Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Net word count is 670 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2003. Why Small Business Must Turn to PR
If small business had no important outside audiences, it wouldn’t exist.
But since they do have external “publics,” it’s doubly unfortunate when those same small business owners seem unconcerned about 
very outside folks whose behaviors can place a choke-hold on their business!
And worse, are so casual about public relations, best way to move those behaviors in their direction.
Is that you? What’s problem? Can you think of any other way to marshall those groups of people you need so badly if your business is to succeed?
Face it. You must turn to public relations if you are really serious about getting those important outside people to support what you are trying to do.
And best part is, there’s no mystery about how to do it!
Start today by listing your important outside audiences in priority order. No doubt, customers and prospects will place #1 and #2. But think carefully about your local and trade media as well as community residents and leaders, suppliers and like. The test for adding an external audience to your worry list is this: if left unattended, could its perceptions and behaviors hurt your business?
Since there is no other affordable way to find out how each of your target audiences perceive your business, products, services and operations, you must take time to do it yourself along with your colleagues. Interact with members of that key target audience and probe their perceptions with plenty of questions. Watch for misconceptions, inaccuracies and rumors that need to be corrected. Stay alert to negativity of any kind.
This will let you decide how much you will try to alter perceptions among each audience. It also becomes behavior modification goal against which you will measure your progress.
