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.

(1) Fact sheets are short. The rule of thumb is to keep a fact sheet to one page. One page is all you need to communicate the key messages about your company or one of your company’s products, services or issues. One page is also all that people will read. No one has the time or wants to read long content. If your fact sheet is bleeding over to two pages, revise it and revise it again until it’s one page.  Take out all unnecessary points and words.  If you’re finding it impossible to get your fact sheet to one page, chances are good that you need another fact sheet to tackle a portion of the information.  Whatever you do, don’t make the font miniscule to pare down the text.

(2) Fact sheets are easy-to-read. Fact sheets are formatted like websites with tabs or books with chapters. They have headers so readers can glance at them to find the information they want and skip what they already know or don’t want. The key is deciding which headers are the most important ones for your business.  If the fact sheet is for an event, you’ll need to include the overview of the event; the time, date and place; purpose; and who to contact to get tickets. If it’s for an issue or project, you’ll need to think about the most frequently asked questions you receive from your publics so you can answer them on one sheet.

(3) Fact sheets are to-the-point.  They make you boil down your key points into the most pertinent facts.  Many of our clients, especially those in technical industries or those facing complex or controversial issues, feel the need to explain their situations and reasoning in great detail to the general public. While there is a place for detailed information, it’s usually best reserved for niched target publics, in other words, those who need to know.  Details are also best conveyed in small, digestible chunks. They provide the essential truths and the direction necessary for people to dig deeper if they wish.

(4) Fact sheets are cheap.  Fact sheets can be printed on your company letterhead; copied in black and white; and distributed as necessary. They’re not fancy pieces. Better yet, they can be revised anytime and then reprinted as needed.  You can also offer a paperless option, which is entirely free. Just pdf the document and then post it on your website for people to download.

(5) Fact sheets save time. As we mentioned above, when you’re deciding what headers to include on your fact sheet, think about the most frequently asked questions people have about your products, services, or issues. If you can answer them concisely and well, you can be proactive by directing target publics to your fact sheet and avoid having to answer the same questions over and over again.

Check our our other fact sheet posts including how to write a fact sheet, fact sheet templates, fact sheets for sale, and much more.

According to Newsworks.com, orchestra president Allison Vulgamore said, “We actually have not marketed our concerts very well, and not spent sufficient funds on marketing.” The article continued to say that “Insufficient marketing is one of many elements causing the orchestra to come up short” and that “…organizations such as the orchestra tend to focus their marketing dollars on subscription sales because it’s more efficient, but they will have to change with consumer patterns.”

Can you imagine waking up one day and realizing you have to shut down your business because you didn’t tell anyone about it? That’s what happened to the Philadelphia Orchestra. It, like many other organizations and businesses, “saved” money on PR and marketing but eventually disappeared in the public’s eye. It’s like an athlete wanting to save water and then realizing on race day that she’s not hydrated enough to compete.

If you’re in a situation where you’re having to cut budgets, think carefully before you eliminate monies for PR and marketing. If done right, PR and marketing can help businesses achieve their goals, including making money. Invest in efforts that connect your business or organization with your consumers in the right way at the right time, and those efforts will pay off.

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.

1. Email Signature – Create an email signature that is included in all of your email messages. Your email signature should include your name, title, and all of your contact information. And when we say all, we mean all the ways to contact your business, including any social media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, etc.) avenues your business uses to communicate with customers. Make sure all that your email addresses and all web addresses in your signature are hyperlinked, so that anyone can click on the link and be automatically directed to that site.
2. Contact Info on Every Website Page – Sure, every business website has a Contact Us page. But,  from any other page on your site, that adds one more click your customer has to take to find this information. We recommend placing your contact information (again, email and web addresses in hyperlink) on every page of your website. It doesn’t have to be big and take up a lot of space. Small font on the bottom of the page is fine. You just want to be sure that once an individual is convinced to do business with you, they don’t have to look much further to contact you. Bonus: As an added benefit, multiple listings of keywords such as your city name or state name on your website can help with your search engine optimization (SEO).
3. Map it! -  In the Contact Us section of your website, have a link to any online map service so that customers can click on it to see where you are located, add in their own location to map out driving directions, and then print it up to use on the road.
4. Business Hours – Business hours are often overlooked as critical information for consumers to know. Business hours should also be on every page of your website, prominently listed on your social media sites and profiles, and on any other place that your contact information appears. Bonus: Posting your hours on your daily timeline on social media sites from time to time is an excellent reminder for current customers and info for potential customers.
5. All Printed Materials – Sure, we all know to include contact information on brochures and similarly marketing materials, but what about printed materials that don’t normally leave your location, such as menus for restaurants or in-store signage (in dressing rooms, at the cash register, etc.) for retail companies.  Business hours and website addresses are great for these pieces.
6. Voicemail – Voicemail is another great place to leave your contact information, especially your business hours, email address, and website address. Listing other ways for people to contact you will help reduce the messages and inquiries left on your voicemail for you to return.
7. More on Hyperlinking – We’ve talked several times about hyperlinking above, and we can’t stress enough how powerful a tool this is. Whenever possible hyperlink. In email messages, electronic documents, estimates, websites, blogs, social media, and more. Hyperlinking also enhances SEO.

