A presentation geared toward small businesses that reviews how to do your own PR.

1. PR 101 for Small Businesses
Michelle Garrett
Garrett Public Relations
www.michellegarrett.com
Twitter: @PRisUs
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2. Today’s Agenda
• What is public relations?
• PR vs. advertising
• Where to start: News items and press lists
• Content: Press releases and press kits
• Partner public relations
• More PR opportunities: Editorial calendars,
awards, speaking gigs, contributed articles
• Publicizing your PR
• Resources
• Wrap up/Q&A
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3. What is Public Relations?
Building
Maintaining
Promoting
th
Impact
e
Reputation or Image
of a
Company •Favorable Image/Reputation
Product •Awareness/Visibility
Personality •Interest
Organization/Association •Support
Cause
•Alter Behavior
•Influence Public Opinion
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4. PR vs. Advertising
(Hint: They’re not the same!)
PR Advertising
Indirect marketing tool to Direct marketing tool to
influence target audience influence target audience
Pitch/place articles Buy advertising space
Public perceives news Public perceives ads as
stories as credible sources biased towards the
of information advertiser
Easier on marketing More expensive to
budget implement
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5. So where do I start?
One way to get started is to think about what
makes your company newsworthy?
• New location
• New product or service
• New hires
• Upcoming event—e.g. open house, charity
event, sponsorship of an event, speaking
engagement
• New partnership
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6. Now, what about content?
Once you choose/prioritize your newsworthy
items, what’s the best vehicle to use to get
the news out?
•Press release
•Blog post
•Social media updates
•Customer success story/case study
•Contributed article
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7. What’s next?
• Develop a list of your key press—think about what your
potential customers are reading
• It could include:
• Local press (e.g. Business First, Columbus Dispatch)
• Trade press (e.g. Inc., Popular Mechanics, Woman’s
Day, Health, InformationWeek)
• Business press (e.g. Wall Street Journal, USA Today)
• Broadcast media (WCMH, NBC, radio)
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8. What about social media?
This could be an entire topic on its own!
But it could include:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Many, many others….
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9. Writing a good press release
• The steps: collect information; conduct
interviews if needed
• Include any research, facts or figures: if you
don’t have your own, cite some from an article
• Begin drafting the release—write, then rewrite;
walk away, then review and rewrite until it’s
solid
• Style of a release—follow news style (inverted
pyramid)—who/what/when/why/how up in the
first paragraph
• Format: Headline/sub-
head/paragraph/paragraph/quote/paragraph/pri
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cing and availability/closing boilerplate

10. How to issue the news
• Wire services: free and paid
• Send it directly to the reporter(s)--they look to PR
practitioners to make their jobs easier
• When working with reporters: adopt a service-
oriented attitude toward the media
• What reporters need from you: timely responses,
honesty, a helpful attitude--a willingness to go the
extra mile to help them do their job
• Don’t promise if you can’t deliver; follow up; know
what they cover
• Other channels we discussed previously, including a
news area on your site, social media and so on
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11. Preparing for media interviews
• If you’ve never done interviews, practice!
• Choose the best spokesperson(s) depending upon the
subject matter
• Go over some basic media training tips at the minimum;
you can hire a pro to do in-depth training and taping, if
needed
• Do your homework on reporters and publications—look
at some stories they’ve written to get a feel for how they
write
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12. Press kits
• So, what goes in a good press kit?
• Include the basics that would help a journalist
write about your company: press releases,
company profile, company fact sheet,
executive bios, logos, marketing brochure,
business card/contact information
• Include the same items in your online press
kit
• You can customize the content, depending on
what event it is
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13. Partner Public Relations
• Opportunities sometimes arise to work
with a partner company on promoting
an alliance, event or other initiative
• Decide on the strategy
• Work with the partner to “divide and
conquer” the PR responsibilities
• Leverage the partner’s resources, if
possible, to help get the work done
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14. Editorial calendars
• What is an editorial calendar?
• Check your target publications’ editorial
calendars online
• Compile all data in a format that works
for you, such as an Excel spreadsheet
• Contact the editors; prioritize based on
topic and deadline date
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15. Awards
• Awards can help bring visibility and
credibility to a company
• Research awards that are available in
your industry and through publications
• Keep track of submission deadlines
• Enter appropriate awards programs
• No guarantees
• Once you have the content, it can be
repurposed 15

16. Speaking Opportunities
• Decide on venues—research and
choose appropriate opportunities
• Write a speaking abstract
• Submit the abstract and any other
requested information per the
requirements
• Prepare your spokesperson for the talk;
Rehearse!
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17. Contributed articles
• Many publications accept contributed articles
• Research publications in which placing a
contributed article might help raise the
visibility of your company
• Develop an abstract of a topic to suggest—try
to avoid a product or company-focused topic
• Trends make good topics for contributed
articles
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18. How to Publicize Your PR
• Once the article appears, push it out
using appropriate channels—web site,
social media, and so on
• Once you secure a speaking
engagement, promote it
• Once you win an award, publicize that
news
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19. Realities of Public Relations
• It takes time! PR is a process…
• Don’t expect to make the front page of the
Wall Street Journal overnight
• Your idea/activity MUST be newsworthy to
receive coverage. Ask yourself, “why
should they care?”
• Remember, with PR, there’s no guarantee
what will be reported or how it will be
stated 19

20. Tools and Resources
• Wire services: Businesswire, PR Newswire,
PRWeb
• Media databases: MyMediaInfo, Cision,
Vocus
• Clipping services: BurrellesLuce.com, Vocus
• Organizations: Public Relations Society of
America (PRSA), Social Media Club
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21. So what if I decide I don’t want to do it
myself?
• Hire a “coach”—someone to help
answer questions
• Hire a freelance consultant to do
some of the work on an ongoing or
project basis
• What about agencies?
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22. Wrap-up
• Questions…..?
• Thank you!
Michelle Garrett
Garrett Public Relations
www.michellegarrett.com
michelle@michellegarrett.com
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