Mar 11

Most entrepreneurs groped the most difficult to get media attention.
Why? The more media attention is a great opportunity for
get the free transport of a large group of potential targeted customers
without costs. It 'also a presentation of a target
Companies and products a company offers. Companies
Get published in the media, credibility, and more
recognizable. In most cases, media attention is a positive
Result ofprofessional public relations campaign. Reporters
are often looking for new and interesting stories and get something
from it as well.

The media kit or press kit, it is usually contained within a
Presentation folders of any type, is a professional
Representation of your company, which includes information about your
Businesses, photos of previous articles that he wrote and Marketing
Materials. If a journalist asks you moreSee
You should send the media kit. It 'nice to have something
ready that can be sent very quickly to interested parties.

Here's what should be the media kit includes:

Letter
Business Card
Print
Company literature (flyers, brochures, photographs, brochures)
Biography of the company 's founder
Client List (if available)
Copies of other articles written about you
Examples of your work (ifpossible)

Written materials must be done under certain conditions. Test
Check out the correct format for each. Do not want
disabled because someone failed to write correctly a
press release format or your company literature seem outdated or
unprofessional. Contact design and marketing professionals, as
how our society, if you need help on this.

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Mar 10

PR because it can be difficult to control, is often discredited. According to Dick
Lyles, president and chief operating officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, a
Comprehensive advice and Performance Improvement Company, "People tend to
migrate to the things we can control. Even now, provides for an executive
Advertising message is exactly what I wanted to create exactly the
the correct position, and so on, they say, "the message to mewant to send. "
That's great, even if people were not able to read, or people could be without him
Value and discount, because it is the advertising …. [Furthermore] if you
one well-placed article in a magazine or a little 'ink, people give him more
Credibility. The effect is greater, but it might not be exactly
So it was intended to come, [entrepreneurs often] discount it. "

The concepts of branding and public relationsare closely linked. Job
public relations is to encourage the public to have positive thoughts, a
particular company, product, service or individual. Branding is the idea that a
specific set of attributes that encourage the public to have positive thoughts
About a company, product, service or individual. This is a subtle
Distinction, but a basic book.

To better understand and Brandinghow do you, you must
examine and explain the public relations. Many experts agree that the branding
I believe that public relations a key role, if not the most important-are
Process of branding. Public relations are particularly suitable
the concept of branding, as well as techniques and family
Practices that create public identity very near the central idea of a brand.

UnlikeMarketing or advertising, the main activities and
essential to the creation of a brand, public relations, rather than a faithful
tangible object. Advertising executives create television, press, radio and advertising;
These are the concrete, visible things. Marketing creates a product, be it a
physical product or service and makes them available to the public. This is an obvious
considered that it is not difficult to understand.

Public Relationsnot make any of these things. If properly designed, which
and runs a public relations campaign is next to invisible, the public is
I do not know is there. More to the point where there is public relations
physical manifestation of his commitment: when PR is done right, do not take out
Track a newspaper or magazine ad, a video or a cassette, which
win prizes and can sometimes be congested and the message asdelivered.

What makes public relations, is encouraged by third parties for the provision
Message. Why? As news organizations, third party, press
Journalists and TV and radio news and talk shows, from
Definition even more credibility to the general public as an advertisement or
the word a company spokesman.

In other words, the public, the news coverage will generate. He does
About upcoming events and through the news (real news, you should
stress) are suggested for journalists and their editors. When a newspaper
has an article about the unusual new promotion is done by a local
Companies, public relations is. But for the reader of this newspaper, it seems
an article by the editors of the publication itself .- It generates
Responsibility is not about advertising, which runs on a news PRArticle.
This makes sense, because the news editor, has always ignored the opportunity to
Proposals will be made by PR people. Publishers and producers
rely on public relations for the port of news, but do not act simply as a channel,
Uncut presents the message of the PR client
and not confirmed. may propose public relations, but not control, the message
be sent. It 'very difficultRidge walk on.

For example, in 2000, when was the Beatles song Compilation 1
of Capitol Records, presented (believe it or not) in public relations
Promote dilemma: how to be an album full of songs that the whole goal —
Public almost certainly in a different form already in possession.

