This is important particularly when it comes to PR. Public relations is often one of those things that comes second to business operations.  And yet, relating to your publics well must go hand-in-hand with your everyday operations.  If you’re not forging good relationships and improving the ones you have every day through every interaction, then your business may eventually fizzle out and your operations will be for naught.

If you have a list of PR or promotional ideas for your business, either written or in your head, pick the top three and implement them. Be clear about your goals, do the best job you can, and enjoy the process of building strong relationships with the people that matter most to your business success.

So what are you waiting for? Your public is waiting. Reach out to them today.

Shortly after the market declined, we received an email from our financial advisor explaining the reasons for the decline, noting that it was predicted, and offering reassurance about next steps in terms of our investments. This told us that we may not be able to predict what the market will do, but we know our financial advisor is paying attention and watching carefully over our money, and will provide thoughtful advice and how we could respond.

Times are uncertain, for sure, in many sectors of our economy and for many businesses.  In response, consumers are unsure. Apply what our financial advisor did for us and demonstrate to your customers that you’re “on it.” Tell them that you know what’s going on and that you know what to do about it in terms of your business.  Communicate in a timely manner, right on the cusp of economic events that affect your business, keep your customers in the loop, and give them reason to patron you over your competitors.

For your customers: Create special sales or deals to help them with their holiday gift giving. Offer value-added incentives, such as gift wrapping or a free item with their purchase, to stimulate sales.

For your employees: Plan a year-end appreciation party. Offer an additional discount on top of their employee discount to ease their holiday gift spending.

For your vendors and close allies: Send a thoughtful holiday card expressing your appreciation for their support or deliver goodies to their offices.

For the community: Partner with a local nonprofit to receive a portion of your holiday sales or organize your staff to volunteer at a local soup kitchen.

These ideas are starting points. When you decide how to mark the year-end, consider what fits right with your type of business. For example, a wine shop could offer a special tasting and pricing on the day beaujoulais nouveau is released; a grocery store could provide its employees with a free roast to share with their families; and a movie theater may offer a free movie to foster children.

Whatever you choose to do, begin planning now. Remember that creating holiday cards, advertising, and other ideas take time to implement. So once you know what you’re going to do, create a timeline and follow it. Your end-of-the-year activities will make your most important publics take notice of and appreciate you even more, which will pay off well into the next year.

For more ideas, see our blog Public Relations: Holiday Style.

This deal is a perfect example of collaboration at its best, where all involved win. Mokihana Insurance is our client and also our insurance provider, so we know them well and know they’ll provide our clients and friends with the same great service we receive. Anyone who acts on the deal is likely to save money plus a chance to win an iPod Touch.  By promoting the deal in our e-letter, we’re making our e-letter valuable to our readers.  If respondents end up getting their insurance from Mokihana, the company builds its insurance business.  The positives abound.

Think of the companies you do business with, collaborate with them, and promote the collaboration.  Enhancing the value your customers receive by leveraging the good reputation and services of the businesses you deal with helps everyone.  Collaborating to win is the height of public relations because it serves all of your publics and grows your business all at once.

Pepsi’s Refresh Project is a social media/philanthropy hybrid that funds important initiatives from improving schools to building parks and playgrounds, and supporting new business ideas. In fact, in 2010, Pepsi gave up its Super Bowl ad and allowed small budding companies to advertise in its place. Pepsi defines the Refresh Project as “The New Pepsi Challenge.” In the process of helping causes through millions of dollars of donations, they attract millions of fans to their social media sites to vote on which projects get funded. Everyone wins.

Starbucks kicked off its Global Month of Service because they are “committed to helping create thriving neighborhoods” wherever they do business, and that they can use their “scale to be a catalyst for positive change.” Their goal with the Global Month of Service is to support 2,000 service projects and give 200,000 hours of volunteer time from their employees and customers around the world.

In 2010, Disney launched “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” in which they ask people to give a day of volunteer service at a participating organization and then receive a free, one-day admission ticket to a Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort theme park.  Again, this is a win-win-win for the company, the community, and Disney fans.

Likewise, for many years, we’ve been creating community support plans for our clients. This has enabled our clients’ companies to show their commitment to the community, bring their company missions to life by supporting organizations in their areas of interest, develop relationships with community service organizations and their constituents, get their customers involved on a charitable level, and occasionally get exposure for their gifts (in the case of event sponsorships). Of course the public wins, too because the organizations that receive the donations help meet the needs of the community.

