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Posts Tagged ‘PR’
Saturday, June 18th, 2011
2K Games hired a PR firm to seek out reviews of its new game Duke Nukem Forever. The reviews weren’t so good so the PR firm representative tweeted his frustration. He lost his job too.
James Redner isn’t the first person ever to be disappointed with a negative review. He won’t be the last. And he wasn’t the first to challenge reviewers publicly over them, nor will he be the last. But what he did was inappropriate for a PR firm.
That aside, however, are bad reviews good? Can they be? My contention is that, yes, bad reviews can often be good. Maybe even most of the time.
The purpose of seeking reviews is to get your product or service in front of consumers. It’s free publicity. That said, even if you get a bad review of your product or service, you’ve still achieved the goal. People know about your offering. And some people will buy your product or service just to see if they agree with the reviewer.
What Should You Do If You Get A Bad Review?
If you do get a bad review, try to learn from it. What didn’t the reviewer like, and why? When you make your next product, try to keep those things in mind and build off of your previous successes.
Of course, reviewers can be wrong. There have been plenty of successful products, movies, books, etc. that reviewers hated yet the consumer public really loved. So don’t just rely on professional reviewer opinions.
Bad reviews are going to happen. Don’t sweat them. If you feel you must challenge them publicly, be respectful and explain why you think the reviewer is wrong. Offer a public discussion and not an angry tirade. You may even get the reviewer to change his or her opinion.
Tags: bad reviews, good reviews, PR, reviews
Posted in PR for Small Business | 3 Comments »
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Small business PR doesn’t have to be expensive. Many small business entrepreneurs never take advantage of the opportunities they have to expand their network and marketing opportunities through public relations either because they are under the false impression that their small budget cuts them out of the same benefits that the big companies get or they just don’t have the time to think about it. Let’s put in a nip in the bud of both of these false impressions right now.
First, good PR does not have to be expensive. You are not IBM or Burger King. Focus on the things that you do best and let a PR professional show you some easy, inexpensive ways you can get good PR.
For starters, you can include a media section on your own website (you do have a website, don’t you?). We call it a media kit.
An online media kit is an easy way to invite members of the press to find out more about you. You can include your bio and any positive news stories about your company in your online media kit. If you local media find it easy to contact you then you’ll get more calls from them, more interviews, and more free press exposure.
As far as time goes, if you just take 15 minutes a day to think of ways that you can increase your public relations exposure and devote 1 hour per week for implementation then you can have a solid PR strategy going within just a couple of months. Don’t let lack of time and a small budget hold you back from taking advantage of the benefits that other, bigger companies are getting. You deserve them too.
Tags: media kit, PR, public relations, small business
Posted in PR for Small Business | No Comments »
Saturday, September 5th, 2009
When it comes to public relations, should you do it yourself or hire a PR firm?
Many small business owners make the mistake of trying to do it themselves. It’s not that they aren’t smart people. And it isn’t that they couldn’t handle the work. The real issue for most small business people is that they can’t see their own businesses objectively. It takes a trained eye to be able to step back and ask the hard questions.
One of the requirements of a public relations agency is that they have a good slate of relationships already built. Many PR firms are successful at getting the results they want based on those relationships. Do you have established media relationships from which to draw to gain the leverage you need to drum up publicity? If not then you should hire a professional.
PR firms do a lot of behind the scenes type of work that a small business owner can’t do for herself, or that she may not know she should do. There’s more to effective public relations that just writing a press release. And if you don’t have experience at running a successful public relations campaign from the ground up, perhaps you should hang up the hat and hire a firm after all.
Tags: PR, PR firm, public relations, public relations agency
Posted in PR for Small Business | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 26th, 2009
When you think of PR or press releases, chances are you`re thinking about sending them off to a newspaper editor or perhaps a news site. While this is what most people use press releases for, they actually have a dual purpose.
A little known secret is that press releases can create a major SEO boost for your business. Even without being too full of keywords, a press release is so information packed that it really catches the attention of both human news readers and the search engines. When you start submitting your news to various sites around the internet, you will end up with plenty of backlinks, not to mention your company name will be quite noticeable around the net.
Don`t think of press releases as simply a way to get your news picked up by major reporters and magazines, they are much more than that. Even just putting them out on a site like PRWeb can garner quite a bit of attention!
Press releases are highly underestimated . . . stop thinking of them as being a minor part of your small business strategy and start getting them out there.
