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Managing Your Time in Public Relations

You consider yourself a professional, but often, assignments stack up faster than the daily newspaper and you’re unsure of what to tackle first.

These tips will help:

  • Last minute projects will come across your desk when you are going full-force. Putting aside what you are working on to fulfill the new last minute project will tell your boss that you are flexible and can multitask.
  • Get projects in on time. This should go without saying, but using an excuse like, “I just didn’t have time” probably isn’t go to fly with a boss who is in charge of the entire chi bang.
  • Focus more on the projects at hand and less about your friendships or stomach. This also goes without saying, but the time you spend taking calls (not all for business) getting drinks at the water cooler or treats from the vending machine, add up.
  • Keep business phone calls as short as possible. I remember a gentleman calling for a meeting. When everyone entered the room there was no chairs to sit on. The meeting lasted 15 minutes. See yourself standing up if you have to.
  • Don’t let fear keep you from doing a project or speaking to a journalist or other media personality. Your heart is probably still going to beat wildly, but you must learn to get up and get going despite your fear.
  • Do projects in the order that they are due. A calendar is a good way to keep track. Plan ahead by listing your projects, what days you will be working on them, and what day they are due. It’s even a good idea to get your project to your boss or manager BEFORE the due date. It makes their job that much easier.

Managing your time is rarely easy; rather it is an opportunity to stretch yourself and your abilities as you factor in the element of time.

Filed Under: Public Relations Tagged With: ,

Customer Relation Ideas for Clients and Prospective Clients

You have an old client; one that has stuck with you through thick and thin. A new client who has just begun to see the value you have to offer, and there are others who don’t know about you yet but may just be interested if you approached them in the right way.

So how?

These ideas will help:

  • Send a holiday card. Write on the card personally, including how important the client is to your business and why, don’t just sign your signature.
  • Make sure you send a thank you note after the conclusion of your work together. This note should be hand written and mailed snail-mail.
  • Invite an individual client to dinner. Pay for the event. Get to know the client outside their realm of business.
  • When getting to know someone new, shake hands firmly, look the prospective client in the eyes, and smile. A smile does wonders for a first connection and further work together.
  • Make sure you have a business card at your fingertips. Leave it with the prospective client.
  • Return phone calls by new as well as established clients as soon as possible. Return emails with the same speed. If you have to, make sure you return calls and email messages at the first of every day.
  • Be willing to fix a problem when you see it, don’t let it drag on. Take responsibility for your actions. If the problem began with you, be big enough to admit it. If the problem was initiated by the client, don’t point fingers but let them know of the problem you see and ask for ideas on how you might solve it together.

Customer relations with clients and prospective clients not only keeps you and your co-workers happy but allows your client to see you in a positive light; a light that can’t help but figure into your future business together.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: ,

Inexpensive Public Relations Tips for Your new Business

Have a new business and want to get the word out? What are the best and most effective tips to get your business known? What can you do that won’t cost you an arm and a leg?

These ideas will help.

  • Purchase business cards and keep a few with you. Don’t try to create the card on your own. It shows. Unless you have a knack for computer graphics it’s better to farm out this work. Vistaprint.com charges you for shipping (no cost for the cards) if you purchase at the right time; sign up for their emails to get the best deals.
  • Buy some postcards. Share with others what your new business does. You can also mail them out when you have a sale or open house.
  • Have an open house. Include blanks on the entry forms for address and phone number. Have a booth that explains your new business, some food (cake and punch is fairly inexpensive) and make sure there is something fun for families to do. Face painting is always a hit as are those air-filled play lands for kids.
  • Personally visit businesses that are within walking distance. Introduce yourself. Leave a small gift with your business card attached. If you’re opening up a new bakery, for example, leave a few samples.
  • Fliers are a good way to share your business as long as you don’t leave them on cars. Be professional. Talk about what you do and what those who come to your business will gain from the experience. Add a coupon. Keep them handy near the front of your store or when you put together an event such as an open house.

When it comes to public relations, spending a mint does not always equal the same results. Very few new businesses can afford television or even radio ads, but they can afford to make friends with the community—a sure fire way to bring new customers in.

