The nature of the public relations game is changing, and many small-business owners are lagging behind. Entrepreneurs and owners of small companies often try to handle their own PR duties, but that can easily mean making serious mistakes.
In fact, small businesses consistently fall into the same four PR-related traps, despite their best efforts. A quick look at violetpr.com will reveal effective ways of avoiding such potentially dangerous pitfalls.
Public Relations is Not What It Used to Be
Even a scant 20 years ago, there were relatively few media outlets and other means for businesses to communicate with the public. The situation has evolved greatly since, with even some true veterans of the multi-billion-dollar PR industry having trouble keeping up.
If these seasoned pros slip up regularly despite having so much at stake, it should not be surprising that small business owners do so even more often. Even experienced entrepreneurs and business owners can find that the rapidly evolving field of PR has become difficult to navigate safely.
Four PR Mistakes Many Small Business Owners Make
Fortunately, most of the PR troubles that befall small businesses can be traced back to one of a handful of common causes. The four issues that most often inhibit small-business PR efforts are:
· Aiming at the wrong targets. Accomplished, confident small business owners used to rely heavily on local newspapers and TV stations when trying to get the word out. The media landscape has changed so much, though, that sticking to these longtime standbys can be disastrous. Readers, viewers, and others will have frequently moved on to outlets that better reflect and serve an increasingly digital world. Figuring out where best to aim as a part-time PR agent often proves to be half the battle.
· Making ill-considered pitches. The internet has made communication easier than ever before, but that is not always beneficial. Many members of the media face overflowing email boxes and messaging app queues on a daily basis. In many cases, the only realistic way to deal with so many attempted contacts will be to prune the list of allowed participants. Small business owners who fail to deliver potentially interesting pitches often find themselves alienating the media members they were hoping to persuade.
· Failing to prepare. Every story has a proper context, no matter how unique and compelling the narrative itself might seem. Small business owners need to be well-prepared to answer the related questions that media members will have if they decide that a given pitch is worth investigating. Most of these will normally be fairly easy to anticipate if even a bit of preparation and research precedes the outreach. Being able to respond in a convincing, informative fashion when questioned will make a valuable story or other feature a lot more likely to follow.
· Standing on the sidelines. Although overeager and poorly prepared small business owners make plenty of PR mistakes, much more slip up by remaining too passive. Even if PR has become a lot more complicated than in the past, there is still so much to be gained that taking action will always be the better bet. Sound, strategic PR can still improve the fortunes of a small business more than almost any other type of effort.
A Bit of Help Can Make a Big Difference
These four mistakes combine to account for many of the PR problems that most often afflict small businesses. Getting in touch with an expert can easily end up being the simplest, surest way to start succeeding with PR instead of tripping up.