Jan
01
Half Of Everything You Need To Know About Home Business PR
Public Relations is arguably the funnest part of marketing. (Yes, I just said “funnest”. It’s my blog. I can say what I want. Besides, people pay me good money to write stuff. I’m a professional, dammit. I don’t have to prove anything to you.)
Why is it fun? I thought you’d never ask. There are two key elements of public relations.
One: It’s public.
I am about to have very sexy business cards. I’m telling you, people, they’re going to kick ass. Are you going to see them? Unless you live in the backwoods of Ontario, probably not. (OK, that’s not totally true. I’ll post them on the blog. But you know what I mean.) So many of your marketing efforts will be completely unnoticed by the world at large. Such a small percentage of anybody, let alone your target market, is going to see your stuff. You bust your ass and the people don’t even know about it. But with PR, the whole world could see it. Cause it’s, like, public. Get it?
Two: It’s about relations.
You can write the best damn ad copy in the world, but nobody’s going to call you for an interview. (Unless you’re David Ogilvy, who is dead, or you did the 1984 Apple Superbowl ad, which you didn’t.) Other than that, nobody gives a shit.
With PR, though, people want to hear your home business story. They want to hear what you have to say. They’re going to ask you provocative questions and if you answer them well, they will say very nice things about you and treat you like the rockstar you are. (Side note: Why does spell check pick up “Superbowl” and “rockstar”? Does my computer live under a damn rock? “Funnest” I can understand, but seriously.)
What is the difference between PR and marketing?
The short and arguable answer is that with your marketing efforts, you’re trying to actively sell something. With PR, you’re enhancing or increasing your relationship with the public. (And who said there was no truth in advertising?) This generally will result in stuff getting sold, but it’s not direct. There’s no sales funnel, no hard sell, no cold calling, no sexy brochures. You get your information out to the public via the media in some way. There are other kinds of PR — like the kind the Britney Spears needs — but you don’t really need to know about them right now. Unless maybe you do. If that’s the case, you’re reading the wrong blog, honey.
Why PR kicks small business marketing ass
Well, because you’re broke, for one. In the online world, PR is generally free. In the offline world, it’s cheap as chips. You may need to hook up your interviewer with some swag or a yummy press release (also called a PR, just to make things confusing) but other than that, you’re not spending any money you weren’t going to spend anyway.
Two, and most importantly, people still view media outlets as experts. In a world with Fox News in it, I don’t know why they do this, but they do. If you say you’re cool, no-one listens. If the newspaper or the TV or even somebody’s blog says you’re cool, the world sits up and takes notice. People are inherently lazy and they don’t want to do their own research. Remember Virginia and Santa Claus? “If you read it in The Sun, it’s so”? Yeah, people still think that way and you’re an idiot if you don’t leverage this tasty tidbit of information in your plans for world domination.
Tell me more, Naomi! Give me a real-life example!
If you’ve been paying attention, we’ve been talking about Erin from Durtbagz. If you haven’t been paying attention, Erin makes cool bags and she sells them. That’s all you really need to know at this point. What can Erin do for her PR?
Giving things to the destitute and then alerting the media is a good way to get press. Our favorite bag lady could take the least offensive of her bags and give them to people re-entering school. People who just had an ill-timed pregnancy or are getting out of rehab aren’t exactly flush. Not that I’d know. She could do this by way of her local shelter and call the local paper. The media angle? Erin is a hero.
If she’s not in the mood to hand out swag, she could go to one of these places where the flotsam and jetsam of society congregate and give a talk on how to run your own business at a young age and with no money. The media angle? Erin wants young people to succeed.
If she thinks the poor and disadvantaged are riff raff and doesn’t want to be associated with them, she could just write a press release about something remotely interesting about her situation and submit it to the local press, the press that cares about young entrepreneurs, the press that cares about bootstrappers, the press that cares about women entrepreneurs, etc. Some of them are bound to pick up the story. The media angle? Erin is a motivational success story. Or a horrible warning. Whatever. It’s press.