Tags: PR, press releases, small business
Posted in PR for Small Business | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
PR is essential to any business, but most small businesses focus on just one or two areas of publicity. While focus is sometimes the way to go, it isn`t always going to be beneficial. If you are only going to send out press releases, for example, then you are going to miss out on a huge part of a potential audience.
Having a multi-pronged approach to PR for your small business is the best way to ensure that you are reaching a wider market. Potential clients might not be reading the websites where your press releases go up. So, you`ll want to have a few other options:
- Press releases
- Blogs
- Contests/giveaways
- Coupons
- Fliers
- Banner ads
- Article marketing
What else can you come up with? It`s not necessary to do all of these for PR, of course, but an ad on one website, plus a giveaway and article marketing, combined with press releases, will let you reach a good number of potential clients.
Tags: marketing, PR, small business
Posted in PR for Small Business | No Comments »
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
You can do a lot of the PR for your small business on your own. Often it`s fairly easy to get some extra publicity for your company, whether you want to hire ghostwriter to do your press releases or write them yourself.
There are many ways to publicize your business, but when you are successful, you`ll need to move on to other things and let a pro handle the PR. There simply isn`t enough time in a day for a business owner to do everything on their own, so outsourcing things like PR is a very smart move, allowing you to focus on the more important parts of running the business.
When should you start outsourcing PR? In my opinion, as soon as you can afford it. You`ll end up with far more publicity if someone is dedicated to this task only and will have more experience in it. They can maintain a constant presence while you are working on other things and this can only benefit your business.
PR is a very important part of ensuring that your small business continues, but it`s also something that can take up a lot of time if you don`t outsource. Having someone else take care of it will free you up.
Tags: business, PR, small business
Posted in PR for Small Business | No Comments »
Monday, December 8th, 2008
Every business has some publicity, but are you really pushing it as far as you can? The more you get your brand in front of people, the more likely they are to notice you. What you might not realize, though, is that just focusing on a couple of specific methods of publicity may not be the best option.
Even if you are on a tight budget, there is more to PR than simply putting up ads. In fact, the most responsive methods of marketing tend to be those that don`t come directly from your company. That`s why it can be very handy to spread yourself out a bit.
Networking sites online allow you to present the face behind your brand and people tend to be more willing to buy from someone they know, even if only virtually. However, participating in forums and online communities can only boost your recognition and business if you go about it the right way. Stay away from direct advertising, since this is something that tends to turn people off.
Press releases are another great way to increase publicity. This method of PR is used widely by large and small companies alike with great results.
By spreading out your PR efforts a little, you will find that more people will hear about you and they will also tend to notice that your business is appearing everywhere. Watch your business go up with the right PR.
Tags: marketing, PR, press releases
Posted in PR for Small Business | 1 Comment »
Saturday, October 11th, 2008
There are many different PR techniques that can be applied to promote your business, but all of them have a few standards in common. Whether you are using business cards, flyers, websites or radio ads, there are some things you need to keep in mind.
- Be consistent. This is so important, yet many small businesses neglect it. Do your website, business cards and catalogs look like they all belong to the same company? If not, it`s time to rethink what you`re doing with your branding.
- Represent your brand. What do you want people thinking about when they hear your name? All your PR materials should reflect and promote this.
- Get out there. Are you guilty of only handing out the occasional business card and doing some minor linkbuilding? That`s not good enough! Make sure you are constantly promoting your business and you`ll see it going somewhere.
PR is vital for the growth of small businesses. You can`t just wait for the customers to come to you, make sure that you proactively go after them with top quality PR.
Tags: information, PR, small business
Posted in PR for Small Business | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
For any business owner who wants to be successful with their PR, it´s necessary to build a relationship with the media. This really can boost your chances of getting some free PR and with internet, it´s quite easy.
Online networking is fairly easy and you basically just need to dedicate the time to it more than anything. Leaving comments on news blogs is a great way to get started on building a media relationship. But it isn´t the only method.
- Writing an email to ask a question or let the writer/editor know what a great job they´re doing.
- Linking to the news blog or site. This may not always work, but it could be a great way to get noticed.
- Writing quality press releases that are targeted to their market.
Successful PR is far more likely if you make the effort to become friends with those involved in media. You´ll boost your chances of getting your press releases picked up and it will be far easier to stay in the news.
Caroline
Small Business Mavericks
Back to the Blog
Tags: media, PR, press releases
Posted in PR for Small Business | 1 Comment »
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