Community support plans work well for any sized company because they can justify directing marketing budgets toward philanthropy. Companies that don’t have the funds to give charitable donations can always give their time through volunteerism or donate products or services. Harnessing this spirit of giving is an opportunity for any company. So give away.

UPDATE: Along the same lines of this post, check out the great idea, Hot Rocks for Humanity.

First, seven of the 20 trends were related to electronic and/or social media. In other words, businesses using the power of the Internet, wireless devices, and mobile applications to communicate with current and potential customers. We point this out because so often, when we recommend to our clients how important it is to use these technologies consistently and effectively, they groan. Groan they may, but they’re missing the boat if they’re not communicating electronically with their constituents.

The second interesting thing was that five of the 20 trends were environmental or green initiatives. Not only that, the initiatives were customer friendly. In the past, many thought that being green meant giving up something.  Today’s trendsetting companies are reinterpreting what it means to be green.  Rather than making their customers give up something to be green, their giving their customers more than they expected.  These companies have figured out ways to serve their customers better than ever before by being more efficient, effective, targeted, customized, innovative, easy to patron, and friendly. They just happen to be green, too.

The third interesting thing is that 100 percent of all of the trendsetting companies are exceptional when it comes to communicating with their employees and customers. They have strong brands. They know exactly who they are as a company, so much so that the companies actually have a personality.  This makes it easy for employees to understand who they’re working for and to fall in step, and for customers to know who they’re buying from. This kind of familiarity leads to loyalty and that’s always critical for business. These trendsetting companies also put their messages out there and serve customers in a way that’s enthusiastic, competent, and welcoming. Their tones are different depending on their brand, but they are most definitely present and involved with their publics.

For more information about the Springwise trends for 2011, visit www.springwise.com/businessideas2011. See where or if your business is up with the times.

Today, there are numerous examples of mass customization, that is, offering customized products to the masses, but the concept has gone way beyond LL Bean’s monogramming. A good example is Levi Strauss. The company’s new $20 million Original Levi’s Store in San Francisco is part theater, part art gallery, part museum, part cinema, and part rave. With 70,000 watts of digital audio, a biometrics recognition system, a 3D body scanner, and a ton of video screens, shoppers are in for an interactive, memorable experience and unequalled opportunities to take those old 501s to a new level.

Levi’s Original Spin™ Program enables customers to create their own pair of jeans with a choice of cuts and styles, and then have them custom tailored based on their measurements and preferences. The 3D Body Scanner captures 48 image-slices of a subject’s body surface in less than two seconds and then processes the images to extract key body measurements and produce a 3D representation. Video screens inside each of the store’s fitting rooms display a visitor’s 3D body image as they are trying on clothes. Visitors can also create their own “shrink-to-fit” jeans by putting on a pair of Levi’s jeans and immersing themselves in a special bath, and then entering a special human drying area. Then they can proceed to The Factory Area where they can have custom designs, images, or photographs embedded in their jeans.

Another example of an American classic that’s utilizing mass customization is M&M’s. Their “Custom Printed M&M’s” service lets you choose colors, messages, packaging and even flavors. Prince reportedly partakes of this service and has his home address (3121) printed on yellow M&Ms to serve at late-night parties.

In terms of PR, customizing communicates to your customers that you care enough about each one of them that you’re willing to serve them individually. This influences them to have an emotional attachment to the shopping experience and the product they’ve purchased. Notably, customization elicits feelings of exclusivity that your consumer often values much more than the actual product they purchased. All of these results encourage increased name recognition and patronage as well as solidify your brand. So the next time you look into upgrading your offerings, consider customizing, like Levi’s. It may be just the right fit.

That lesson really struck us, partially because we could relate to it so well. In the more than 10 years that we’ve been in business, we’ve come to know how important it is to have a good relationship with our clients’ administrative assistants. After all, they control the schedules, mail, email, phones, and much more, even critical decisions. Often, they are the face of the company in the community and to employees.

The other reason we liked this lesson from a public relations perspective is that it acknowledges that every business has many target publics, within and outside the company, and that each of those groups are comprised of many individuals. All of those individuals are significant to the success of the business. So next time you embark on a communications campaign, pull everyone into the loop from the janitor to the boss.

And never underestimate the importance of all the other not-so-obvious publics as your company’s potential ambassadors, from the FedEx and UPS folks to the AC repairperson, the solar contractor, the business supply order rep, etc. Your interactions with all of them are a reflection of your company’s image and level of service. If those interactions are negative or even forgettable, that will be the impression these publics have of your company. Likewise, if those interactions are positive and special, so will be your company’s image, which will trickle down to repeat sales, referrals, and profits.