As we discussed it, I agreed this was a perfect business opportunity! I pointed out that this was a high-priced, high-margin product with relatively low shipping costs. We base our business strategy on establishing relationships with our customers and we can do that best with fewer customers. After all, we’re not trying to be a Wal-Mart or a Dollar Store.

It had advantage of being a product that requiring a good deal of expertise. Which DVD player is best? Which models fit in which vehicles? There was even potential for information products like plans for customizing older vehicles to accept a DVD player.

Imagine long-term potential for offering DVD movies that play well to a traveling audience. Marie-Lynn will be able to warn her customers about movies with car crashes and high-speed chases that may give driver a nervous breakdown, and she can recommend movies that keep her own daughter occupied. Moreover, whom do you think her customers will come back to when they change vehicles? As we talked, we both became excited about possibilities.

I was convinced "DVD Players for Your Car" could be a perfect application of Ride Wave philosophy. Then Marie-Lynn also told me her research showed her that mobile and wireless networking products were selling well now. Everyone wants an always-on Internet connection, and more and more people have multiple computers in their house that they want to network without drilling holes and running wires.

She was thinking about starting a business selling mobile and wireless networking technology and she would include "DVD Players for Your Car" business with it. After all, there isn’t any type of device more mobile than a car, is there? She was worried she might not sell enough car DVD players to make a profit and mobile networking was a high-end market and there weren’t many people doing it. She was also worried that she might not have expertise people were looking for when it came to DVD players... after all, she didn’t even have one in her car yet. She was still shopping!

There’s a good chance many of you will have same experience, though not necessarily with DVD players and mobile networking products. You will have doubts about your idea and doubts about your expertise. You will worry that you won’t make enough sales of one product and you’ll be tempted to add other products to your online store. I’ll tell you same thing I told Marie- Lynn.

Don’t lose focus! The "DVD Player for Your Car" idea is excellent. It would only get lost in a "Mobile and Wireless Networking" Web site.

Remember: Your brand, your business name and its reputation, is your most valuable asset. Your must build and protect your brand over anything else. Your brand will be true secret of your success and source of long-term security of your business and your income. Think of your brand as your position in hearts and minds of your customers. Where are you in hearts and minds of your customers? Remember your business strategy and you have every chance of success. It’s easy to get distracted and lose your focus. Stay on track!

Now you must carefully select which of above aberrations qualifies as your corrective public relations goal – for example, clarify misconception, spike that rumor, correct false assumption or fix certain other inaccuracies.

Now, if you pick wrong strategy to show you how to reach your goal, it will feel like you’re eating Roast Turkey without stuffing. Fact is, you can only achieve your PR goal by picking right strategy from three choices available to you, change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. And take care that your new strategy is a natural fit with that new public relations goal.

Sooner or later you will have to address your key stakeholder audience in a way that will help persuade them to your way of thinking. So assign task to your very best writer because s/he must put together some very special, corrective language. Words, by way, 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 targeted.

Here you take an easy step – select communications tactics needed to carry your message to attention of your target audience. Checking, of course, that tactics you select are known to reach folks like your audience members. Dozens are available from speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

Because HOW one communicates often affects believability of message, you may wish to deliver it in smaller meetings or presentations rather than high-profile media such as a news release..

Questions will arise as to indications of progress. That will be your signal to schedule a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. You will use many of same questions as in first benchmark session. But you will now be watching carefully for signs that offending perception is actually moving in your direction.

A fortunate reality in public relations business is that these matters usually can be accelerated by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

Yes, as a manager, it may surprise you that a workable public relations blueprint like this one will help you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them to behave in a way that leads to success of your department, division or subsidiary.

But it’s no surprise that people you deal with behave like everyone else – they act upon their perceptions of facts they hear about you and your operation. Leaving you little choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move those key external audiences to action.

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