PR101 TIPS & TACTICS FOR

BUSINESS GROWTH

Flavia Young Public Relations

This presentation is for anyone that has objectives, creative ideas, and the energy and burning desire

for their business or personal brand to ascend to the next level of the business cycle for authentic and

sustained business growth.

Engage

Engender

Build

Communicate

Facilitate

Encourage

Share

Create

Design

Collaborate

Does this sound like you? Are you ready to take the next step in your business,

attract attention, create buzz, generate leads, and differentiate your brand without spending a single

cent, just a little uncertain of how or where to begin?

Let me guide you step-by-step through a three-part series to turn business goals into reality using

simple PR tips and tactics.

First, lets identify what PR is by stating what it is NOT.

PUBLIC RELATIONS IS NOT

Only displaying the parts of your business you want to share

Manipulating the truth, “spinning” content, articles, messages that suggest a reputation you have not earned

Shouting out messages, using one-way communication

Ignoring critics, consumers, reviewers, internal & external stakeholders

Letting an issue be ignored & not addressing it immediately

A one-stop “fix-it” solution

Less important than other areas of the business

Enough of the negative. Now let’s get to the good news: what PR actually is.

PUBLIC RELATIONS ISDisplaying all parts of the business & using less desirable situations to learn from, turn around & help build trust, maintain relationships with your customers/followers/stakeholders

Presenting, providing honest, transparent information with the ethos of maintaining & building trust with customers/followers/advocates/community/stakeholders

Consistent & respectful relationships with the media/journalists/thought leaders/bloggers

Direct address & engagement of critics

A clear plan/procedure of process to deal with issues & crisis management

An ongoing, evolving plan & strategy that needs to be edited regularly

An integral part of a modern, forward-thinking business, PR should be at the core of all business planning, strategy & development

SO, LET’S GET

STARTED

STEP 1: Work out what you want.

STEP 2: Indentify your target market.

STEP 3: Decide your timeframe/Deadline.

STEP 4: a) Identify your ambassadors /followers & b)write up your media list.

STEP 5: Evaluate your progress.

Underlying this, start thinking about and clarify your story. More on this later...

STEP 1: What are your goals? What do you want to achieve? What are your objectives? Where do you

want to be? How is this different from where you are now?

Take a moment now to write three to five goals. Then number them in importance or priority. BE

CLEAR. BE PRECISE.

For example, you might want to “create some buzz” around your product or service -- to hype up

attention/encourage awareness about your brand. You might also want to boost sales, differentiate yourself

from competitors and reach out to your current clients.

These are all valid objectives. For your PR efforts to be effective, however, your objectives must be clear, concise, authentic and measureable.

OBJECTIVE OUTCOME * in CAPITALS

Create buzz Link a news-worthy, calendar event with your story, notify media list about it. GET 3 MENTIONS IN MEDIA

Boost sales Put out a call-to-action on one of your products/services, revamp it to make it valuable & timely. GENERATE 5 LEADS IN ONE WEEK

Differentiate Highlight your point-of-difference. Upload a YouTube video explaining your services. GENERATE 10 COMMENTS

Maintain current clients

Email newsletter with a free offering to say thank you for their service. ENCOURAGE 3 NEW TESTIMONIALS FOR PUBLICATION ON WEBSITE/S

STEP 2: Target Market.

Who do you want to reach? What

solutions do you provide to their

problems, and how?

This is the foundation of how you will communicate with your target market. When you know who they are, you know what their

behaviours are and you can communicate with them via the channels they prefer to use and at the times they prefer to use

them.

If you don’t know who your target market is, it’s time to do some research...

Free options (secondary data) are to look at website testimonials of similar businesses to yours.

Paid options are plentiful. There are numerous reports available.

STEP 3: What is your timeframe/deadline?

One week? Two or three months? Six months? Clarify your timeframe. This will help you prioritise tasks as well as leverage any calendar events in your industry or in general that you could draw on, tie in with to make your story news-worthy.

STEP 4: a)Identify who your brand ambassadors are. Who are the followers/customers/consumers most in love with your brand? Who talks about your brand to others (positive word-of mouth advertising is priceless). Monitor reviews, feedback, and forums. Put all your info into a report.

b) Start to gather and collate a list of the publications/websites/blogs/journalists/editors/influencers you need to contact; establish a relationship with. When you pitch to them (information in Part 2) make sure you spell their name and title correctly. More on media lists in Part Two.

STEP 5: Evaluate your progress. Use Google Analytics, measure the increase in followers or social media activity, according to your STEP 1 goals. More detailed information on this in Part

Two.

Take Aways…

Start thinking about how you are different from your competitors.

Remember your story. What makes you unique? Think of refining your

story into a 30-second elevator pitch. This information will help when you are talking/pitching to editors and

journalists about your brand and news.

Of your brand ambassadors (the people that like your brand/your content), who are the thought leaders, the influencers? Who are the

most ACTIVE/CONNECTED? These are the people you need to build and maintain a relationship with. Connect with them in an

authentic, transparent and mutually- beneficial way. Stay connected, both on and offline (if possible).

DON’T SHOUT… or jump in to established online conversations. Respect participants. Don’t put on the “big sell.”

LISTEN to what people are talking about and when your content adds value, share it.

WATCH what is already being said as well as when people prefer to share and what topics they prefer to discuss.

PARTICIPATE with authenticity. Provide content to help others, not to push your wares.

Social media is not a strategy. It’s a tool.

Consider writing a social media and

communications plan.

Be unique, be different, stand out. Stay current but celebrate your own

story/brand/history.

And continue to develop and grow.

Success is inevitable if you provide something of value to people in a medium they prefer to use. In other words, provide your solution to your target markets’ particular problem, with easy-to-access information. Tell others about the solution in way that is authentic and honest and ensure your followers can easily share your content. Be consistent and stay current with trends.

Communicate with your readers/target market/followers in the channels they prefer at the times they are most active and you will be on your way to effectively building an engaging and strong brand.

Part Two will include case studies of how small business used PR for business growth, to generate

leads and maintain their reputation.

The last series will include answers to any questions you have. I hope you enjoyed this PowerPoint and

could use some or all of the information. I look forward to hearing from you.

Great Reads

Trevor Young

John Wiley & Sons, Australia, Ltd

David Meerman Scott

John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Brian Solis and Deidre Breckenridge

Financial Times Press

Thank youFlavia Young

If you’d like one-on-one consultation or for me to design a PR/Communication plan for your business, please email:flavia.caraballo@gmail.com or Twitter:

@FlaviaYPR