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Using Social Marketing for Public Relations

Public relations are very important for a business. If you don’t have good PR, you might end up really alienating your customers or stopping potential customers from even giving you a chance. You also have to consider that it’s important to make sure customers know you’re there. Too many businesses fail because they just don’t market themselves the way that they should. It’s unfortunate, and it’s something that could completely be avoided by businesspeople who are paying close attention and who are interested in succeeding. If you’re taking your business seriously, one of the things you can do with PR is get a social media presence.

Whether you use Facebook, Twitter, or something else – or a combination of many different sites – you can easily find that you can create a strong presence with the right words. People should be able to find you, so you should be searchable. The words and phrases that people would type into a search engine to find what you’re selling are the words and phrases that you want to have on your social marketing pages. That way, you’ll be a lot more likely to get found.

You also want to post things often. If you wait too long between posting, you’re not going to attract as many people to your social media presence. Conversely, though, you don’t want to post something every few minutes, because that gets annoying and can cause you to lose followers. A few times a day – or even a few times a week – will keep you in the forefront of people’s minds and help ensure that you’re getting your name and other information out there. Be sure to offer more than just information about how to buy what you’re selling. Be helpful to others, and you’ll gain respect as an expert in your field.

Filed Under: Business, Financing, Public Relations Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Can You Start Up a Business for Free?

Whether you can start up a business for free depends on your definition of ‘free.’ For example, you could start a business with only a Facebook page or a free blog, but what about the money you pay for the Internet access and your computer? Do you count that money? If you would have those things anyway, you could avoid counting them and saying that your business was ‘free’ to start up. A lot of writers, artists, and photographers start their businesses that way, because they don’t want to spend a lot of money (and don’t need to) in order to get customers.

If you’re starting up a business where there are goods involved, you probably can’t do that for free. You’ll need the goods that you’re going to be selling, so you’ll have some investment there. There are drop-shipping options where you don’t actually touch the goods, too, and those could be considered if you really wanted to start up a business for free. There are many options, but you’ll want to explore them carefully. That way you’ll be sure to make the right choice for you, whether you spend money or simply start up a blog or social media page to market a service that you’re going to be offering.

Consider your business plan carefully, and take a look at the ways you may be able to get your business off the ground. If you do that, you’ll have a better idea as to whether you can start your business for free or nearly free, or whether you’ll have to invest some money – and maybe even get financing – in order to get going. It’s good to have options, and some of them will work better than others depending on the type of business you have, so consider carefully.

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Getting to Know Your Customers Can Pay Off

When you start talking to your customers, you might find that you have a lot in common with some of them. Others won’t have as much in common with you, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can learn from people who aren’t similar to you, because they have different – and often interesting – ideas, goals, plans, and beliefs. By keeping an open mind, you draw people to you. If you have a business, these people who you draw in may be more likely to buy from you because they won’t feel as though you don’t like them or they can’t relate to you.

No one likes to feel as though he or she is being judged, although some people are more sensitive to that kind of thing than others are. If you want to keep customers coming back, get to know them, express interest in their lives, and don’t judge what they say or do. Of course you’ll have an opinion on it, but if it’s not affecting you it doesn’t really matter. By keeping that attitude, you’ll be more likely to let people know that they can talk to you and be around you without fear of being mistreated or not accepted.

While there are plenty of people who just want to buy their goods and get out, there are many who want to get to know others a little bit. If they can make ‘friends’ with the shopkeepers and others in their town, they won’t feel as alone and they’ll have more to look forward to. They may even go to your store over other stores, or spend more time in your store (and, usually, more money) because they feel happy there. Don’t underestimate how the average consumer feels, and how much he or she might value a kind word.

Filed Under: Business, Financing, Public Relations Tagged With: , ,

Take Your Business Financing Seriously

When you have a business, or when you’re trying to get one started, it’s important that you’re serious about it. Too many people want to start up their own businesses and be their own bosses – but only if they don’t have to do much work. In other words, they want to treat their businesses more like a hobby, but they want to get paid like a top executive. While this isn’t impossible for a few lucky people, it’s pretty unrealistic for most individuals who want to run a business. Don’t assume that you can barely work part-time and make a lot of money.

You’ll need to actually work, and you’ll need to have a good business plan so you can get financing for your business. With the possible exception of some sole proprietor businesses that are service related (writers, artists, etc.), it’s highly likely that you’ll have to finance your business so you can get it off the ground and make some money in the process. If you’re not sure about a business plan, you need to come up with a strategy for your business and research how to put together a business plan properly. You can also pay someone to do this for you.

