When your goal is to grow your business, one of the most important things you can do is spend time learning how to generate publicity for your organization.  The key to getting publicity for your company is to develop and implement a sound public relations plan that focuses on activities designed to attract positive media attention to the activities of your business.  

Three of the best techniques for generating publicity include:

1.  Special Events Hosting a special event is a great way to generate publicity for your company.  There are many ways to generate free publicity for events that are open to the public.  Many websites and newspapers have special sections dedicated to community events, and you can submit information about any events that you have scheduled for publication consideration.

For example, if you are opening a new location, you might want to consider holding a ribbon cutting ceremony.  Even if you aren’t moving, you can schedule an open house event.  While the news media aren’t likely to attend the actual event, any pre-event publicity that you generate can boost your business, and you will enjoy the added benefit of giving customers and prospective customers a good excuse to visit your business.

2.  Public Speaking Engagements Most civic and professional organizations schedule speakers for their weekly or monthly meetings.  Come up with an idea for an interesting topic that is related to your business offer to speak to local organizations such as Kiwanis, Rotary, the American Business Women’s Association, and others.  

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Did Harley Davidson create the desire for rebellion and the feeling of freedom that comes from conquering the open road?  Did Starbucks create the desire for a sense of sophistication or for people to feel like they are part of a community?

Of course not!  Harley Davidson and Starbucks simply found wonderfully resonant ways to tap into these deep emotional currents that course through people’s veins.  However, it is important to remember that everyone does not have the same emotional imperatives.  That is why some people buy a Suzuki bike and many people prefer to buy their coffee at Dunkin Donuts.  That is how great branding works - companies find ways to connect with the emotional drivers that move their specific target audience.

When you’re walking down the grocery store aisle, have you ever listened to the tiny voices in the back of your head that are asking questions like, what does this product say about me as a mother?  What does this product say about my status?  Do I prefer to be irreverent or traditional?  Am I frugal or do I prefer to be decadent?

These are all brand questions your semi-conscious or unconscious mind is asking at warp speed.  In fact, according to experts as much as 90% of brand decisions are made at an unconscious emotional level.

So what does this all mean for us as PR professionals?   It means that purchasing decisions are made based on the strength of the brands you represent.  And brands are not built solely on our industry’s traditional view of PR.  They are the sum of the stories and experiences that your core target audience has had with a brand.

This means our profession must become expert at how great brands are created and nurtured.  And we better start helping our clients build resonant brands from the ground up.  If we don’t, others will, and we will move even further from holding that coveted seat at the table.

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Business awards, as entering and winning (or even reaching finalist position) one of these is a great method of ensuring PR and many awarding bodies, such as the big banks out there, also do a great job of publicising their winners. The big thing that puts people off entering these awards is the work that goes into it, but it’s important to remember that once you’ve done the work once, a lot of it can be tweaked and tailored to individual awards. One might focus on creativity, another on staff training, but much of the content will be the same. So, here are my top ten suggestions to give you the best chance of getting noticed by the judges.

1. Make the decision to do it.
If you are bringing entering awards into your PR programme then really do go for it. Just half-heartedly entering one award is a waste of your time. Do a little bit of research and see how many you are actually applicable for. Here are just a few I found in a 30 second web search - many of the banks annually run their own awards, as well as women’s magazines and the women’s website Handbag.

http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk/nbaenterawards/
http://www.businessawardseurope.com/html/enter-awards.html
http://www.nationaltrainingawards.com/entering/index.htm
http://www.enterprisenation.com/detail/Entries_now_open_for_2008_Home_Business_Awards/2001/1.aspx

Likewise, give yourself the resources you need to do the job. Get outside help if you need it, as this is a big investment in your future.

2.

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Many mistakenly view PR as an emergency measure, a tool to be utilized during a crisis, or as a temporary supplement to a marketing campaign. In reality public relations is the most effective strategic business tool at your disposal.

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The media needs to report the facts, regardless how grim, about the economic troubles. But, the messages of doom-and-gloom tend to become self fulfilling prophecies. The trouble is that in order to get our economy back on track, ultimately what we need to address is a confidence issue and one is going to spend or lend if they are continually being terrorized by the media.

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I recently visited Greece, including Delphi—home, in ancient times, of the Delphic oracle. To produce her prophecies, the oracle chewed hallucinogenic laurel leaves and/or inhaled volcanic fumes and raved nonsense, which the attendant priests translated into ambiguous prophecy.

The oracle was a smash hit in the ancient world, not just Greece.   Potentates as far away as Rome and Egypt—and almost everyplace in-between—sent votive offerings to the oracle. 

So the oracle had great word-of-mouth marketing and PR.  And it couldn’t have been for the accuracy of her prophecies—the canny priests left them vague enough so you could interpret them any way you want.

But why was the oracle’s advice so sought after?  The magnificent mountainside setting with a view to the blue Gulf of Corinth no doubt had something to do with it.  Being there, you can readily believe that Apollo and the other gods blessed the place.

Ultimately, the oracle’s fame is a mystery.  Somehow, her legend grew and exerted an extraordinarily powerful pull among the ancients.

What has this got to do with PR today?  Something, I think.

We’re all promoting organizations and their services or products.  And presumably, your organization is doing something that helps its customers a lot more than prophetic ravings.

So, if the ancients could create a powerful legend out of nothing, can’t your organization do something similar with its substantive offerings?  Certainly, the rational elements—superior service, expertise, great functionality, good pricing, etc.—are important.  But emotional appeals are equally important, even in fields that seem pretty dry.

So, in your PR, appeal to both sides of the human psyche.  Your organization could become a legend in its own time.

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If fear is your sole motivator, you’ve already lost, because by definition, even if you become a billionaire, you can’t be a success. Who defines success as leading a wealthy, opulent, fearful life?

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If you put a strategy in place, you can not only weather, but grow your business during uncertain times.

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