The St. Louis-based Public Relations Firm

Infographic by PPC Blog

I found this infographic today and I thought that it would be interesting to everyone that attends Russ Henneberry’s Tiny Business Mighty Profits Meetup Group (www.russhenneberry.com). Russ often speaks about the importance of creating inbound links to increase your website page rank.  From a public relations standpoint, this demonstrates the need for individuals and businesses to create content and be mentioned in “earned media” articles and publications that can create inbound links as well.  Google crawls news portals and the more your name or your company, brand, service etc. is mentioned, the more credibility and inbound links you will potentially create!

“you’ll be a part of someone else’s.”

AMM Communications has recently been involved in the launch and ramp up of several start-up businesses, and while these entrepreneurs have written strong business plans with well-thought out pro forma financial statements, they have not put as much effort into planning how they would announce their new ventures and how to leverage this publicity for additional business development.   Marketing and public relations are just as important as developing a business plan to seek additional funding, because without a sustained flow of customers or orders, the business will not be able to pay back the  financing.

When you are starting up a new business or launching a new product, the announcement, marketing and business development need to be part of the plan.  Competitors are constantly on the lookout for new companies in their space, and they probably have marketing and sales plans to counteract your potential competition in the marketplace.  So where do you start?  It is usually best to start with a 30/60/90 plan that allows you and the business to adjust to the new marketplace.  Here is a plan for announcing a new business:

• 30 Days – Create a press release announcing your new venture and post it on free Internet sites like dBusinessnews.com and Pitch Engine.  Also create quick announcements about key staff joining the company as well as your own personal information.  Distribute this press release to local and business publications.  This will increase the search engine visibility for your company as well.
• 60 Days – Use your social networks and Facebook Like Page to publicize your press releases.  If you have scheduled any Grand Opening events or other significant events, publicize these dates and times on Facebook as well as LinkedIn.  Connect with new and potential clients on social networks and by e-mail and make certain that they receive copies of your releases.
• 90 Days – Evaluate your success with your launch activities.  Adjust your plan accordingly after you have determined what is and what isn’t working.

The goal of a well-formed marketing and public relations campaign is consistency.  Just because your press releases did not initial create an inflow of business, doesn’t mean that it is a failure.  Public relations will enhance your brand image and ultimately create a top-of-mind awareness, that will have the effect of increasing sales.  Be persistent and consistent!

Who would want to be working at BP right now? Or at Toyota? Maybe at Goldman Sachs? All three of these companies have had a brutal time in the media spotlight, subject to huge fines/lawsuits, and a loss of public confidence.  These companies may have had a crisis communications plan in place, but their company officials did not effectively implement the plan. The results were disastrous in terms of lost credibility and financial loss.

But these are massive companies, what does that have to do with small to mid-sized business?  To a lesser extent, but no less damaging, small business can suffer the same sort of negative publicity, but lack the resources to manage or even sustain the loss of public confidence. Entrepreneurs take many years to build up a brand for their product or service, and usually set their companies apart through excellent customer service. The image of the company is its brand. All of this can come crashing down in a matter of days, especially in light of the instantaneous nature of social networks.

Take for example, a restaurant. It may serve excellent food, at reasonable prices, with great service to match. But it may also experience growing pains, not adequately hiring and training staff. Suppose there is an outbreak of some food-borne illness related to improper food storage and hand-washing of its employees? What then? This type of negative publicity could perpetually stain the brand of this restaurant.

All companies should have a well-thought out crisis communications plan. There are three parts to this plan:

1. The Planning Stage – Think of Murphy’s Law. What could possibly go wrong? Who will be the spokesperson? All employees should be trained to refer all media and interview requests to this person.
   
2. The Crisis – How often will the company spokesperson speak to the press?  What can they highlight to demonstrate that the company is committed to resolving this issue?
3. The Aftermath – What steps can the company take to restore confidence in its brand?
   

So there is “good” PR and “bad” PR, and the goal should be to put out as much positive news as possible to minimize the damage of the negative story.  Negative publicity is never good (unless you are a musician or actor seeking street credibility), and in order to weather the storm, a business needs to have a clear cut plan and stick to it!