Use search engines effectively. If building a highly focused, relevant site to display your products and services gets you to first base with search engines, then building "bridge" pages will get you rounding third and headed for home!

The term "bridge page" characterizes a web page that focuses on one keyword phrase throughout entire page. You should build dozens, if not hundreds, of these pages, each of which focuses on one keyword phrase a potential customer would use to find you in a search engine. You should then submit these pages to individual search engines and monitor them for traffic they produce.

Accept Change As a FACT of Life! Understand that creating a successful online business requires commitment to a process of constant promotion and continuous education. You must stay current on cost- effective search engine and directory promotion techniques for driving traffic to your site as well as any factors specifically affecting your industry online.

Accept fact that change happens online at two speeds: fast and faster! Just when you think you have everything figured out, a search engine changes its rules, or starts charging for services, or goes from important to irrelevant in blink of an eye.

Your ability to predict change, master it, and "roll with punches" will determine your long-term success or failure online.

If there is a tough part in our brief and logical plan, this is it. You need a really good, corrective message for delivery to your key target audience. It must be clear as spring water, VERY persuasive and, of course, unvarnished truth. Prepare a draft, then try it out on two or three members of your external audience, then adjust as needed.

Now we come to those “beasts of burden” we discussed up front, communications tactics themselves. These foot soldiers, to mix a metaphor, will carry your corrective message to eyes and ears of members of target audience. A pretty important step, so choose well.

Luckily, you have a ton at your disposal. Emails, personal meetings, news releases, radio interviews and special events. Or, letters-to-the-editor, face-to-face meetings, speeches and open houses. A long list.

Your work is not quite over. How do you know whether your brief and logical plan is working?

The answer is, you will not know for certain until you and your colleagues get back into field and talk to members of that all-important key audience population all over again.

I know, I know, that’s time consuming and a powerful lot of work. But it’s worth it! What you want to question those folks about, of course, is same topics you raised first time around. Only now, you’re looking for altered perceptions.

For example, does second set of responses indicate that you were successful in clarifying misconception? Or that inaccurate belief is morphing into your version? Or, that irritating (and potentially dangerous) rumor has been laid to rest?

If, however, feedback shows more work is needed, it’s back to drawing board for a better mix and frequency of higher-impact communications tactics. Plus, another look at your message – was it clear enough? Were best “hot buttons” pressed? Did you include right facts and figures to support your case?

Fact is, Pot ‘o Gold at end of this rainbow is consistency. When you gather responses showing a consistently positive pattern, that brief and logical plan of yours is beginning to produce success promised by fundamental premise of public relations.

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