Matthew P. Block Enterprises

Okay, maybe public relations doesn’t exactly have nothing to do with journalists. Building relationships with journalists is an important part of a strong public relations strategy. But it is only a small part. Here’s why:

Just like tomatoes, the best public relations are home-grown. (tomatoes courtesy of Muffet on Flickr)

Public Relations are to Journalists as Tomatoes are to Walmart

Saying that public relations is trying to get mentioned on the news is like saying that tomatoes come from Walmart. Sure, that’s where a lot of people go for theirs, but if that’s your only source you’re missing out on some great possibilities. Everyone knows if you want a great tomato you have to grow it yourself, or get it from someone who grew it themselves. While you can get some good stuff even at Walmart at the right time, it’s never as good as what you do yourself.

Public relations is the same way. If you focus on building solid public relations yourself, your business will see way more benefits over the long term than depending on some large corporate entity with their own interests in mind rather than yours (in this case the news media, not Walmart).

It all starts with doing a great job in a unique way. Doing something that creates a great customer experience. Something that makes people want to come back to your business again, & gets them excited enough about what you did for them that they’ll tell other people about you.

Once you’ve done that, it’s all about putting systems in place to make sure you build relationships with those people who are excited about what your business does for them & that they don’t forget about you. Once you’ve done that, you can go  out fishing for new business through advertising or other methods of amplifying your brand to get more people excited & into that system.

That’s the basis for a solid public relations strategy. Sure, journalists are part of that, but their just one group among many: your customers, prospects, suppliers, neighbors, strategic partners, governments, investors, & anyone else you interact with are also an important part of your strategy. So next time you want to work on better public relations, don’t just concentrate on press relations. Look at all your opportunities, especially the ones that allow you to communicate with customers & prospects unfiltered!