The problem has been solved in various ways. Above all, it was stressed
which is the number one of the 27 songs the band had produced during his
legendaryCareer. Press releases noted over and over again that these songs
had never been collected in an album. It was suggested that many in
Nucleus of the public may not have heard these songs on CD,
each other on records when they originally published.

But most of all, it managed to generate the public relations managers
Promote the album with something that could not be another project
Offer: Access to(currently) three surviving Beatles for interview. News
The programs were interview shows, publications, and speak all the programs given
Opportunity (albeit briefly) are at least an interview with the Beatles, and then
The album has been called in numerous air waves and in publications of the Week
place before its publication, and since very prominent.

The album was a great success, reaching number one for almost 40
Years after the first version of some ofRecordings. It 'been another
Triumph for a group of legendary recording, but there was also a kind of coup
public relations staff. Yes, they had the luxury of three
the most famous faces in the world, and the ability to use them. But the PR
People who have worked on this project, he also knew that to do something
That was not necessarily new seem important and important, and they knew where l '
The message was stored in the project.Make sure that the messages went out, it was their task to
and have done very well.

And the best part was, the public will never know, there were public relations officers for all involved.
What was the average fans saw on TV, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and / or
Ringo Starr. They listened to excerpts of the songs they loved for decades. And
have learned that this was different, it was new, was unique. This is all
Public needs to know. The fact that this message had been carefully
constructed and carefully arranged interviews was irrelevant
Consumers, all that was necessary, they know that the Beatles were, more or less,
back.

Public relations works behind the scenes, but its impact on branding is
huge. PR because it generates interest, and just because
behind the stage, and as part of the process of branding as an economic value can imagine.
And best of all, it is often the least expensive ofsophisticated
Branding machine.

As Adam Christing, president and founder of Clean Comedians, a company
Meeting Planner do with the G-rated comedians, says: "Public Relations
take the brand and makes it mobile, it makes visible. E 'as a
Band in a local environment and successfully bring them to
Street so that more people can live it. "

Of course, if the message was not delivered in the form,initially
determined that the public has no means to do professional work
right. The error may, in particular in shaping the message itself,
If the message that has been specially developed, is a false or deceptive in one or
Method of its delivery. It 'a beautiful thing, a genuine, exciting news you
say, but if the presentation is ineffective, this story does not say win, or win
he said, so that its original intentionlost.

Public relations is about messages and their delivery, but not all is PR. In
Correlation with the brand should be the goal of creating greater publicity
feeling in the public mind is the message
are cut. If the mark is about the identity of a product, service or
Companies (companies or individuals), the contribution of public relations "is about Branding
the identitywelcoming and attractive to the public – in particular
Public, is for the message.

Apparently looking for the feeling that sustain most of the PR, a positive attitude. But
The intent is far more complex than that: In truth, public relations seeks to
Create and maintain a constant feeling of familiarity, trust, reliability and
The trust has raised with the public. If advertising is about getting the public 's
CautionPublic relations is the message for delivery at the earliest attention
was offered. When people judge a product or a
Company, initially will say they like or do not like them, without further
Declaration. But if you have specific questions about their views,
Impact of public relations significantly. If the products are assigned to
Personality characteristics or attributes of the public – "friendly""ecologically
… .. do with the quality … .. accessible "means that public relations
In terms of advertising and marketing, has done its job. But because
Public is naturally cautious of advertising and marketing, and because these
Disciplines are clearly visible public relations, you
PR makes the most honest and profound impact on the psyche of the public.

How is the feelingcreated? Unlike public relations or marketing, public
Giving alms to influence public opinion, without being noticed. Therefore, efforts
The creation of an undertaking, business or goodwill through advertising and marketing to be effective,
be satisfied, but with a greater amount of resistance from the public as a
PR campaign.

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Mar 10

That moves a load of small size on a long distance could consider load sharing to reduce their costs.

We are not talking of large national companies in niche market is certainly 'expensive' (and their brand image may or may not) customer expectations. Neither one speaks of all the residences, or expensive, complicated contracts or specialist posts.
We're talking about jobs are small and simple, and not threaten a delivery timeHours: – unexpected complications are the hidden costs and expenses of the little procession. These jobs can be a crew of two people includes distance, but if the client wants to help, thus reducing labor costs, the better.