Soon (probably in a couple of hours since I’m really behind on posts) I’ll do something on how to do your own PR.
This is where I’d normally say something witty to make you subscribe to IttyBiz. Honestly, though, right now I’ve got nothing. Feel free to come back later. Or just subscribe. Whatever.
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Maybe I’m getting ahead of you, but it seems to me that most people think of blogs as a marketing tool when they should be thinking of them as public relations tools. Not that I like the word tools, either, but you know what I mean. Vehicle, maybe. Nobody likes to be marketed to, but they like to be in a mutually beneficial relationship.
Hi Michael – I think you’re right. While blogs can be both, most should probably focus on PR. I like the phrase “mutually beneficial relationship.” Reminds me of when my son, then 6, told Jamie that he would now start helping with dishes as it gave them a “symbiotic relationship.” When asked if he knew what that meant, he replied, “Uh, YEAH. I saw it on Discovery.”
Not that what I just said has anything to do with anything. Thanks for coming and leaving a more intelligent comment than mine.
you’re back! as am I! (back to living, for me. Maybe the same for you)
I really just wanted to say YAY.
Welcome back, Naomi! A blog is a mutually beneficial relationship for sure. That’s pretty much how James and I approached ours from the start. The blog gave us the opportunity to give our business a little more depth and personality than a web page alone.
I think PR is all about your image and how people perceive you. It’s how you talk to others, how you come off to the public. Cool, casual, innovative… It’s what makes people say, “Wow, James is great!”
Marketing is all about how James goes out and encourages people to work with him because he is great ;)
“Two, and most importantly, people still view media outlets as experts.”
Isn’t it odd? I read some study a few months ago that said people trust bloggers before they trust “traditional media” so maybe that trend is changing. Still, many bloggers are grateful to get places seeking PR because it gives them fresh content to put a spin on.
Except for someone like me, who is an awful, terrible blogger and hasn’t updated since mid-December. I’ll obviously take any help I can get on content when I’m THAT FAR behind.
it’s like you’re spying on me.
1. i have a friend in social services working on how i can donate some bagz to foster kids. i am a hero.
2. in the coming month or so, i’m going to young entrepreneurs networking meeting where i’ll be there to talk about my experience in launching this business with other young-go-getters.
and i completely agree that if you want to get attention, you need to be helpful. we’re starting a campaign this month on ‘how to look cool…(insert situation here)”. helpful/funny tips on how to look cool while doing everyday or completely random things. (how to look cool while driving a car: 1. stop picking your nose at the stoplight. windows work two ways, homeslice.).
and it is ridiculous how much the media is believed. it’s rather scary, actually. here’s a question: since we’re strictly online, does it make more sense to go for being published by online media vs. print?
<>
waiting with bated breath…
(Sure, I had to google the phrase but darned if isn’t appropriate)
DOH!
That last comment was in reference to promise to show us your very sexy business cards that are going to kick ass.
CSO – Sadly, no business cards will ever be as sexy as yours. Ever. EVER. They may be other things, but yours have sexy taken.
Naomi
Pls, I read your site from top to bottom last night. I need to know two things.
Probably five actually, but let’s start with two.
1) There was a link to a site run by two guys looking to make a million bucks this year in one of your articles. Where has it gone??? My history cleared in last night’s power cut and I am bereft. I need a link to them for an article I am composing. Shaun and someone??? Paul? I can’t spend another night on Google etc looking for a blog I can’t recall….help! You announced you had just scored $14k worth of contracts on it
2) Bugger, what was 2? A few minutes ago, I had at least five things to ask you…..
3) Ah yes, I remember 3. If I reply to _any_ post in your blog, even if written a zillion years ago, do you get notified that there has been another response? In other words, will you get this comment?
