What is Public Relations, Anyway?

Why Do You Need Public Relations, or PR?

Many people think “PR” means press release, but it is much more than that. It relates to everything that goes on with public relations. This includes all of the communications you have with all of your internal and external customers.

PR relates to sending the right message out at the right time via the right media venues. It also provides third-party credibility you can’t obtain in any other way. Specifically, when your targeted audience members see your business in a media story, you get instant awareness and word-of-mouth. Someone else is talking about your products and services, events, team members, and more so it provides more credibility than an advertising placement.

Public Relations can catapult your business to the next level of success and has many benefits:

1. PR only costs time and effort.

When a story about your business appears on television, radio, the Web, and more, you get free advertising. All you need to do is create a unique story angle a specific media member will care about, pitch your idea, and the rest can be magic!

2. PR gives you a competitive edge.

Let’s say potential customers see a positive story about your business on their local television news. Will they be more likely to check out your business first before they go to the competition? You bet!

3. PR provides online awareness.

When a media venue posts a story about your business online, it will appear in the search engines and maybe even give you top rankings for a short period. Then, people searching for news about your type of products and services will be more likely to find you. Plus, this link will stay on the Web forever… constantly providing a news clip about your business!

These are just a few of the benefits that public relations can offer. If you want to grow your business, it can be an essential tool to reach a large audience quickly and jumpstart sales.

In addition, you can use these media clippings in your marketing, sales and promotional materials to bring in new customers, top-notch new hires and much more!

Author Melanie Rembrandt is a published author, speaker and PR content management expert who helps entrepreneurs boost sales, awareness and credibility fast with a unique combination of targeted, SEO content-marketing strategy and public relations at www.rembrandtwrites.com. Check out her Small Business PR Academy at www.smallbusinesspracademy.com.