PR for a Small Biz with BIG GOALS

“If a young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is – that’s advertising. If the young man tells his date she’s intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he’s saying the right things to the right person and that’s marketing. If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is – that’s PR.”

- S. H. Simmons

Ask the Small business owner how they view public relations and you’ll likely hear one of two basic ideas:

1. Public relations firms and departments help large corporations deal with a crisis that gives the public a negative opinion of them.
   
   
2. The same as #1 but insert a famous person in the place of “large corporations”. This could be an actor, politician, musician, broadcaster, athlete, or other well-known individual.

However, public relations are much more than that. While the average Small Business Owner doesn’t own a company large enough to employ a full-time public relations staff, public relations is still important, even for a small business.

Public relations are the core of any business. How the public views you and your business have a huge impact on the success of your business.

If you’re a startup looking for investors or a loan, PR is critical to the success of securing financing.

The differentiation between public relations, advertising, and marketing is arguable at best. It can easily be argued that marketing and advertising are under the umbrella of public relations, because those two things have an impact on how the public views the company.

They also impact how the public views the owner of that company, too.

People are always making judgments. When a company does something the public dislikes, it makes the owner look bad. When the owner is perceived in a negative light, the business sufferers a similar fate.

Since the public is always judging, it’s necessary to give them a good impression as often as possible. This doesn’t happen randomly or on accident. It must be managed.

Every customer you serve either has a positive or a negative opinion of you. They talk to others, and the messages they are spreading are either positive or negative.

Mastering public relations means that you have taken the greatest possible control over how your customers view your company and you. You’re in the best possible position to influence them, put out any fires quickly, and grow your business maximally.

You’re also enhancing your position within your industry and your community.

Lastly, your employees are influenced by your public relations activities. How you deal with your customers and the public influences how your employees view your company, you, and themselves.



Remember, everyone is always watching.