4) I am a single mum with twins. Girls. Ouch. 14, double ouch. Do you think we are setting ourselves up as good role models doing this freelance, wake up late stuff? Cos it’s like 2am here and I’m on full burn again, doing a small campaign for a little biz (<5 employees) and errr, girls…… breakfast is in the fridge, or bread bin, or shop. I’ve done it since my kids were 2. I think I was just trying to escape then, but now it has become a well-engrained habit. We earn enough number of £s in the years I don’t decide to take up homebrew, gardening, restoring cars, driving in rallies etc to live. So, we are skint in reality because life is for living, but…….;)
Oh yes, I’ve remembered 5). Why are there so few of us who do Web PR, SEO, marketing campaigns for less than the price of ONE crap advert in a well-known magazine?
Well done on your site, it cheered me up no end last night finding it. Been offline for 6 months, feel like I have at least a couple of fingers back in the pie now! Ta mucho
Lins
I lied. It was 5 after all. Nearly.
@ Lins –
1. ShaneandPeter.com
2. Sorry, dude. I have the same problem.
3. Yes, she will.
4. A good example for your kids is showing them that Mom and Dad do what it takes to ensure they have a good life. If that means working at 2am, then it does. If that means cutting back to retain sanity, then it does.
5. Because it’s worth a lot more than less than the price of one crap advert and many people know this. So they act on it.
For God’s sake, James. I wrote my answer to Lins in an email and now you’ve gone and answered it in public and now I look like an ass. :-) Good answers, though.
She gets twice the attention. She’ll be thrilled :)
You’re both right. I am. Chuffed, we say here! All questions answered in one, sorry, two hit(s), except 2, which I still can’t remember.
I’ll be here when you need the answer. Apparently, so will James. :-) (Since you’re new, I’ll let you know that James and I frequently talk shit to eachother in the comments sections of blogs — his, mine, and other poor, unsuspecting suckers’. It’s not personal. I actually like him very much, although I would never say that to his face.)
Errr, Naomi, I can only answer no. Sorry. No barter. Unless….no. Thinking about it, no. Not even for….no. Can’t do it.
As you can probably imagine, I didn’t plan for two. And I certainly wouldn’t swap one of them now. They are due to leave home in a year and half (oh yes, you are!). How old is yours?! No way, amiga, not starting again!
I’m nearly home and dry now… gimme a life…..where I don’t get pre-pubescents telling me how to live, from the depths and wealth of their inexperience.
No swap, sorry!!
Out of interest, it is 3am exactly here. What time is it with you? Just so I can put you on my world clock of people to contact when I can’t sleep! It’s OK, I have quite a long list…..
To James…. I just tried to sign up for your email n/l on the link from your sig, and got a 404….I know you are moving but, can you add me somehow? If I didn’t like you already, and knew where to find you, you just lost a potential peep. That would be sad :O(
Oh, come on. They’re cute! And one of them’s certified “gifted”, whatever the hell that means. Please?
And I’m in EST, which means I’m 5 hours behind you.
So is one of mine. I assure you, it means nothing when puberty starts.
@ Lins – Thanks for noticing that. We had our theme destroyed by strange circumstances day before yesterday and slapped that blue one up temporarily while we figure out how a theme can be destroyed while we’re both away from the computer. We didn’t know that the email opt-in doesn’t work.
Harry’s the coder between us, so I’ll have him fix that today and get in touch with you. We’re moving Monday, by the way.
Could someone tell me what a peep is? I’ve seen that word 5 times in one week (three alone at Shane and Peter’s blog), and I have no idea what it is. I feel stupidly French – not a good thing.
@ Naomi – I laughed out loud at that one. Too funny :)
@ Lins – The email opt-in works now. I’m not sure if it’s worth you signing up at JCME, though… we’re moving to our new domain on Monday. Stay tuned!
A peep is the singular of people. Therefore “peeps” would be the plural form of “peep” and thus a synonym for people. Generally it is used in a positive sense – when referring to your “peeps” you’re referring to friends.
The terms “Super Bowl” and “rock star” contain two words each. That’s why.