There may be two types of movement for the load balancing option.

1) People often have individual articles, with particular urgency was not late – maybe they had a piano or replace the furniture from their homes. There are many distanceThe companies that continually build lists of these full-time flexible, so you can create a path to successful implementation.

The problem is always that such information has not been coordinated, and used as a matter of luck whether a customer has a remover or could provide a fixed date or a price. Student-movers-forum.com offers this service.

There is a need for a bar where the customer needs' and their companies can post removal, may contactand bid. The largest number of people continue to think, the better the chance of success. An advertisement for a flexible period of one month, in which the train will do enough to win a game – and a low rate.

2) The other category is the student at a distance: – Thousands of people moved around the country at the same time. This group of promoters could be worse than the trouble of finding a partner to do – and, together, a device removal concept. They could also rope in someone to go toopposite direction and presents the removal with a complete schedule. The savings would justify the effort.

It 'true that there are psychological barriers to overcome approach of strangers in such a society. If the idea is not for you, it would be the best thing to do, where distances between small businesses and customers are the interfaces, and after the voyage on board the message, and if too much, get in touch with a company interested expresses the load side.

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Mar 10

Public speaking is a career that can lead to more opportunities over time. It 'very important to dress well and look good when speaking in front of an audience. Here are some things to consider when you make a first impression.

Men – wear a jacket and tie and shine your shoes. Ask to see someone who will take you and their honest opinion.
Women – A business suit is acceptable, but a dress, get a better effect. Avoid strong colorsor model in favor of more conservative colors. Even here, someone else has to give an honest assessment of how you look.
Do you ask someone to a video recording of yourself when you speak. Be prepared to sit back and critique everything you say and do during his speech. You are what you see when you are inspired to look at the latest. Take notes about your posture, facial expressions, and how we speak when facing the audience.
Before and after we talk, are also crucial moments.You must remain vigilant and attentive all that surrounds you at this time.
Eat light, early today, before speaking. The day of your speech, you want foods are rich in carbohydrate-rich food, be sure to have a high energy level. Lectures is like a marathon to prepare and then physically.

When you consider these things we talk about the situation, before an audience and build your career as a speaker.I would encourage you to more tips and techniques to learn to speak publicly.

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Mar 09

I became a notary public because I wanted something to work around my family. I wanted to be able to pick and choose when I worked, without the fear of never getting another call back. And I wanted guaranteed money – I didn’t want to worry about commissions, home party sales, or inventory.

When I learned mobile notaries could earn a good living signing loan documents, I hit the Internet to find out everything I could on the subject. I joined message boards and asked lots of questions and I went through pages and pages of search engines to find companies that would hire me once I received my license.

Once I felt I had enough information to get started, I ordered my notary handbook from the state and studied for the test. In the state of California, you have to take a formal test before you are allowed to become a notary public, but each state is different. For instance, in Missouri, I was told that all you had to do was take home a test, open your notary book, find the answers, fill out the form and turn the test in. There are other states where all you have to do is fill out a request form and you are in.

Choosing To Be A Signing Agent

To become just a mobile notary public won’t guarantee you any real money. In fact, some states mandate that you are only allowed to charge 10 cents for each notary act performed, while states like California allow you to charge $10 per notary act. That is why it is important to become a signing agent, and not just a mobile notary public.

As a mobile notary public, you are allowed to charge for the convenience of driving to your clients’ homes or offices provided you tell them the fee up front, but even that fee has a few restrictions. But as a signing agent, you charge companies a flat fee of $50 to drive to their clients, witness their signing of loan documents and complete any notary acts needed.

Your Role

Your role as a signing agent is to witness borrowers sign their mortgages and then notarize certain forms. Basically what happens is this: You receive a page from a signing company, in which you return the page, within five minutes. The company tells you the date and time of the signing and you will say accept or decline the job.

If you say yes, the signing company will send you a faxed confirmation sheet with the name and address of the client. You then call the client to set up an appointment or confirm an existing appointment. Once you confirm the appointment, you call the signing company back with confirmation.