Implement these tips and whoever is looking for you will surely find you. This is the first step to making your next sale.

First of all, Twitter gives you a one-degree separation between you and the people and businesses on Twitter. Move out of the way, Kevin Bacon, Twitter’s got you beat!  It’s so easy to Tweet your favorite celebrity, reporter, business, and so on. Of course you’ll need to do a little investigating (quick Google search) to make sure the user you’re tweeting is the “real” person or business you’re looking for (versus imposters). And, many times, they will reply back to you. We’ve tweeted to and received replies from Al Roker, KGMB9 News, Starbucks, Zippy’s, and Andy Bumatai, to name a few. So cool! We know it’s cheesy to be star struck, but we don’t care…we LOVE it!  As a frequent Starbucks drinker, I was thrilled and very impressed with the prompt response I got when I tweeted @Starbucks a question one day. In terms of brand loyalty, can you imagine how my original warm-and-fuzzy feelings for my favorite coffee stop got even warmer and fuzzier (and led to more visits and purchases)?

We’ve been exposed to the “cool-ness” of Twitter but recently, we were again amazed by the power of Twitter. I was tweeting with FMPR’s Twitter friend @johngarcia, a web designer and photographer in Honolulu. We were talking about the Keurig single cup coffee maker, which uses the “K-cup, an individual cup of your favorite hot beverage concentrate (coffee grinds, tea leaves, chai mix, cocoa, etc.) to brew your drink. We were trading our K-cup favorites when I tweeted him, “Once we got the hot chocolate K-cup from Macy’s n it tasted like plastic…beware of that one.” He replied,” Darn, I think we have that one, too… oh wells… those’ll be filler in the carousel. ” That was my last Twitter conversation of the night, and I headed off to bed without a second thought (well, I did think about getting a cup of coffee from my sister’s Keurig, but decided to pass on that since it was practically midnight and even though we’re neighbors, I didn’t think she would appreciate me dropping by at that hour).

The next morning when I checked our Twitter account, Green Mountain Coffee @GreenMtnCoffee, who apparently is the maker of that particular hot chocolate K-cup had tweeted us, “@fmpr We understand you were not satisfied with Hot Cocoa. It is important that the k-cups are kept at room temp. & shaken prior to use.” Ahhh! At first I was stunned and a little embarrassed that the actual hot chocolate company had “caught” me criticizing their product. But then I thought to myself that I wasn’t totally bashing them and I was telling my truth. I immediately tweeted @johngarcia who got a good chuckle from it and suggested I blog about it (thanks again, John), and it got me thinking more about this experience. This was customer service at its finest. I didn’t even have to contact the company, they came to me. And, to tell you the truth, if they hadn’t tweeted me, I would have gone along with my life adding this company to my “never-buy-or-try-again list.” But because of this interaction, I am willing to give them another chance, maybe not with that particular flavor, but with another one. Importantly, I have positive feelings about the way that they reached out to me. It showed me that they care about their customers and their reputation, and they are not afraid to address the undesirable feedback about their products. This counts for a lot. I will never forget this experience and that company’s name.

So, if you have a business, consider using Twitter and think about how you can reach out to your customers like never before. If you’ve dismissed the idea of Tweeting before because of the time it’ll take to learn or to administer during the day, think (or tweet) again…it has the potential to revolutionize your image.

