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 Here we've listed PR tips what we consider to be the ingredients for a successful PR campaign, whether you are doing it yourself, or using a PR agency to handle it for you. PR Tips from Do Your Own PR 1. Take some time to consider what it is you want from your campaign. Do any of the following sound familiar? * Do you just want bums on seats and products to fly through shop doors? In this case it would be a good idea to run your campaign in conjunction with some marketing activities. * Do you want to launch or release something and get some publicity on the back of that? * Do you want to raise your reputation and credibility so that you can justify or even raise your fees or prices? * Are you feeling threatened by the competition and feel the need to run a PR campaign to assert the reasons why you should be the desired choice? In this case you will really have to go into the reasons why you and your product are better than all the others. Think of Dyson and all the fuss around why they are so much better than all the rest. * Do you just want to experiment with PR at the moment, learning as you go and seeing what difference it can make to your sales? * Do you need to reassure stakeholders, shareholders and employees that the company is successful and going places? * Or do you just want to fuel your ego and see yourself and your company mentioned in some glossy publications? 2. Read as much on the subject of PR as possible. You can find articles full of PR information and ideas in our Articles section, and also sign up for a free weekly newsletter full of PR tips, advice and press calls at www.doyourownpr.com/subscribe.asp 3. If you don't have a website it is really is a good idea to sort one out before you start your PR. What's the use of contacting journalists and editors if you don't have a website to direct them to.You can set up your own website in an afternoon with provider OneandOne - you choose from number of designs, select your preferred colour and just add your content. And it starts from as little at £4.99 a month. Doing the Groundwork 1. Our 30 day PR ecourse is probably one of the best investments that you can make in your business. If you use a PR company to handle your public relations, then this course will give you the low-down on what they are doing and what you can realistically expect from them. If you are doing your own PR, this ecourse explains, in easy to understand language, exactly what it is you should be doing. Currently only £150, this course is a fantastic grounding in the what, why and how of doing PR. To see more about this course click here. 2. Write Your Press Release. Of course you don't just write one press release and keep sending that out. But having one master release means that you can tweak it for different angles and have the ability to both get on with your active PR and to respond to journalists when they start to come to you (which will does happen once you start to get your name out there). The 30 day PR ecourse covers how to write a press release and gives you the opportunity to submit it to me for a constructive critique. However, if you just don't have the time for this we also offer a Press Release Service. For only £180 we conduct a telephone interview with you to find out what it is that could prove uniquely attention grabbing and get a press release back to you more often than not within a week, often less. To discuss the Press Release Service please drop us a line at mail@doyourownpr.com. 3. Build your Media List. You can get a lot of information just from looking as the mastheads of the magazines that you want to target, but a media guide that lists publications, contact details and editors is an investment that you need to make if you are serious about raising your business' profile. My tried and tested favourite is the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, although I seem to be using the The Guardian Media Directory more and more. Both are very affordable and of course tax deductable. 4. Set aside some time for your campaign. Put it in your diary. It needs to be at least two hours twice a week. Mark that time as sacrosanct and do not let anything eat into it. It may take up to a month to start showing results but after that point you'll have done the groundwork and things will be starting to fly. I was very unsure where to start with PR and marketing before my meeting with Paula. Although I’ve ran my own business for a while I wanted to reach a much larger audience and attract a wider variety of people and Paula has really showed me how to do this. I now have a strategy for promoting my business and feel in control and clear about what I’m doing. She gave me the confidence to think ‘big’ and to approach people, such as journalists, that I’ve been nervous about talking to in the past. The press release she wrote for me was great, very punchy and exciting and I feel that I’ve learned a lot about what is required from her input. It’s also got some journalists interested which is great news for my business. I also found the PR ecourse very useful and feel that I’ve learned a lot which will stand me well in the long term. I’ll certainly be recommending Paula and her courses to all my friends with small businesses.  Sandra Cameron Clinical Psychologist Do Your Own PR, Divine and Content, 10 Oak Hill Gardens, Woodford Green, Essex, IG8 9DY, UK. Tel: 0208 504 4557.
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