A few days later, a loan package arrives at your door. That is the package you will take with you when you meet your client. Your client signs appropriate forms and you overnight the package back to the company, via their code. It’s that simple!

The Challenges

Working as a notary public can be stressful as you first build your clientele and wait for those calls to come in. But after a while, things will begin to feel more comfortable and the calls will be more regular.

The most important thing in this business is doing your job right the first time. When you are good at what you do, jobs will flock to you. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen. You also must enjoy traveling and meeting new people.

The Benefits

The great thing about being a signing agent, versus a mobile notary, is that you know exactly what you are getting paid when you take the job and you know that you will receive a check for that job the following month.

And it can work around your children or current job. Most of the signings are done at night, because most people want to sign when they are at home, but then you will have those who want to take a day off from work and will meet with you during the day or on a weekend.

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Mar 09

What is Reputation Management?

From a public relations perspective, reputation is an executive’s most powerful asset. Understanding the elements of reputation will guide you in business crisis management, developing media strategies for your business and strengthening public trust in you and your company.

“Reputation management” has become a buzzword in PR circles. The idea that reputations need to be controlled also means that reputations are to be contained.

Your goal as a CEO should be to build your reputation, not to “manage” or contain it. In the world of PR, a whole industry has grown up trying to convince executives they need “reputation management.” Reputation has become overanalyzed and overintellectualized.

In fact, reputation is based on the time-tested business principle of sticking to your company’s core values.

Building Your Reputation

Every press release, media interview, speaking engagement, product launch, employees’ forum–even every hand shaken–all contribute to building reputation.

Public relations is a corporation’s primary reputation-building tool. PR makes sure the name of your company is a known entity, gets your expert opinion and comments out into the public arena and puts your face front and center when your industry or your company is featured in the media.

The two most important elements that impact your reputation as a CEO are the quality of your relationships–with your clients, employees, shareholders and the media–and the quality of your communications.

Start with the basics: it’s critical that a CEO becomes intimately familiar with the company’s mission statement. Having the ability to readily relate your mission statement to every action or communication–be it yours or your company’s–forms the foundation in establishing and maintaining a well-regarded reputation.

Talk the talk of your mission statement and then walk that walk. If your company is committed to the green movement, for example, you might illustrate this by cutting down on the air conditioning, ramping up recycling efforts and driving a hybrid car. But if your product is shipped cross-country via noncompliant tractor-trailers, you betray the public’s trust in your company by sending mixed messages.

Consider Warren Buffet, who, by the way, has been quoted as saying, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” No matter the circumstance, the year or the place, he always says the same thing: “I am a value investor; I look for long-term value.” His message never waivers and in this way he is prepared to answer any question at any time. No one can ever say Buffet sends mixed messages, has a hidden agenda or talks a good game. What he says is always the same, communicated clearly and consistently over and over again.

Doing this effortlessly and consistently will ensure that there will never be a need to “manage” your reputation. Why? In a word: Authenticity.

If your company doesn’t have a mission statement that clearly communicates its vision and core values, then, as a friend of mine says, “It’s time for a three-day retreat.”

Executive Accessibility and Visibility

Being accessible to the media leads to public trust in you and your company.

Savvy CEOs do not hide behind closed doors, corporate “spokespersons” or impersonal “statements to the press.” Savvy CEOs show their faces in the office and to the public. They speak at press conferences, listen and take questions in the open, before the cameras, before the public, and thus generate public trust. You are not afraid to take hard questions, either, and the public respects that stance.

Executive Communications

Sometimes, as leaders, we forgot that communication includes both speaking and listening. Dialogue is crucial in PR because it enhances customer and brand loyalty and adds longevity to your message through the forum it provides.

Making your in-house PR campaign a priority is one of the most cost-effective efforts you can take to support and enhance your company’s reputation. If you are visible and accessible and encourage conversations easily, your staff and your Board of Directors become your biggest proponent and mouthpiece.

Corporate policies should be in synch with what you say to your employees as well. If you advocate cancer awareness as part of your mission statement, make sure you allow and encourage employees time away from their desks for cancer screenings. Consistent messages–in words and actions–bolster your reputation.