Once you get financed, you have to take what you’re doing seriously. If you don’t, you may end up making very little money and having trouble making your payments. That could result in credit problems and financial difficulties that will end up bankrupting your business. Naturally, you don’t want that to happen. The good news is that it can be avoided by running your business like a business and not a hobby. If a bank or other lender thinks your business plan is good enough to give you financing, you don’t want to disappoint that lender and yourself by performing poorly.

Filed Under: Business, Financing, Public Relations Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Why Public Relations Are So Important to Business

If your business isn’t doing as well as you’d hoped it would, maybe that’s because you have problems with your public relations (PR). If you do, it can really hurt your bottom line. You want customers and potential customers to have a good impression of you and like what you’re offering them. If they don’t, it’s not hurting them any – it’s only hurting you and your business. Some businesses hire public relations professionals to help them succeed. Others choose not to do this, and they want to do things on their own. You can do things either way, as long as you have a good game plan.

Don’t assume that you have to hire someone, but do realize that you’ll need to put in the time and effort. If you don’t, you aren’t going to see your business growing. You’ll just see the same level you’re at now, and your business could even decline if the economic times get worse. You can avoid that by working on your PR. You can send out press releases, offer valuable things to your customers, and help them understand that you care about what they have to say and what they think when it comes to your business.

Whether you choose to pay someone to do that or you decide that you’d rather handle it yourself, just make sure that it gets done. Then you won’t have to worry about not performing well because customers don’t know about you or they don’t like the messages that they’re getting about your company. The better and stronger image you can keep out in the world for people to see, the higher chance you’ll have of ensuring that customers come to your business and keep returning later on. It’s a great way to build a stronger, more stable business.

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Buying Software for Customer Relationship Management

If you really want to manage your customer relationships effectively – and especially if you have a lot of customers – there is software you can get to help you. It will allow you to store a lot of information, so you can have it at your fingertips. No one wants to have to give their life history every time they call a business, so having their information stored makes things a lot faster. Some people don’t like to provide a lot of information, but there are others who don’t mind it. They understand that they’re getting value for the information they provide, and they want the convenience.

In short, the software you buy should be the right choice for you, not for anyone else. If you’re not sure what to get or which option is best for you, take the time to do some research. Talk to people who use the software you’re considering, and find out what they like and don’t like about it. See how much it cost them, and whether they use all the features. If you can compare your business to the other business, you’ll have a better idea of whether you’d use all the services of the software and whether it’s worth the price.

What kind of information you collect from your customers, how you store, protect, and maintain it, and what you do with it all matter when it comes to buying software that’s designed for customer relationship management. You don’t want to get something that’s overpriced and that you’ll never use, but you don’t want to buy the cheapest thing in existence and find that it doesn’t work for you. Both of those things are bad choices, and they can get you into trouble. Take a look at the actual value your business will be getting from the software you’re buying.

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Keeping Good Relationships With Your Customers

Any business knows that it must rely on its customers to keep things moving along. If it wants to keep growing, it has to keep people coming through the doors and buying the goods and/or services that it has to offer. For some businesses, making money seems almost effortless. For other businesses, it’s much more difficult to keep people interested in making purchases. Don’t assume that you can’t do it, though, no matter what kind of business you have. The main thing that you have to address is ensuring that the relationships you have with your customers are good ones.

There are many ways to do that, but listening to what your customers have to say can be one of the best. They know what they need, want, and expect from your business, and they’ll generally not be shy about telling you. You should also ask, through surveys, comment cards, and other means, so you can be sure you know what your customers want to see from you. Once you know what they’re looking for, you can stop and consider whether you can implement those suggestions and desires. If you can, you should. Of course, there will be some things that you just can’t get involved with, and that’s perfectly understandable.

If you work toward helping your customers by showing them that they matter, they’ll develop a loyalty to you. That can mean that they come back more often, spend more money, and bring others with them. All of those things are good, and they’re all desirable when you’re trying to increase your bottom line. Your business has the opportunity to be really great, as long as you see the value in your customers. When you value them and it shows, they will generally return the favor, helping your business prosper.

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