Home Entrepreneur WHAT SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEIR PR EFFORTS

WHAT SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEIR PR EFFORTS

July 1, 2010

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This week we were informed by Ben Bernanke that Friday’s report will show the June unemployment rate is once again on the rise. Naturally this points out that there are new laid-off employees or new jobseekers, who failed to be placed this past month, yet I fail to understand why when unemployment rises, companies cut their marketing and PR budgets. Will new business arise from the sky? Where will brand awareness come from?

I represent many small businesses from all professional fields at 5WPR. I find them to be the most “hungry” for success and passionate about what they’re doing. In fact, those companies of any size who are that eager to “make it” are the ones who need PR the most, and will go a long way to get it, especially in this economy. We are proud to have a reputation of “fighting to get our clients results.” Why fight? Well, when you manage a small business, fighting is the ONLY way to get great results.

Small businesses in their initial phase don’t always naturally create news, attract news – or to put it bluntly – deserve news. It takes a PR pro, strategy and expertise to challenge that notion. A small business can definitely find its niche in the media pending you know what you’re doing! The essential fact that the business started and the innovation, spirit, inspiration, and the message of “change” that it brings among many more attributes, is what the media can pick up when pitched properly. That’s where the fighting comes in.

PR can garner the early coverage that provides the branding leverage and attention that would have taken longer for a small business to get on its own, if at all. As opposed to what many people think of the PR business, it holds one of the highest and measurable ROI’s today. Running effective social media campaigns, getting daily, weekly and monthly media “hits” as well as engaging in creative events and product launches that reflect your passion and energies are some of today’s PR best practices.

In order to achieve these goals and get your small biz running and kicking, I recommend you spend some time and resources on PR. A tendency I found and leveraged in my own endeavors, but many “self employed individuals” or “small businesses” have not realized their need for PR, let alone the initial notion of the great difference a professional PR agency can make for them.

That said, we have had tremendous success with these types of companies, and share their happiness for every success milestone they approach. The key here: connect to the passion that started the business in the first place and we will fight for you in the PR space to get the desired results.