Projecting the Right Message

How do you tailor the right message for the public? Ask yourself what you want to accomplish. Are you sharing good news about productivity within the company? Do you have some high-profile resignations to address? Have you just signed new contracts with China? Have you completed cleaning up the asbestos found at one of your factories?

Remember that if communication is not direct and consistent, messages get filtered down, and just like in that old game of “Whisper Down the Lane,” what is said initially is never what is heard if it isn’t communicated directly.

Keep it simple. Remember your company mission statement. If you live the principles of that mission statement and closely guide your company from that philosophy consistently, no one can ever ask you a question you can’t answer; no outside force will ever prompt you into an action that is in opposition to it.

If you ever find yourself or your company off track, go back to your mission statement. Your mission statement is the message you give to your communications department and that becomes the basis of their PR and Marketing Plan. It’s the same conversation you have with your employees and that becomes how they speak about the company for which they work.

The company’s vision and core values are always at the forefront of each level of communications. It’s the position you take with your clients and that position becomes your promise to them.

Taking Responsibility

There’s nothing more distasteful and inauthentic than a CEO whose first response to a media crisis is making excuses. Always remember, when it comes to PR and reputation, the first line of defense is to live up to the leadership role with which you’ve been entrusted.

Today’s Media Landscape

The biggest change we’ve seen in today’s media landscape in the last couple of years is the speed and ease at which everything becomes public these days. Today, there’s no downtime between what we say or do, and when and how it goes public.

Blogging

Bloggers exposed Southwest Airlines when the company allegedly refused to let an overweight man with hepatitis C board a flight unless he bought two seats-even though he’d gained weight because of the disease and was traveling to a lifesaving operation.
Bloggers also exposed fake blogs that a prominent PR firm had created to boost the reputation of its client Wal-Mart. The blog was supposed to be written by real-life fans of Wal-Mart.

YouTube

The video showing Taco Bell’s rat-infested New York City locale was posted on YouTube within minutes of the story breaking.

MySpace

All the political candidates have MySpace pages.

Search engines

Search engines such as Google also make it impossible to hide anything because their crawlers are constantly at work, crawling through news stories, blogs and YouTube postings. Bloggers and online writers are also diligent about linking to other relevant sites.
Crisis Management – 8 Tips for Handling a Crisis

Everybody always thinks of reputation when it comes managing a crisis. Let’s review a few basics. The speed in which news happens and our immediate access to it increases the chances of a CEO having a media crisis on her or his hands.

Here are eight tips for handling these, based on the simple actions.

Mantra’s mantra for crisis management is to tell it all, tell it fast, tell the truth. Otherwise, the crisis and all of its repercussions will continue to damage you and your company’s reputation over and over again.

As mentioned above, information is distributed these days with the speed of light, but some of it is based on hearsay. At times it’s almost like the water cooler has exploded onto the Internet, and now people gossip in a more public forum. Your crisis response must address and correct any rumors and hearsay.

It doesn’t matter what created the company crisis or whether the accusations are true or false, you’ve got to get front and center ASAP. Address the issue immediately and support your position with visible actions. Make sure your verbal communications and the corresponding actions are positioned in accordance with the company’s core values. Remember that mission statement?

When you are front and center, remember to tell the good news first, followed by the bad news.

In PR, a distinction is made between “opinion” and “belief.” Opinions are easy to change but rarely is there a chance to alter a belief. Approach crisis situations with that in mind. Change public perception while it’s still at the opinion level.

Consider a public forum on your Web site, or hang a bulletin board where customers and/or employees can ask questions and submit comments. Starbucks has a section on their Web site where they actually address rumors about the company. By offering a public forum, two positive impressions about your company are made: You aren’t afraid to draw attention to the fact that rumors are a part of business; and you identify which pieces of information are incorrect and thereby nip rumors in the bud.

Hidden Agendas. If you’ve got one, sooner or later you or it will be revealed. The fear that comes from hiding something makes you do everything wrong and sets into motion a series of actions that are very hard to recover from.

Remember the 55/38/7 Rule developed by Albert Mehrabian: 55% of communication is based on your physical demeanor, 38% is how you sound and only 7% is what you say.

