(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
What people believe about your business directly affects your chances of successSmall Business Failure? Nuts!Pardon my enthusiasm, but a large part of your small business' success is somewhere else. Namely, out among the company's important external audiences. How they perceive you, and what they believe about you and your business, directly affect your chances of success. And that's because those perceptions usually lead to predictable behaviors, good or bad. So they're pretty important! Now, here comes the public relations professional who tests the opinion waters, then decides whether, on your behalf, s/he needs to create, change or reinforce that opinion about you and your company. This is important because it will affect the message content you prepare aimed at those perceptions. Next, s/he'll attempt to reach, persuade and move-to-actions- YOU-desire those very people whose behaviors affect your operation the most. And we're talking about actions like neutralizing a rumor, clarifying incorrect perceptions of your service quality, or reinforcing awareness of your organization's contributions to the local and regional community. Now, of course, you and your PR counsel agreed up front, at the beginning of the program, on the behavioral changes you would like to see occur. So, it's a simple task to review together just how successfully the public relations effort on behalf of your small business is, or is not going. As you may suspect, I do not give up easily when it comes to how public relations can help a small business succeed. So, who does what to get us to this point? First, you list those two or three groups of people, i.e., key external audiences, like your prime prospects, or certain segments of area residents, or influential community leaders, and others if appropriate to your product and service offerings. You need a basis from which to evaluate opinions about you and your small business. So you need to take the time to interact with members of these key audiences to find out how they perceive you, especially any areas of potential trouble. This is the information gathering phase of the program. Only then can you and your PR person decide just what opinions need to be recreated, or changed, or simply reinforced. This becomes the PR objective to be achieved in a realistic, mutually agreed upon time frame. Now, we prepare messages most likely to persuade both those harboring misconceptions, or no perceptions at all about you, and bring them around to your way of thinking. Remember that bad perceptions can lead to bad behaviors and, fortunately, vice versa! At this point, you need to select the communications tactics - "beasts of burden," I call them - that will carry your carefully crafted messages to the eyes and ears of each target audience. In other words, how will you reach these important people? You and your PR counsel have a wide choice of tactics. Everything from personal meetings with members of each target audience, your periodic speeches, emails, newspaper and radio interviews to promotional events, awards ceremonies, news releases, and many others. As time passes, you must continue to speak with members of your target audiences watching and listening carefully for signs of awareness of your business and its role in the marketplace and in the community. Stay alert as well for a growing receptiveness to your messages by prospective customers. These are indications that reflect local feelings about your organization. As your public relations counsel will tell you, progress in this regard will be directly proportionate to how much effort and attention you personally give to the outreach program. The good news is that when public relations modifies behaviors among groups of people important to your organization, the effort may be pronounced successful when those altered behaviors help you reach your managerial objectives. Which is why the title of this article remains, "Small Business Failure? Nuts!" Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Robert A. Kelly � 2005. Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com; bobkelly@TNI.net
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News The Politics of the Small Biz Bill - Zacks.com Ask SmallBiz: Leadership Training - Hawaii Business Magazine Small business owners discuss lending problems with Patty Murray Survey: Small biz still slow to hire - Boston Herald Small biz, big rates - Boston Business Journal |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Is Your Business Making Money? Is your business making money? Would you know?Figuring out whether your business is actually making money is no easy task. Most small business owners have a pretty good idea of what their top line is (their revenues), but unless they're closely tracking and inputting all of their expenses, the bottom line can often come as a complete surprise. Five Quick Ways to Speed Up Cash Flow At one point or another, almost every business runs short of cash. Whether due to normal fluctuations in demand or an unexpected decline in sales, cash shortfalls are the bane of every company, and are responsible for sleepless nights for many business owners. Build credibility with success stories and customer