Public relations for entrepreneurs

Contrary to what my mom believes, public relations is not serving food at the neighborhood bar or working retail at the mall.

Public relations is managed communications between an organization and it's publics.

Let's break this down.

Managed: You control the message and format of the content released. The message is consistent with your business story and presents your business in a positive, proactive, authentic and truthful light.

Communications: There are numerous forms of communication, from press released, brochures, websites, advertising and sales letters to speeches, social media, events and everything in between. Anything that can be used to connect with someone else can be considered a form of communication.

Publics: Repeat after me- there is no such thing as the general public. You are not trying to reach the whole world. You're publics are those groups that you need to reach; those clusters of likeminded people who you are trying to influence. It could be potential clients, customers, media, elected officials, school teachers, union groups or any other target group. Your publics will be different from your markets, which will be different from your audiences in advertising.

To develop a public relations plan for your business, you first need to identify your publics, then determine what you want them to do and finally decide which communication vehicles are the most appropriate to deliver that message. For example,

Public: elected officials
Objective: Vote in support of legislation that protects clean air in Tennessee
Communication: federal report on the dangers of dirty air; face-to-face meeting to discuss current legislation; letter from three well-respected scientist that backs up our stance; organized phone-in day where dozens of people call their legislators to ask for their support.

This is a very simple beginnings of a public relations plan. I challenge you to take your top two or three publics and create a plan of strategic communications for each group. You'll be amazed at the results.