment they express interest in you, you might lose them. So, above all, be prepared,  whether that means bringing in some added staffing (temporary or permanent) or bumping up the technology needed to process online requests. You will be ready to grow.

Best of luck in your endeavors,

Melanie R. Negrin
Owner & Managing Director
Merocune Marketing & Public Relations
www.merocune.com

We specialize in the creation of marketing and development communications that build community awareness, brand equity, and financial sustainability for nonprofit organizations and entrepreneurial businesses seeking to make a positive difference in the world.



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Melanie R. Negrin
Owner & Managing Director
Merocuné Marketing & Public Relations
http://www.merocune.com

[Most importantly, it is critical that you are prepared for the inquiries resulting from the press you receive. The larger the audience for the press, the larger the potential response. Tailor your PR efforts to meet your current resource constraints or have resources lined up in the wings in case the added business comes through. After all, if you can`t serve a pre-qualified customer at the moment they express interest in you, you might lose them. So, above all, be prepared,  whether that means bringing in some added staffing (temporary or permanent) or bumping up the technology needed to process online requests. You will be ready to grow.QUOTE]