Homemade and homegrown items are special when received because they’re unique; they cannot be reproduced by anyone else; they take time, effort and consideration to make or grow; and they come from the heart.  In most cases, they’re also extremely economical, which is a plus in today’s economy.  The benefits of giving homemade and homegrown are endless. (Please note that here on Kauai, homemade food items cannot be brought to public schools and served to children unless they are made in a certified kitchen.)

Gift giving is a direct extension of public relations because it communicates a multitude of positive feelings such as thanks, compassion, empathy, celebration, reciprocity, support and so on.  The actual gift and its significance to the recipient convey to this individual how much the giver values their relationship.

Next time you need to show some appreciation for someone, whether a contractor, friend,  vendor, family member, customer, or employee, try giving them something that you’ve made or grown with your own hands.  Rare fruit, organic greens, mango bread, salad dressing, tropical flowers, handmade crafts, whatever.  Put it in a lovely vessel and include a handwritten, heartfelt note.  We guarantee it will be received with smiles and thanks.

Schools had it right from the beginning.  Remember those days when you’d come home from school, inhale a snack, and then sit down to do your homework?  Well, as the SBA’s 2006 Home-Based Business Champion of the Year, we’ve decided to coin a new word for today’s working adults: homework.

When we started our business almost nine years ago we made a conscious decision not to rent office space and to instead set up home offices.  It took us some time to get ourselves organized, get our processes down, and train others to understand and accept our home offices.  Nine years later, we know we made the right decision.

We do most of our work electronically.  We plan meetings only when they’re necessary, which saves both us and our clients valuable time and expense.  When we do have meetings, we usually meet on our client’s turf, which gives us important insights about the company and therefore helps us do our job better.  We have a morning call to each other every weekday to be sure we’re on the same page with the day’s to-do list.  We drink our own fresh ground coffee and eat leftovers.  We get chores and errands done in between tasks and meetings.  We make time for our childrens’ activities.  We have the best office equipment at our fingertips from computers to scanners, laptops, printers and wireless headsets.  We have excellent office views from Po’ipu Beach to Sleeping Giant.  The benefits go on.

In the midst of mounting gas and real estate prices, as well as rising overhead costs for businesses and shrinking wallets all around, homework makes sense.  Home-based businesses and telecommuters help the environment by decreasing traffic and pollution.  We keep our neighborhoods safe by our presence during the day.  We generally give superior service to our clients because we can work all hours (and often do).  Though we often work in small time chunks, our work time is highly focused because we have few interruptions.  There is zero office drama or corporate politics.  We keep our overhead costs down and pass those savings on to our clients.  On the family, leisure and community fronts, once home-based business owners and telecommuters learn to balance, prioritize and set clear boundaries between work and play, family and business, and pro bono and for-pay work, we can lead exceptionally high-quality lives.

If you’re a leader in a company, we encourage you to investigate which (if any) positions/people might be able to work from home, and then develop and rollout a telecommuting policy.  If you’re an employee who has an interest in working from home, do some research about the realities and ups and downs of telecommuting.  If you’re still up for it, make a proposal to your employer including how you’d plan to stay in touch, share files and information, show your work progress, etc.

Some positions or industries that can mesh well with the telecommuting lifestyle are real estate, information technology, data entry, writing, freelancers of all sorts, and many others.  For new and current entrepreneurs, a good way to assess if a home-based business is right for you and your company is to evaluate the option via your business plan.  Telecommuting may not fit every company, position or person.  A special set of circumstances is necessary to make homework a workable venture.  Also, all home-based businesses must operate within county zoning ordinances and subdivision rules so research those before you set up shop.

So what’s this got to do with PR?  There’s no better PR than doing something to mitigate a problem and increasing the quality of life of your community’s residents.  If your business implements a telecommuting policy, be sure to inform your employees and the public about it so they are aware of the benefits and your role in helping your community.  This type of positive, business policy news will build a strong, positive PR foundation.  So where homework will work, we say go for it!

For more information about homework, go to The Telework Coalition and Telework.Gov.   GreenBiz.com provides a thorough overview of telecommuting as well as a list of resources and links.  A search on Google for “telecommuting” and “home-based businesses” will yield thousands of more results.  Finally, check out these articles and blogs:

Telecommutingmillionaire Blogspot

Zdnet Telecommuting Tags

Webworker Daily

Telecommuting Blogtoplist

Other telecommuting blogs

When you’re ready, join the ranks of those who do the grownup version of homework.