Trap #4: I can't have what I want.

Truth: Often as entrepreneurs, we feel that we must follow a set of rules about how to "do" entrepreneurship. These rules may or may not match what we want as entrepreneurs, leading us to feel like we can't have what we want. For example, you might identify that you want to structure your business so that you don't work on Friday afternoons. In response, you might hear a voice in your head that says something like, "You'll never be successful unless you work as many hours as possible."

You get to want what you want. In my own life, and lives of my clients, I've noticed that more closely aligned my life is with what I want - more easily my business flows to me. Here's why: when you are doing something you don't want to do or don't like to do, it drains precious mental, emotional and physical energy from you. Remember a time when you were so engaged in an activity that you forgot to look at clock. You might have forgotten to eat lunch or missed an appointment. When you're that "high on life", you create energy. When you do what you deeply want, your energy flows in a positive direction, creating opportunities that might not have previously existed.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life. Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633 or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter "Insights for Savvy" at http://www.metavoice.org.

Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life. Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633 or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter "Insights for the Savvy" at http://www.metavoice.org.

Time-honored strategies are applied to achieve new PR goal – change existing perception, create perception where there isn’t any, or reinforce it. And this is followed by preparation of a persuasive, compelling and believable message designed to alter perception of that key target audience in organization’s direction.

Big operators tend to be strongest (and financially able) in marshalling a variety of high-impact communications tactics to carry corrective message to eyes and ears of members of key target audience. Everything from emails, media interviews and newsletters to speeches, brochures, consumer meetings and facility tours.

Finally, leaving little to chance, many large organizations go back to field to measure perception change among members of their key target audience in order to track how their public relations activity has actually moved perception of that key target audience in desired direction.

In this way, success of a large organization PR effort easily can be gauged.

3) Problem-solving muscle – here’s how public relations blueprint can actually work for you, step by step, as a department, division or subsidiary manager.

You and public relations people assigned to your business, non-profit or association unit, sit down and list and prioritize your most important outside audiences.

You and your team interact with members of key target audience and ask a lot of questions about how they perceive your operation. Watch for negatives.

You gather data and use them to set your public relations goal – i.e., correct that inaccuracy, clarify that misconception, fix that false assumption.

Then you select one of three available strategies that will show you how to reach that goal: create perception where there may be none, change existing perception, or reinforce it.

Now you and your PR team prepare a persuasive, compelling, factual and believable message designed to alter most hurtful perceptions among members of your key target audience.

Here, you select from among dozens of communications tactics that will carry your message to eyes and ears of your target audience. Everything from media interviews, personal meetings and emails to speeches, brochures and newsletters. You may even speed things up by adding more communications tactics, and by increasing certain key tactic frequencies.

To nail down results, you and your PR team again monitor perceptions of key target audience members, again asking questions, but this time watching carefully for signs that negatives you discovered are actually being altered. And most important, that your target audience perception is moving in your direction.

You’ll know your public relations effort is a winner when you successfully apply your business, non-profit or association resources to persuading your key external stakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to success of your department, division or subsidiary.

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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 communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com