Summary

The overriding principle upon which I guide my own business and our client campaigns is that all public relations efforts fall into the category of reputation “management.” Every relationship and communication impacts public perception. Strive for clarity, authenticity and consistency. If you lose your way anywhere along the line, go back to the basics.

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Mar 08

It takes an incredible amount of effort, dedication, and persistence to move your company from a general success to a thriving business. Most of that is in your control- you can work hard, pitch your company, and market yourself with the best tactics in the business. But what will really put your company over the edge and make it flourish? Exposure. The key is to get your company in front of as many investors as possible! Get big investors interested in you and the sky is the limit!

What Are Small Cap Stocks?

Small cap stocks are stocks of companies that have small capitalization; small in terms of market value, generally with market capitalization below $100 million.

What Will A Stock Promoter Do For Me?

Basically, stock promoters give you that ever-so-coveted, yet elusive exposure every business owner strives for. They will put your company out there in front of millions of investors. Making huge volume of potential investors aware of your company and what you do. With volume like that, your company can sell stock shares and raise its capital! In turn, you can use that capital to take your business to new heights and do things with your company that you otherwise couldn’t afford to do! The number of public companies is growing every day, and attracting the investors your company deserves can be difficult. A stock promoter can open your company up to investment opportunities and help you turn those investment dollars into working capital!

So, How Do They Do It?

Stock Promoters have a very specific, and proven successful method they use to promote your company.

1. They will use a Professional Research Report to showcase all of your key company aspects. This incredibly beneficial report is put in front of hundreds of thousands of subscribers!!

2. You also get unlimited company news releases that will be sent to those same subscribers. Allowing you to have unlimited and constant exposure.

3. The key is to not only get the investors’ attention, but to grab and hold it! You don’t want them to see your company and keep moving. You want to captivate them and impress them. A stock promoter will link your company’s investment opinions with other successful companies (large and small), giving your company almost instant exposure and volume.

What Should I Look For?

When seeking the right stock promoter for you, there are a few thing things that you should find out first. One promoter is not as good as the next. Do your homework.

o Find out how well they are doing for themselves. How many hits does their website get a day? If they are not successful, you will not be successful using them.

o Do they have a large volume of active subscribers? They can’t expose you to hundreds of thousands of investors if they don’t have hundreds of thousands of investors using their services to find companies such as yourself. Again, your success will be on par with their own.

o Social Networking is an increasingly valuable tool for any company owner. A nice feature you will benefit from is chat rooms, message forums, and blogs. These elements put you that much closer to your investor.

o Find out what kinds of success they have had with companies similar to your own.

Questions To Ask:

o How long did it take to increase their capital?

o How much added exposure were they able to achieve?

o How has that company changed since they started using their services?

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Mar 08

I. Define Public Relations

i. Definition development

When the terminology “public relations” is discussed, various images come to minds of different people. For example, public relations practitioners who never have professional training in colleges may think public relations is a marketing tactic. In some countries where the concept of public relations is not well developed, the works of public relations are even seen as party planners or tour guides.

For a public relations beginner, in my opinion, the ROPE process addressed by Jerry A. Hendrix is a helpful model, which indicates that the public relations process is a method for solving problems. It has four phases: research, objectives, programming, and evaluation.

In the research phase, the public relations process involves identifying and learning the backgrounds of organizations, what problems need to be solved, and the target groups to be reached. In the phase of objectives, public relations practitioners have to set the substantial outcomes to be achieved. There are two key elements involved: 1) Impact objectives are the influences that organizations want to exert with target groups. 2) Output objectives are the components that public relations programs apply strategically. The phase of programming consists of the program being executed to achieve objectives. A central theme and various forms of communication are included in public relations programs. Lastly, in the phase of evaluation, public relations practitioners have to refer back to the objectives that were set in the second phase and determine the effectiveness of public relations programs.

In the evaluation phase, Hendrix addressed an important concept of public relations: evaluation means an ongoing procedure to monitor and adjust public relations programs. The public relations process should be examined on a long-term basis. In order to understand the major publics important to organizations, public relations practitioners can not rely solely on the knowledge gathered in the research phase. Otherwise, the public relations program has to be executed to obtain mutual understanding. Afterwards, further problems or opportunities can be addressed.

