The Public Relations Blog

An inexpensive and practical means to gain credibility for products or services delivered by your business is simply this: earn an award. Industry awards, recognition from chambers of commerce or related small-business organizations or a stamp of approval from a well-known review outfit can provide visibility and improve a business’ reputation. But locating appropriate opportunities and awards takes time, effort and consideration, often causing business owners to abandon the process before it even begins.

Seasoned public relations professionals, however, know exactly where to find the information, how to properly submit it and the deadlines by which it all needs to be done. Here are a few reasons businesses enlist PR support to secure these fantastic business-boosters

So you hired a PR firm to help you increase mindshare surrounding your product, service or business and weren’t satisfied. You were patient, played your cards right and communicated clearly with your PR team, but your results are still lackluster at best. If you’ve gone carefully through our checklist for evaluating your PR relationship and you still want to sever ties with your public relations agency, consider the following tips

At the onset of the dot-com and Internet boom, public relations firms were in high demand.  Every venture-backed startup required a boost to rapidly increase mindshare of its latest gadget, application or service. Although the landscape changed slightly with the introduction of social media, public relations remains a valuable tool in every business’ toolbox. The strength of the relationship between agency and client is paramount. Without faith, trust and respect, the relationship is doomed to fail. But PR professionals aren’t simply along for the ride to deliver media coverage; they are advisors, counselors, strategists and networkers, too.

The most important lesson from what you will read in this post is this: “The customer is always right, even when he’s potentially wrong.”

Many business owners will give a good eye-roll at that and click away from this page, but let us assure you that consumer reviews – positive or negative – are mission critical for any business. We trust the opinions of others – even strangers – when we’re in the market for a new car, blender, mattress, power drill, jeans, hotel or pair of shoes.

How your business can benefit from speaking engagements

Many of our readers have attended trade shows or networking events where interesting and high-profile speakers shared insider tips, sage counsel or plain old good advice. Those speaking opportunities are frequently arranged several months prior to the actual event date. But how do professional business and industry trade associations go about cherry-picking their notable keynote or break-out session speakers? The answer may surprise you since, more often than not, public speaking engagements are arranged and secured by public relations professionals, given our knowledge of how to locate, target and secure proper opportunities.

How does an individual rise above the crowd to get her ideas heard, vision shared or concepts accepted? The terms “industry leader” or “visionary” simply boil down to mindshare. You can likely count on one hand the names of people in or outside your industry whom you believe have earned this coveted spot in your own mind. Perhaps your list includes names like Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban, Beyoncé, Gordon Ramsay or Gisele Bündchen. What each of these individuals has in common is mindshare. People easily recognize their names and chosen professions and may even be able to list what they’ve done to earn themselves the title of “visionary.”

Humans are prone to making mistakes, rash judgements and inappropriate or inaccurate statements. The public relations professionals at Axia often write about crisis communications for the simple fact that far too many people, armed with opinions, inaccurate information and emotionally driven judgment calls, end up in crisis situations. Whether it’s the prime-time anchor of a popular TV show, a CEO, actor or politician, anyone who steps up to a microphone or camera without proper preparation, spouting inaccurate data or carrying a soapbox can turn a smooth-sailing ship into a rudderless boat.

Public relations can be a credible and useful tool in any business’ marketing arsenal to enhance business development and hiring efforts, as well as industry profile. This doesn’t exclude law firms. Many attorneys perceive PR as an unnecessary expenditure requiring too significant a budget to warrant meaningful discussion. However, intelligent attorneys are more ready to recognize PR’s potential, though they require substantive, fact-based reasoning to back it up.

Optimize your digital footprint with these steps

Incredible amounts of research have gone into determining how people form first impressions. The digital age has complicated the phenomenon by eliminating physical signs and signals. In place of smiles are likes, retweets and reviews, not direct word-of-mouth referrals. Businesses must therefore consider how their digital first impressions (gained not only through their websites but also via social media chatter and search engines such as Google) impact their brands.

When considering hiring an external public relations firm, many struggle just to locate the starting point, and even more are unclear about what assets a firm should be able to offer to ensure a proper fit. While every business has different needs, there are several basic elements that you should demand from every firm you consider.