Letting people know about your business is essential to success.  David Mleczko, co-founder of Signature Green Public Relations and Marketing, describes how working with the right PR firm can make all the difference.   

 

Cash flow—or the lack thereof—is the number one reason for the failure of small businesses in the United States. We all know that credit and investors are stuck in a holding pattern right now. Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones—your personal bank account flush with money or friends and family with deep pockets who believe in your passion and dream and see the potential in your business as viable and thriving down the road. Or lucky (and smart) if you have an angel investor already on board.  

 

But more than likely you are looking to generate the cash flow you need through increasing sales revenues. Perhaps you are considering some sort of marketing (as opposed to sales) investment to support sales growth, to let more new and already green-loyal consumers and retailers know about your brand and products or services.   There is definitely a bias on this end as a public relations and marketing firm working exclusively with green and healthy-product businesses. Even if you already have all the money you need, we believe that media coverage is the best and most cost-effective way to reach and build your brand with consumers, retailers and the investment and environmental communities. There is the added value of implied endorsement and credibility when a writer or producer tells your story or you get a ‘mention’ in the new or innovative products sections.     

 

Whether you are considering advertising, web-sites, promotions, public relations, speaking events, or writing a business plan, above all else you must be able to tell your story and attract the right kind of attention in the right places. Passion alone is not enough. Great ideas are not enough.  

 

No doubt it’s a tough call whether or not and how to move forward with an increased marketing investment for your growing business. Any marketing investment is going to compete with precious resources needed for other vital operational challenges. What’s your return on marketing dollars spent? This is where many business owners get stuck. Measuring return. With sales you can measure precisely dollars in and the associated costs. You put your coins in the slot machine and more coins come out the bottom—hopefully. 

 

Public Relations results are tougher to measure and quantify. Some measure public relations by comparing it to advertising. By the cost per inch of advertising vs. the length of a story, or based on cost differentials in buying airtime. Others look at the reach and frequency of advertising vs media coverage based on circulation or viewership. For many, a comparison of the expense and wear and tear of attending trade shows is an imprecise, yet valid comparison.   With an effective PR campaign you should see a bump in inbound calls, more click-throughs and traffic on your web site or rosier sales reports from your retailers as stories hit the papers and airwaves.

 

But there is added value that goes far beyond the actual stories or mentions in newspapers and magazines or stories aired about your company and products. A good PR firm, with the right messaging and positioning, will help build your brand with consumers for the long-haul, plant seeds for stories that will not appear right away, and most importantly build relationships for you with writers and producers who will come back at some point when they are ready for your story or need background information. Becoming a credible, implicitly endorsed (The media CHOOSES to cover you.) and reliable source as an expert and ‘real deal’ green company goes along way in building your brand and longer-term media coverage. It helps you grab attention amid all the ‘green noise’ out there now. 

 

If you are considering hiring a PR firm, you need to consider your options—and plan your approach. You will hear a lot of promises and many fancy names will be dropped.  We have worked with and hired PR firms, large and small, expensive and the more affordable ones. And, frankly, if our firm, Signature Green, isn’t asked a lot of tough questions right up front, we don’t want that client. We can’t succeed with a company unless they are clear about their business goals and can appreciate that we know more than they do about our business. In our case, we have to know that potential clients truly are a ‘green or healthy product’ company and are passionate about it.  

 

Here’s our view on the top ten key considerations in determining if a PR firm is the right fit for you; if they can bring the resources, brainpower and commitment to you and your business: 

 

1.      Hire a firm that knows or will take the time to really understand your business and target audiences for growth. 

 

2.      Find a firm with experience in growing smaller businesses. You are not Fortune 500 (yet). Will they keep in touch? Strategize with you along the way as the opportunities and your business planning evolve? Ask for references on this question specifically, about other clients’ working relationships with the firm. 

 

3.      Are they strategic? There is the shotgun approach in blasting news releases out to the media and, by comparison, firms with a more laser-like strategy, pitching stories to specific media that reaching those who are potential consumer customers and retail partners. 

 

4.      Contacts… yes important. But if any PR company promises you coverage or appearances anywhere, or drops fancy celebrity media names, then run the other way. Remember whom you know is worthless without a credible, newsworthy story to tell. 

 

5.      ‘Clip’ book. The firm should be able to show you examples of their success for other clients. Check out a client’s on-line pressroom. 

 

6.      'Green’ Experience. Do they get your passion? Understand the environmental issues? Know how to articulate them? Or are they new at this.  Check out their client list for any ‘bad guys.’ 

 

7.      Branding. Ask them how they see positioning you in your competitive space. Your unique product and ‘green’ value. They won’t get it completely until they spend more time with you, but you need to gauge their creativity and strategic brainpower.  

 

8.      Size. Will you and your business be important to them? Again, check their client roster. 

 

9.      Point person. You want fewer people paying more attention to you. Ask who will manage your account and how long he/she has been with the firm and in the PR business. 

  

10.  Term. For how long will you be locked in? ‘Out’ clauses if results don’t pan out? Your ultimate decision, once you are comfortable with the above considerations, will come from your gut. Do you like these people? Do you trust them? Are they the partners you want to work with in growing your business?  

 

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