In my opinion, the ROPE process can be seen as a basic context of public relations. It explains technically the procedure by which public relations practitioners offer the consulting service. However, in my opinion, the core value of public relations lies in some organic elements in the relationship itself. As I was reading the theories in “Public Relations As Relationship Management” by John A. Ledingham and Stephen D. Brunig, I was wondering why we had to define the concept of relationships. In my previous knowledge about public relations, it seemed to be a technical process conveying messages to target audiences and gathering information of specific industries for clients. Nevertheless, reviewing the literature on the concept of organizational effectiveness made it clearer to me how theoretical frameworks work in practical public relations area (L.A. Grunig et al., 1992). Public relations makes organizations more effective by building relationships with strategic publics. The identification of strategic publics has to be completed in the research phase to determine which publics are influential to the organization, and make segmentation based on demographics or psychographic indicators.

In the public relations process, it is difficult to achieve multi-objectives in a period of time. In my opinion, as the relationship is first initiated, the participants have to pursue a state of balance to maintain this relationship. According to the notion of control mutuality addressed by Stafford and Canary (1991), participants in the relationship have to come to an agreement about which of them should decide relational goals and behavioral routines. In all kinds of relationships, there are distribution and dynamics of power. According to the journal addressed by James E. Grunig and Yi-Hui Huang, power asymmetry exists in the following four circumstances. First, one party is completely powerless, and the absolute power of the other party may lead to great animosity in the relationship (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993, p. 150). Second, the power difference is only slight and neither party possesses an outweighing advantage. Third, the power asymmetry is reasonably large, and a trustful third party in favor of the weaker party is needed to provide a balance of power distribution. Fourth, power asymmetry originates from the situation in which one party possesses more information or experiences than the other party does.

For example, in the case study overviewed by Roter & Hall (1992), the survey was conducted to assess different attitudes of patients, physicians and providers towards patient-held health record (PHHR). The results of the study presented contrasting opinions between physicians and patients in the aspects of information exchange. Patients reacted very positively toward the idea of having their own portable medical records. Physicians concerned that records would be used by patients inappropriately. In the physician-patient relationship, it is usually the physician who dominates the progress of the relationship, and the patient needs to trust the physician to maintain a positive interaction with them. This relational model can be applied to the fourth circumstance of power asymmetry: Physicians possess more information and experiences that are key factors in the relationships with patients.

Sometimes, the participants in relationships seek power equity. However, power distribution is mostly unequal. Participants in relationships need to agree on who makes decisions and who dominates the situation. Otherwise, the quality of relationships may be eroded by struggles (Ross, 1970).

After the state of control mutuality has been achieved, some positive elements needed in a long-tern relationship such as trust, commitment, and liking can be attained. Reviewing public relations literature discussed previously, the element of trust is generally accepted and seen as critical both in interpersonal relationships and in organizational relationships (Canary & Cupach, 1988). Many scholars defined trust as a willingness to believe in partner’s integrity and reliability, and trust also works as the fundamental element that leads to relational satisfaction and commitment. In sum, control mutuality, trust, satisfaction and commitment are four focal characteristics in the quality of organization-public relationships. These four factors are also perceived to be interrelated (Stafford and Canary, 1991).

In conclusion, the concept of public relations can be seen as constructed by a technical ongoing process that includes the phases of research, objectives, programming and evaluation. Throughout the public relations process, practitioners should take some organic elements into consideration because successful public relations outcomes can’t be achieved only based on technical process. Public relations programs should be aimed at building relational trust, satisfaction and commitment both by agenda setting and by interpersonal communication.

ii. Roles of public relations practitioners

In the field of public relations, practitioners are always seeking cost-effective ways to reach target audiences and disseminate positive messages about the clients. In the face of various interests of all kinds of stakeholders, public relations practitioners have to be cautious about managing relationships with different audiences. Jerry A. Hendrix once stated that a public relations practitioner acts as a counselor to management, and as a mediator, helping to translate private aims into reasonable, publicly acceptable policy and action.

The roles played by public relations practitioners are varied depending on the relational circumstances between organizations and publics. This is the reason why some clients may view public relations agencies as problem solvers, especially when the awareness or reputation of the organization is weak.

