David Daniels, Online Reputation Management Guide

Author: Sue Currie
You can become famous. Maybe you don’t want be famous but at least you can learn to make your product or service well known. Of course that will in turn help the bottom line and you might become rich and famous! Is that what you want - your 15 minutes of fame? Your opportunity to shine in the spotlight.

So how do we get that opportunity? Why not tell everyone who you are, what you do and how you make a difference. The way of doing that is through public relations and it is simply communicating who you are and what you do, it’s having “relationships” with your “public”.

One way of letting people know who you are is through publicity. Getting that free editorial coverage in press, on radio and television is what we all want. It’s our way of letting people know about our product or service or how terrific we are. But most of us don’t like blowing our own trumpet. But without promotion something terrible happens - nothing!

If you are an independent business owner you have a lot of things to juggle, a lot of hats to wear, that of lawyer, accountant, manager, entrepreneur, technician and of course marketing expert and under that umbrella comes PR, promotion and publicity. So let’s get rights down to the basics - the publicist. That’s what you need to be. You need to write a media release, send it out to the media and ring them up. Talk to the media about who you are and what your product is.

You need to sing your own praises or at least that of your own business. Publicity is very effective. They say it is seven times more effective than advertising.

No point writing that fancy media release with the dynamic headline, strong opening and all the elements of who, what, when, where and why - that’s all very well but you also need to follow through. Find out the name of the person you want to send that media release to and phone them up. Find out whether they want to receive the media release by fax or email - build a relationship. Get that message out and then follow through.

The first step is to go and buy the magazines. Have a look in the front for the name of the editor. Their phone number is usually there - it’s that simple. Then write and send your media release or perhaps even an article. Pick up the phone and promote your story idea to the media.

If your story is interesting it may be published in the newspaper or magazine and then you will reap the rewards of people contacting you and wanting to know more about you. It’s not that hard really. You can do it. So I hope to see your name on the front page someday - on your way to fame and fortune.

Author: Robert Deigh

Using public relations is more often about making an emotional appeal to your audience rather than addressing only logic.

The use of hybrid cars, better health care, more medical research, more accountability in government, and safe playgrounds are all issues that have benefited from an emotional appeal using public relations.

Does your product or service hit them right in the heart when it counts? During a natural disaster, for example, can you provide help? Are you a radio station with information, a facility with shelter and food, or a company that offers medical assistance or transportation? (Think of snow days in which people with SUVs race to hospitals, shuttling doctors and nurses to work.)

Whatever you are promoting, you need to explain to your audiences on an emotional level how it benefits them or others they care about. Every good product, every good service is, at its heart, a means by which to help people live, work, or play better. As retailers know, what they sell are benefits, not features.

Travel agents sell adventure, discovery, education, and relaxation (not trips); movie theaters sell escape, romance, and excitement; software makers sell efficiency and convenience; jewelers sell glamour and love; home builders sell the concept of togetherness, shared lives, and community; luxury carmakers sell power and status; restaurants sell taste experiences and camaraderie; and fashion designers sell style, beauty, and sex. If you sell office supplies, you are really selling efficiency. Violins? A lifetime of musical enjoyment. Hybrid cars? Good environmental practices, cost savings, and trendiness.

Has anyone ever bought a top-of-the-line Harley Davidson motorcycle just for sheer transportation, or a $20,000 Rolex just to tell time? People trust brands, and brand building comes about as the result of marketing and public relations, supported by advertising and word of mouth.

A good brand provides buyers with predictable quality and appeals to their emotions. And, in the war for attention, brands win. You can be the top brand, even if it is only within your industry or among your target audiences.

Help people understand clearly on an emotional and rational level the benefits you can provide. Generally, people respond to an appeal because it addresses one or more of the following needs:

Business/mission: Can you help them meet their goals, make more money, save time, make them look better to their superiors, get a promotion, or beat their competitors?

Social life/lifestyle: Can you make their lives more enjoyable, provide more leisure time, make them more attractive, help them find romance, make them healthier, make their friends and coworkers envious, or help them further their hobbies or other avocations?

Beliefs: Can you provide a “place,” physical or virtual, where they can feel comfortable expressing their political opinions, religious beliefs, or other personal feelings? Can you provide information that will help them make up their minds on important issues? Does your organization support a cause in which they strongly believe?

Reputation: Can you further enhance or protect their professional or personal reputations?

Ethnic/religious/national identity: Can you help them connect with others who share similar ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or other traits? Or give them a place where they can experience diversity and meet people who are unlike themselves?

Philanthropic: Can you help them to help others and also feel good about themselves?

Fantasy/Escape: Can you help them get away from the mundane and routine, at least temporarily?

If you can address one or more of these needs on an emotional level, you have a much better chance of having people understand what you can provide and respond favorably to it. They will be more willing to take an action you would like them to take.