testimonials -- The One Pager Shortcut Series --An effective and compelling way to market your business is through the use of success stories. What exactly is a success story? How does it market my business? How can I get started with my own success stories?Consider the following: What exactly is a success story? A success story briefly describes how your business served a client/customer and what results the client/customer achieved. Creating Lists to Learn About Yourself, Your Business and Your Customers I love lists. I make them for everything. Financial Fundamentals - What Every Small Business Owner Should Know! Business owners rarely go into business to deal with the financial aspects of running a business. It's easy to understand why! You are passionate about the products or services you provide and want to focus your time there. Perception: What Are Your Patients REALLY Hearing? Never underestimate the power of perception! Perception plays a major part in what is actually said -vs- how it is heard. And to patients. What is your Motto? Company mottos can easily be printed on a business card.Sometimes you wonder if a company motto is remembered by anyone in the company. Small Business Pricing Strategies TACTIC #1 -- Never simply slash your prices, unless you're trying to empty obsolete inventory. Instead, try repackaging your prices so they're more affordable in the short-run so more prospects can afford them. Important tips to keep your small business' computers running When working properly, computers enable small businesses to make big business profits; however, get booted off your computer and you're suddenly starving. In most instances, computers usually act up due to lack of care by its owners. The Number of Pages in the UFOC in Franchising is Still Growing Today Today required franchise disclosure documents are over 200 pages generally. How many pages do you think the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular; UFOCs were 35 years ago for these ten-foot tall pillars of the franchising community like Kroc, Monhan and Rosenberg founded their companies? They were of course the founders of McDonalds, Domino's Pizza and Duncan Donuts. Starting a business transporting pets Pet Transportation Services are needed as the number of pets in the U.S. Frodos Journey: What It Can Teach You About Marketing Your Small Business Just recently, I took a break and caught "The Return of the King" at the movie theater. At the same time, I was pondering a topic for this article. Competition in the Market Place and Over Disclosure Regulatory Burden The Federal Trade Commission is assisting competitor to cheat and encouraging this unethical behavior thru their disclosure rule on franchisors. Competition in the market place is far more competitive and the stakes are high enough that Over Disclosure Regulatory Rules cause competition to take the advantage and cheat. Dispute Resolution; Competing With Other Franchisees If you are in a franchise and have a territory dispute with another franchisee you need to prevent a lawsuit use dispute resolution techniques to resolve the dispute. Competing with other franchisees is a subject that franchisors would prefer not to need to talk about. Mobile Car Wash and Cleaning Post Office Jeeps If you own a mobile truck washing, pressure washing or mobile car wash business you may wish to consider washing postal vehicles. They have one of the largest fleets in the world and they are relatively easy to wash. Getting Grant Funding For Your Nonprofit Organization Do you need grant funding for your nonprofit organization? If you do you are most certainly not alone in your needs. This combined with the fact that because of regular government budget cuts there's not as many federal dollars available as there once was. There Are No Dumb Business Questions, Not! Q: I'm curious. What is the dumbest business question you've ever been asked? -- Norris W. We Know Who THEY Are Am I the only one that does not have an "A" button on my computer? I have looked on the keyboard, monitor and hard drive I can not find that darn thing anywhere. Nobody will tell me where it is. Window Cleaning Business Start Up Should you buy a business opportunity or Franchise if you want to get into the window cleaning business? Or just start your own and work hard; grow the business into a full-time profession and expand from there? Let us talk briefly about window cleaning franchises is in general.One could argue without too much difficulty that buying a window cleaning franchise is simply a waste of money, after all you could simply go down to be 99 cents store and by a bucket 3 towels and a squeegee and hey, you are in business right? Well one could argue that, since to really be in business, you probably need to get a business license, insurance, buy some business cards and make a few flyers. How to Prevent Home Business Burnout As a home business proprietor, you may already realize why avoiding "home business burnout" is so important. Even if you have only been working your home business venture for a relatively brief time, you may have already been aware of the need to maintain your energy levels and reduce your stress levels while you were involved in your other employment.
|
| home | site map | articles |
| © 2006 |