There is one area in which public relations efforts are especially encouraged: media relations. It can be assumed that public relations practitioners and media professionals rely on each other and get benefits from each other. Sometimes, public relations practitioners offer some incentives for reporters and editors during campaigns. However, except for those additional incentives such as free trips or product samples, what an editor or a reporter really wants is a news-worthy story.

In the scenarios of internal communication, community relationships management, and relationships with special publics, the major task of practitioners is to communicate openly and honestly to build goodwill between organizations and publics. Public relations practitioners should provide consistent messages to diverse publics, obtaining not only awareness but continuing trust from them. The information produced in the public relations process needs not only to be persuasive, but also emotionally infective. Besides, another task for public relations practitioners will be convincing their clients to invest in a long-term relationship with publics, especially when clients have no idea how public relations functions and pay attention only to increasing visible financial outcomes.

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Mar 08

If you currently own a business, or plan to change the structure of your business, you need to research the many possibilities you may have. Should you stick with a sole proprietor status or form a New Limited Liability company? What Limited Liability options do you have? Hopefully, this article will give you a brief birds’ eye view of your available options.

A Limited Company, also known as a Limited Liability Company, LLC, or Ltd. can be a very worthwhile business formation. Limited Companies by nature protect their investors by you guessed it, limiting their liability. There are two types of limited liability companies. One is a Public Limited Company or PLC and the second more common formation is a Private Limited Company which is commonly known as a Limited Company.

A Private Limited Company is a relatively inexpensive formation that is not riddled with as many legal hurdles as its public counterpart or some other business formations. For example, Corporations are required to keep formal minutes, have meetings, and record resolutions. The LLC business structure requires no corporate minutes or resolutions and is easier to operate. A Limited Liability Company will also often benefit from significant tax advantages.

Public Limited Companies can be listed on the Stock Exchange or the Unlisted Securities Market. A Public Limited Company will get you the financial attention you desire, but will also require more legal support that will raise the legal overhead cost in addition to requiring a larger more organized foundation. For example, A PLC must have at least two directors and a secretary where a Private Limited Company only requires one of each. Either choice will gain you respect from potential investors as Limited Companies as a whole are usually more complex and/or organized than other more simple alternatives like sole proprietorships. Another advantage to limited companies is they inherently get the advantage of the business operating as its own entity which means it will not only live indefinitely but in most cases your personal assets will be much more protected in the event something were to go wrong.

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Mar 08

Public relations and marketing can go hand-in-hand. Without the knowledge and support of many people, a business might go nowhere. While there are many ways to market a company, some types of businesses really rely on public relations and the reactions they get from their potential customers. Building contractors fall into this category. They can advertise and market their services through various outlets such as social networking sites, video streaming sites, television commercials, newspaper ads, etc. but one of the most important outlets is through people themselves. When building contractors can appeal to their intended audience and prove to them that their satisfaction is looked for, they might be received much differently and maybe this would help increase the number of sales in general.

It is well known that word of mouth can either be a friend or an enemy of a business. It is no different for many building contractors. However, for them, many aspects of their company rely on public relations. Presenting themselves in the right way to their potential customers means a lot. Not only that, but if they can appeal to the customer through their interactions with them and through their work, then the word will get out.

Public relations, however, is not just a matter of “being nice to the customer”. It is an entire field that is designated to informing the people of a business through various means. It consists of presenting marketing strategies to people who will see the business as outstanding and worthy of advertisement. It means getting information out to those who have the resources available to campaign for the company. Sometimes it involves writing outstanding articles and submitting them to dozens of resources such as websites, newspapers, and magazines. Presenting the company as something worthwhile is something that even building contractors must be aware of.

Building contractors may need to put some time and effort into it, but when properly marketed, the results can be very well big. Public relations help to ensure that the company is presented in such as way as to appeal to the potential customers. Even if two different contractors can perform quality work for the same price, the one who is presented more to the people might be the one receiving phone calls for building projects. Building contractors who have no experience in the field can consult a public relations specialist in order to determine what the best method of market would be. Professional help can greatly improve the number of sales leads received through market on the internet along with other printed sources.

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