4. They may help you out with your business. Maybe they will give you some testimonials or endorsements for your products or services.

5. You might gain some valuable referrals from them. They may also join your affiliate program and make sales for your business.

6. They might offer you some free advertising space on their web site or in their e-zine for your help. You could also exchange advertising with them.

7. You both could end up developing a new product or service together. The product or service could be a combination of your current ones.

8. They might purchase products you sell and become one of your best customers. You could sell them many back end products or services in future.

There are probably many other benefits you could get from helping a new online business owner. Always remember to help them out because it's nice thing to do and not just to benefit your own business. ----

But which of above “negativities” is serious enough that it obviously must become your corrective public relations goal because, unattended, it will lead to seriously hurtful behaviors? For example, clarify misconception? Spike that rumor? Correct false assumption? Fix those inaccuracies? Or yet another offensive perception that could lead to negative results?

With your public relations goal thus established, you can assure you’ll achieve it by picking right communications strategy from three choices available to you to show you HOW to reach your goal. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. But be sure your new strategy naturally compliments your new public relations goal.

So what will your message emphasize when you address your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way of thinking?

Select your best writer to prepare message because s/he must put together some very special, corrective language. Words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to behaviors you have in mind.

Happily, next step is easy. You select communications tactics to carry your message to attention of your target audience. Making certain that tactics you select have a record of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

Keep in mind that HOW one communicates often affects credibility of message, so you may wish to deliver it in smaller meetings and presentations rather than through a higher-profile media announcement.

You’ll soon feel pressure for signs of progress. And that will lead to a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Employing many of same questions used in first benchmark session, you will now be watching carefully for signs that communications tactics have succeeded in altering offending perception in your direction. Remember that you can always accelerate program by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

This bears repeating – successful managers everywhere generally use every public relations weapon they can lay their hands on, and that includes strategic, rapid-fire print and broadcast tactics.

But those same competitive managers also know that above all, they need an aggressive blueprint such as this one that will deliver planned behavior change among their most important outside audiences leading directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

end

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com