And very same goal will stand as your behavior modification objective so that you can measure your progress.

But here, question always arises as to just how you will get to that goal. You need a strategy to show you way, and you have three choices: create opinion/perception where there may be none, change existing opinion or reinforce it. Fortunately your goal will identify which strategy you should select.

Still, nothing happens until you write a truly responsive message and transmit it to members of your target audience. You must convince them that what you discovered in way of rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions or wrong-headed beliefs is simply not true. But do try for believability and clarity. And, above all, make your message persuasive and compelling.

Meanwhile, a whole stable of “beasts of burden” await your pleasure – communications tactics capable of carrying that hard-won message direct to your audience members’ eyes and ears. And there are scores and scores of them in that stable – articles, interviews, newsletters, personal meetings, op-eds, emails, speeches and brochures among many others.

Impatience always grows at this point as you wait for signs that your public relations program is working. But that’s signal to once again interact with members of your target audience. The difference second time around is that you’re looking for signs that their perceptions of your organization have been altered by your message through its aggressive delivery system. So get out there and, again, ask lots of questions.

If things aren’t moving fast enough for you, you may want to add a few more communications tactics to mix, as well as increasing their frequency. Your message should also be vetted again for factual validity and clarity.

Gradually, perceptions, and thus behaviors of your key, target audiences will begin moving in your direction, leaving little doubt as to where best PR value can be found.

I can tell you from personal experience that there is no more satisfying moment in practice of public relations.

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Bells & Whistles: Where, When and What

Deploying rich multimedia sites are becoming more and more a design requirement. However, objective of your site should be determining factor between using D/HTML or Flash for multimedia content. Exposure and generation of revenue solidly discounts use of Flash as major site component - search placement is too important to sacrifice for a simple thing such shiny buttons. D/HTML provides an attractive alternative to ensuring that your site is indexed properly by search engines.

However, Flash should not be put out to pasture based on this: Limited Flash content can still be an asset on your Internet presence if used judisciously. Corporate Intranets are another matter entirely: Flash provides perfect delivery vehicle for rich business applications, where DHTML would be more of a liability than an asset - e.g. training material, presentations and etcetera.

In conclusion, objective of a site should determine which of two technologies are preferred medium for mutimedia delivery.

Riaan Pieterse is the CEO and founder of Kerberos Internet Services CC, South Africa. Having spent a number of years conducting various consulting assignments in the Far East, Middle East, Africa and Europe to businesses and governments alike, Riaan has a solid understanding of the business and technology issues in today's market.