The Pioneer Communicator -- July 2004

  
If you are a resident of North Carolina, be sure to vote in the Primary Elections this Tuesday, July 20th! 

 

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About this Newsletter

 

Welcome to The Pioneer Communicator, the e-mail newsletter of Pioneer Strategies, Inc.  Each edition of this newsletter includes insight and tidbits to help small businesses develop more effective Public Relations and Networking strategies.  Please let me know what you think of The Pioneer Communicator!  

- Frank Williams, President

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In This Issue

1.  PR Principle:  Honesty

2.  Networking Tip:  Short-Term Follow Up

3.  Are you missing opportunities?

4.  Pioneer makes PR Affordable for Small Businesses

5.  How to subscribe to this newsletter

 

Click here for a listing of previous editions of this newsletter

 

"Men must be honest with themselves before they can be honest with others.  A man who is not honest with himself presents a hopeless case."

- William J. H. Boetcker

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PR Principle:  Honesty

The January 2004 edition of this newsletter provided an overview of the Principles of Effective Public Relations.  These principles are the fundamentals; they are as important to your Public Relations effort as dribbling and passing are to a good basketball team.  The past few editions of this newsletter have explored the Principles of Effective PR.  This month, we will discuss another key principle:  Honesty. 

Honesty

The purpose of your Public Relations effort is to build and maintain a strong, credible reputation for your organization.  In order to achieve this goal, it is important that you develop and communicate a clear, simple message that is grounded in truth.

The first step in developing a clear message is to decide how you want your organization to be perceived.  As you begin this process, you must be sure that your organization lives up to the reputation you wish to establish.  Honesty is key, and people will eventually see through a fake.  Once that happens, you've lost your credibility.  

For example, don't market yourself as being an expert in a particular field unless you really are an expert in that field.  If you falsely hold yourself out as an expert on a particular topic, you will be labeled as dishonest and disingenuous once your cover is blown.  That kind of negative reputation is difficult to overcome.  

Abraham Lincoln once said "No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar."  This simple, profound principle applies to your marketing and public relations efforts.  If you consistently communicate a message that is grounded in truth and reality, you will have no difficulty staying on message.  If you are attempting to portray yourself as something you are not, you will inevitably slip up.

Develop a clear message.  Be sure your message is grounded in truth.  Once you've developed your message, stick to it!  Consistency and honesty are key.

Networking Tip:  Short Term Follow Up

The purpose of professional networking activities is more than simply meeting as many people as possible.  The purpose of networking is building strategic, trust-based business relationships with key people.  To that end, we have defined networking as making friends before you need them.  

Networking is about building trust-based relationships.  By definition, it is personal -- and successful networkers keep this fact in mind as they work to build their contact base.

Personal, short-term follow-up is one of the key principles of effective networking.  Far too many would-be networkers attend events, meet new people, and then never follow up with those new contacts.  Instead, those potentially valuable business cards end up in the graveyard of missed business opportunities.

If you utilize networking as a means of building your contact base, short-term follow-up is key.  I recommend implementing a personal deadline for following up with new contacts.  For example, you may want to set a goal to send an email or mail a "nice meeting you" letter to all new contacts within 48 hours of meeting them.  Next, you could establish a goal to personally call all new contacts within one week after the initial follow-up. 

New contacts have a shelf life.  If you wait two months to follow up with a new contact, chances are they will not remember having met you.  If you want to improve your networking results, follow up with new contacts while they're fresh.   

- Frank Williams

How to subscribe to this newsletter

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