In my view, raising money for new businesses is a skill best left to others, but smart, aggressive communications is not. As entrepreneur, you cannot rely on your financing source to create broad public exposure your business needs if it is to survive. Ideally from Day 1, you must take lead in this vital effort accepting fact that good results come only after careful planning and implementation of a realistic and workable public relations strategy.

Before you achieve real growth and prosperity, your target audiences must not only become aware that your company exists, they must be motivated to take action. Doing something about how your business is perceived means a well-planned public relations program that can reach, persuade and move those prospects to action.

And, by way, not just prospects. Other target audiences need public relations attention, too, if they are to take actions you desire – employees, residents and leaders of community, unions, suppliers and activists. Put another way, (and paraphrasing advertising great, Bruce Barton), you will have relations – of some kind – with your internal and external audiences whether you want them or not!

At root of it all, is a simple truism we all know but tend to forget: people act on their perception of facts. If small business owner is to have an effect on those perceptions, he/she must deal with them promptly and effectively.

So question for you, Ms. or Mr. Small Business Wannabe, is, have you thought about some of unattended perceptions out there that could nudge your fledgling business closer to bankruptcy than success? Perceptions that, if left unattended, may well result in actions that run counter to those you and your banker may desire?

For example:

0 If sales prospects are unaware of your product or service, you will not get them as customers.

0 And if those customers don’t remain convinced of value of your product or service, you lose them.

0 If employees believe you don’t care about them, productivity suffers.

0 If a minority person believes you discriminate when you don’t, a host of unnecessary problems may ensue.

0 If community residents don’t perceive your business as a good place to work, you have employee hiring and retention problems.

0 If insurance carriers perceive you as a bad risk, they don’t provide business coverage you need.

0 If journalists are suspicious of your motives and you don’t convince them otherwise, you get “bad press.”

0 If business people believe what some competitors say about your firm, that joint venture you want so badly may not come about.

Which is precisely why this article is titled “A Winning Public Relations Game Plan for 2002.” Winning, because plan is based squarely on reality that people’s perceptions of facts directly affect their behaviors. And that something CAN be done about those underlying perceptions, especially in a land celebrated for free exchange of ideas.

I believe this is Rosetta Stone of public relations, i.e., a clue to understanding that has provided knowledge and experience needed to effectively address both positive and negative challenges posed by public opinion in a free society.

Fortunately, public relations will continue to create, change or reinforce public opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-action those people whose behaviors affect organization. When behavioral changes become apparent, and meet program’s original behavior modification goal, that public relations venture can be called a success.

And so it will be again in 2002, hopefully a year in which American economy again points to growth and expansion.

Prioritize Your Audiences

If you follow a game plan similar to this one, you would start with a priority-ranking of those audiences with an interest in your organization, often referred to as stakeholders or “publics.” Included would be customers, prospects, employees, media, business community and local thought- leaders as well as a number of other possible interest groups.

What Do They Think of You?

As time allows, interaction of one kind or another with key audiences will provide you with their impressions of your organization, in particular areas where problems may be brewing. This is information gathering, opinion sampling, informal polling if you will, but essential to any public relations effort. If resources are available, a modest opinion poll of priority audience would be helpful.

How Much Behavioral Change is Needed?

With opinion sampling underway, it’s a good time to focus on possibly negative behaviors these impressions, these perceptions have created. Once they are identified and understood, a marker can be set down establishing degree of behavioral change that realistically can be expected and monitored.

This becomes program goal against which program will finally be measured.