Do You Appear Credible?
You open your favorite newspaper, and there is a big story about your competition. The feature article includes positive testimonials from community members, a full history of the company’s experience and contact information to obtain more information.
Guess who potential customers are going to call? Hint – Not you! Ugh!
Don’t Let This Happen!
Instead of experiencing this negative surprise, be proactive and use the power of public relations, or PR, to your advantage. Why? Public relations refers to all the communications you have with your internal and external audiences. It’s about sending the right message to the right people at the right time, so that…
When reporters, producers, publishers, and other influential media members share your information, you get third-party credibility you can’t get any other way.
This is not paid advertising. Instead, someone else is talking about you, and it has credibility because you didn’t pay for it. In fact, one article like the one mentioned above can catapult brand awareness and authority (in front of your target market) within seconds. And the best part? It only costs you time and effort.
That’s why PR is your secret weapon when it comes to cultivating credibility and authority.
How PR works…
If you want to take advantage of PR, there are several initial starting steps you can take:
• Research media members who cater to your target market;
• Develop a story idea, introduction, or pitch that relates specifically to each (yes, I said “each”) media member’s audience;
• Practice your pitch and contact each media member;
• Conduct appropriate and regular follow-up;
• Provide a sound bite, photos, videos, insights, and more at a moment’s notice; and
• Review activities and make changes to improve results.
Rinse. Repeat.
Yes, this takes A LOT of effort. That’s why most business owners outsource their PR to an expert. Sure. You can just send out a boring press release to hundreds of media members at one time or hire an inexpensive administrative assistant to help you. But your phone won’t ring.
You get what you pay for. This is because PR is about targeted communications and actually having “relations” with your “public.” It’s about creating just the right message for just the right person at just the right time. Without doing the work necessary, you just waste resources – and you may even make a BAD, irreversible impression with the media that lives online forever!
PR can help you cultivate credibility and authority fast.
It just needs to be done correctly for the best results. The good news is that your competition is probably not using public relations right now. So, the question is, will you take advantage of this secret weapon before they do?
Author Melanie Rembrandt is an award-winning publicist, content strategist and speaker who helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs have more time to thrive! If you want to boost sales, awareness and credibility fast with a unique combination of direct response public relations, targeted copywriting, and ghostwriting, get more information at Rembrandt Communications®, https://www.rembrandtwrites.com.
