All businesses covet favorable PR. Public relations are probably the most effective way to create interest in any business. Lean Sales and Marketing techniques is what this is all about. When talking about Lean, we are talking about reducing wasteful activities and increasing the effects. Most businesses expend more money, time and energy than they should in marketing efforts. Many times, they only create a 2 percent conversion rate on the money spend, and that means the other 8 percent is wasted. Public Relations does fit into the Lean scheme of advertising. Since it is mostly free, that makes it incredibly free in terms of marketing dollars. It is also easy to measure results, while at the same time giving your company greater visibility as it increases its credibility.
There are a variety of public relations tactics that a business can use to generate more interest in its products or services, here are two:
You can place your business in front of many potential clients just by securing a spot as a presenter during a lecture series, convention or trade show. The place to start is to search for lecture series and trade shows that relate to your own business. For instance, if you are in the home building supplies industry, look for home-improvement trade shows. It would be hard to promote your products at a classic cars convention since the audience is interested in classic cars.
Once you locate trade shows or lecture series that are relevant to your business, you should contact the show or series manager and ask if you may present one of the lectures. Once your business secures a lecture or speaking engagement, you should prepare for the event. Determine if the event will just require you to make a speech, or if there will be a question and answer period as well. If there is a question and answer period, make sure you practice. Have your employees or friends quiz you with potential questions that may be asked after your lecture. It is important to be expertly prepared, because a lecture series or trade show will be filled with people that are already predisposed to purchase your products or services. It is your job, through the use of public speaking to convince these potential clients that your business is the best in the industry, that you are the top choice and they should hire you to fulfill their needs.
Local clubs and professional organizations also offer great opportunities to allow public speaking to advertise your business. Helping local charities has many benefits as well because you get to give something back to the community, and they may ask you to give a presentation at events. You may not get as many leads at charity functions as you would at trade shows and conventions, but you will create a positive image for your business in the community. Many people recommend businesses to friends and colleagues because they are local or because they are involved with a charity they also support. At the same time, charities often get the attention of the local press which can mean good PR for your business since you helped raise money for a worthy cause.
Reporters and bloggers are not unlike the rest of the world. They like to receive the help from others. They are always looking for stories that will interest their readers. This is particularly true when they can get there with the story before the competition does. By helping them find these storied, you will be building a reciprocal relationship with them. Here is how you go about getting this relationship started.
Look through your favorite news sources or search the internet to find articles related to your industry, service, and/or products (If your business serves only a local market, make sure that you focus on local papers and blogs). Who is writing about these things? Make a list of your top 5 favorite journalists. Learn all you can about these journalists. Keep up with what they write. Before you initiate any contact make sure that you have at a minimum read the last 3 things they have written. Then start providing insightful feedback on what they write via email, blog commenting, Facebook, or whatever preferred method that they make use of. Your comments do not have to always agree, it is okay to provide other viewpoints as long as you are respectful and courteous. Do not ramble, be brief and be insightful so as to highlight your knowledge of the industry, service, and/or products. Do this once a day for one of your 5 favorites, if after a few months you get no response (no comments back), replace with more favorites. After a few months, give the journalist a story idea that fits into what they have been writing about. Be specific and talk about the idea in ways to highlight the points that will be most interesting to the Journalist's audience. Remember whether the article idea is used or not, this is all about building a relationship. If you are having direct, response to your unsolicited comments... keep building... the PR will come.
As you can see, Lean Sales and Marketing techniques involve public speaking and making friends with bloggers and reporters. It builds interest in your business very effectively.
There are a variety of public relations tactics that a business can use to generate more interest in its products or services, here are two:
You can place your business in front of many potential clients just by securing a spot as a presenter during a lecture series, convention or trade show. The place to start is to search for lecture series and trade shows that relate to your own business. For instance, if you are in the home building supplies industry, look for home-improvement trade shows. It would be hard to promote your products at a classic cars convention since the audience is interested in classic cars.
Once you locate trade shows or lecture series that are relevant to your business, you should contact the show or series manager and ask if you may present one of the lectures. Once your business secures a lecture or speaking engagement, you should prepare for the event. Determine if the event will just require you to make a speech, or if there will be a question and answer period as well. If there is a question and answer period, make sure you practice. Have your employees or friends quiz you with potential questions that may be asked after your lecture. It is important to be expertly prepared, because a lecture series or trade show will be filled with people that are already predisposed to purchase your products or services. It is your job, through the use of public speaking to convince these potential clients that your business is the best in the industry, that you are the top choice and they should hire you to fulfill their needs.
Local clubs and professional organizations also offer great opportunities to allow public speaking to advertise your business. Helping local charities has many benefits as well because you get to give something back to the community, and they may ask you to give a presentation at events. You may not get as many leads at charity functions as you would at trade shows and conventions, but you will create a positive image for your business in the community. Many people recommend businesses to friends and colleagues because they are local or because they are involved with a charity they also support. At the same time, charities often get the attention of the local press which can mean good PR for your business since you helped raise money for a worthy cause.
Reporters and bloggers are not unlike the rest of the world. They like to receive the help from others. They are always looking for stories that will interest their readers. This is particularly true when they can get there with the story before the competition does. By helping them find these storied, you will be building a reciprocal relationship with them. Here is how you go about getting this relationship started.
Look through your favorite news sources or search the internet to find articles related to your industry, service, and/or products (If your business serves only a local market, make sure that you focus on local papers and blogs). Who is writing about these things? Make a list of your top 5 favorite journalists. Learn all you can about these journalists. Keep up with what they write. Before you initiate any contact make sure that you have at a minimum read the last 3 things they have written. Then start providing insightful feedback on what they write via email, blog commenting, Facebook, or whatever preferred method that they make use of. Your comments do not have to always agree, it is okay to provide other viewpoints as long as you are respectful and courteous. Do not ramble, be brief and be insightful so as to highlight your knowledge of the industry, service, and/or products. Do this once a day for one of your 5 favorites, if after a few months you get no response (no comments back), replace with more favorites. After a few months, give the journalist a story idea that fits into what they have been writing about. Be specific and talk about the idea in ways to highlight the points that will be most interesting to the Journalist's audience. Remember whether the article idea is used or not, this is all about building a relationship. If you are having direct, response to your unsolicited comments... keep building... the PR will come.
As you can see, Lean Sales and Marketing techniques involve public speaking and making friends with bloggers and reporters. It builds interest in your business very effectively.
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