The Pioneer Strategist -- May 2005

This newsletter is intended to provide timely, practical advice and information to help you spread the word about your business.  Please let us know if there are specific topics you would like us to discuss in future editions.

- Frank Williams, President

In This Issue

1.  Final Small Business PR Workshop of Spring set for May 18

2.  PR Principle:  Collateral Damage

3.  Leadership Corner

4.  Are you missing opportunities?

5.  Pioneer Strategies News

6.  How to subscribe to this newsletter

Click here to read previous editions of our newsletter

"The law of unintended consequences is that actions of people—and especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or 'unintended.'"

- Rob Norton, Fortune magazine

Small Business PR Workshop Set for May 18

Final Workshop of Spring; Will Resume in September

Pioneer Strategies' final Small Business PR Workshop of the spring is set for Wednesday, May 18.  Seating for these interactive workshops is limited; click here to reserve your seat today.  After a summer break, we will resume holding workshops in September.   

What will you gain from attending one of our workshops?

- Learn how an effective Public Relations campaign can help build your business and boost your sales;

- Develop an understanding of the principles you must follow in order to implement an effective Public Relations campaign; and

- Learn practical, cost-effective tactics and strategies you can put to work to promote your small business.

Reserve your seat today!  Our workshops are interactive, therefore seating is limited.  Click here to register today.

PR Principle:  Collateral Damage

The January 2004 edition of our 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, passing, free throw shooting and defense are to a championship basketball team.  In this issue, we will discuss the Principle of Collateral Damage.

The Principle of Collateral Damage

In the August and September 2004 editions of this newsletter, we discussed the importance of knowing and understanding your target audiences.  Effective targeting is one of the fundamentals of any communications campaign.  Simply put, your message must be crafted in a way that means something to your target groups, and it must be communicated through vehicles that reach those groups.  A poorly crafted or improperly communicated message won't hit your targets, and therefore will not achieve your communication goals. 

While targeting is critically important, it is equally important that you avoid the trap of tunnel vision.  All too often, we become so "tunnel-visioned", so focused on communicating our message to our target groups, that we don't stop to consider how that message might be received by other groups. 

The Principle of Collateral Damage is grounded in the indisputable fact that messages intended for one target group will likely reach other groups.  If you fail to plan and thoroughly think through what you're doing, a message that resonates with your target audience may spark a negative reaction from another equally important group.  This kind of collateral damage can create a Public Relations nightmare.

In order to ensure that your communication efforts don't create unintended negative consequences, you should think through your messages before you begin publicly communicating them.  Once you've developed a message, ask yourself how it might be received by each and every group that impacts your ability to achieve your goals.  If a message has the potential to spark a negative response from an important group, consider revising or rewording it.

This may seem like a tedious process, but it is a worthwhile one.  By taking the time to think through these questions, you decrease the likelihood that you will be forced to expend valuable time and energy cleaning up a Public Relations mess -- one that could easily have been prevented. 

Invite Frank Williams to Speak

Leadership Corner

"An unsuccessful manager blames failure on his obligations; the effective manager turns them to his own advantage."

- Henry Mintzberg

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

- Dale Carnegie

How to subscribe to this newsletter

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