Large companies pay public relations firms to promote their brands. These firms do this through a variety of strategies, such as crafting the organization’s essential message into concise, memorable language…reaching out to the media and the target audiences to repeatedly deliver the message…and getting third parties to publicly praise the company. Unfortunately, many small companies and entrepreneurs cannot afford such services, and few, if any, job seekers and employees can pay professionals to spread the word about their skills.
Good news: Armed with the following 10 commandments of PR, you can handle your own publicity…
1. Make your message as clear as possible—even if that means sacrificing detail. It’s tempting to elaborate on everything you can do each time you run an ad or meet someone who seems interested. Don’t. People are more likely to remember what you say if you hone it down to a concise message.
If you’re not sure what constitutes a clear message, look for a Procter & Gamble ad—this consumer-products company is masterful with messages. Charmin toilet paper’s slogan, “Please, don’t squeeze the Charmin,” speaks to softness. Bounty paper towels are dubbed, “The Quicker Picker Upper,” emphasizing absorbency.
Examples: Your message might be, “I’m the guy who figures out the really tough engineering problems,” or “I’m the woman who knows how to motivate sales teams,” or “We’re the local plumbing company you can trust.”
2. Provide examples that support your message. Examples don’t just help make your point…they also help your audience remember it. People tend to recall stories long after they have forgotten facts and figures.
Example: If your message is, “I’m the consultant who’s always there when he’s needed,” share a story about helping a client on Christmas Day.
3. Consider your audience. As you hone your message, remember that your goal isn’t to come up with something that will resonate with everyone or even with people like you—it’s to come up with something that will sway the very specific group of people who could potentially become your clients or customers. Think about what these people want and what they will understand. Solicit input from allies you have among this group. Otherwise your message might miss the mark.
Example: A young professor at an Ivy League university appeared to be on a professional fast track. He spoke at international conferences, published articles in prestigious journals and was beloved by his students—yet he was not granted tenure. It turned out that the other professors in his department, the people who made the career-breaking tenure decision, did not want to work with a star who would outshine them. To reach this audience, the professor should have been sending the message, “I’m a team player who will help with the department’s thankless tasks,” not “I’m a star”—at least until he had tenure.
4. Repeat your message—constantly. By tomorrow most people will have forgotten what you told them today. Say it again—in a fresh way, if possible.
Example: Monitor the news for events that are related to your business or message, then repeat your message in terms of how it fits in with these events.
5. Establish yourself as an expert on something. Choose a specific topic within your sector that you know very well, then spread the word that you are the person to trust on this topic. Do not worry that this will pigeonhole you—it’s better to be considered the expert on one specific thing than a generalist who is never the top choice for anything.
Start a blog or newsletter focused on your area of expertise. Send press releases to media members who cover this topic.
Examples: Promote yourself as “Nebraska’s Ice Dam Expert” or “Washington County’s expert on tax law.”
6. Keep control of your message. There might come a time when someone attempts to wrest control of your message away from you. A company competing with yours might spread negative rumors about you. A colleague who disagrees with your strategy—or who is competing with you for a promotion—might interrupt with difficult questions when you make presentations. A dissatisfied customer might leave negative reviews on social-media sites.
Among the ways to maintain control of your message when challenged…
Provide direct but calm responses. Do not get drawn into heated arguments—if you do that, the only message people will remember will be your temper.
Spread your message in writing, rather than verbally, as much as possible. Send an e-mail. Circulate a memo. Write an article for a local paper. Words in print are more difficult for opponents to distort.
Repeat your message…more than ever. When two contrary viewpoints are being presented, people tend to put more stock in the one they hear more often.
7. Motivate third parties to spread your message. Having someone else sing your praises is always more effective than doing so yourself. The best way to accomplish this is to treat your clients, members of your network and anyone else you come into contact with as well as you feasibly can. Give people more than they are expecting—even just a little more—and they will extol you to their acquaintances.
Example: Automaker Tesla recently updated the software of certain cars it already had sold to include a new “Autopilot” feature. Tesla owner and talk show host Stephen Colbert spent more than five minutes on his show talking about how much he loves his Tesla, citing this “Autopilot” update in particular.
8. Expand your network. Be visible wherever your potential clients or customers are likely to be, including trade shows, professional meetings, community gatherings and/or social-media sites. Do not be heavy-handed pushing your message or selling yourself in these places…just strive to be known to everyone and nice to everyone. People who know and like you are much more likely to work with you.
9. Follow up—quickly. A single interaction often is not enough to create a new client or contact. When you make a positive connection, come up with an excuse to reach out to this person a second time within a day or two. Send an e-mail to say how much you enjoyed the initial conversation, and ask if there is any additional information you can provide. Or send an article that covers the topic you discussed, with a note saying, “I thought this might be of interest.” Don’t put it off or you may miss an opportunity.
Example: I met an interior decorator at a dinner party and told her she would be perfect for a couple I knew who had just bought a huge new home. But she didn’t follow up with me until months later, by which point the couple had hired a different decorator.
10. Strive to be the person doing the scrutinizing for the media, not the person under scrutiny. Many people believe that the best publicity comes when the media does a story about their company. But when a journalist does a story about a person or company, he/she generally tries to dig up the bad as well as the good to give the story “balance.” It is better to be the expert that the media turns to when something needs to be scrutinized.
Example: If a newspaper profiles a criminal defense attorney, it likely will mention cases he lost, as well as those he won, muddying his image among readers. If that attorney instead tells reporters who cover the local courthouse that he would be happy to share his insight about trials, he is likely to be presented positively, as the voice of wisdom.
