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3 Ways to Improve Public Relations for Your Business

Posted on by Rick E

A good product stays just that – a good product – unless it gets a boost that enhances its marketability.

Don’t let the fruits of your labor slip into anonymity.

Access your target market through a strategic marketing plan and effective public relations effort.

Increased publicity will give your business the boost it needs.

Networking

One of the most instinctive ways to build your public relations is through networking.

Whether consciously or not, you form a network with individuals you encounter as you build up your business.

These can come in the form of long-time customers or corporate partners.

Even your employees and personal friends are part of your network.

If you’re still starting out, it’s time to prioritize these relationships.

Take care of your employees by giving benefits and convincing them your vision is worth believing.

Individuals whose beliefs are aligned with yours will be ready to support your enterprise.

Similarly, customers who follow your work and favor your product can recommend you to their own friends and family.

Aside from these person-to-person cases, you can also expand your network the old-fashioned way.

Forge partnerships with like-minded individuals and organizations relevant to your field.

You’ll be able to help each other out when it comes to resources and promotion.

Build Your Reputation

To impress people enough to convince them to invest requires plenty of self-exposure.

Showcase your product – and make it appealing.

Strategize your marketing plan and assess your product’s strengths and weaknesses.

Develop your product’s strong points and emphasize your advantages over the competition.

You can start small by relying on your personal network to endorse you.

But once you’re ready, you can present yourself to prospective clients.

This may come in the form of press releases or public presentations.

If you’re pitching to a journalist, make sure you craft the right message.

You can tease them with a preliminary pitch that will get them interested enough to ask for more details.

For public presentations, make sure to strike a balance between content and delivery.

Prepare an outline of all your main ideas with a professionally-made PowerPoint to boot.

This keeps your audience’s attention while getting all the important points across.

Social Media

The Internet plays an undeniably huge role in our lives.

Use it to promote your business by tapping into social media.

Make a site where you can advertise your product or service.

You can see how well you’ve drawn your target market in by monitoring site traffic.

The more people follow your page, share your tweets, or visit your website, the more likely that you’ve caught their attention.

It also makes your profile available to interested investors.

Keep an eye out for influencers online who can help promote you to virtual audiences.

These influencers will also require pitches that are relevant to their own interests.

This is best for making sure you contact the right individual or organization.

As much as social media can give you a leverage, always keep yourself grounded in your original objectives.

Don’t overstep personal boundaries to get undue exposure.

You need to maintain your credibility to keep your clients.

Conclusion

Building your public relations is important for promoting your product.

This can be achieved in a number of ways.

Reach out to your personal network, or expose yourself to a wider audience through presentations and social media.

A combination of the two is even better.

This ensures more feedback from a greater number of people.

 

References

Honeysett, Alex. “4 Steps to Pitching a Guest Post (and Getting a “Yes!”).” How to Pitch a Guest Blog. Accessed October 21, 2015.
“Measuring and Improving Your PR”. Queensland Government Business and Industry Portal. October 9, 2014. Accessed October 21, 2015.
Raposo, Kevin “How to Pitch: Outreach Tips from Journalists.” BuzzStream. May 13, 2014. Accessed October 21, 2015.

Featured Image: “PR” by Niuton may on flickr.com

4 Tips to Build Networks After Your Business Presentation

Posted on by Rick E

Tangible results are necessary in enacting your core message. A business presentation is successful when audience members have been converted into clients.

This is where building networks and partnerships come in handy.

Here are four of the simplest ways to network after you pitch:

Initiate Dialog

Most presenters forget that their presentation isn’t a one-way street. It doesn’t end after all the speaker’s personal ideas and opinions have been exhausted. In fact, it’s only just beginning.

A dialogue with the audience is necessary to keep them engaged. Prompt them with questions, or take occasional pauses in your speech to let them think about what you’ve just said.

Open the floor to observations, questions, and concerns. Prepare conversation starters to let your audience know that you’re interested in cultivating professional relationships.

Maintain Visibility

Maintaining a visible image impresses your audience and is vital in making new contacts. Your sincerity must be seen in your actions and heard in your words.

Refrain from checking your watch or phone. These actions show your lack of focus or interest in reaching out to them. Expressing nonverbal cues such as handshakes, smiles, and eye contact also affirm your presence and increase your credibility.

Expressing nonverbal cues such as handshakes, smiles, and eye contact also affirm your presence and increase your credibility.

Pay Attention

Presentations don’t always need to be formal and serious. Step away from the podium and pay more attention to your audience.

According to Forbes contributor, Andrew Vest, one of the ways to effective networking is to never disregard anyone. Everyone in your audience is important in some way, whether they be direct decision makers or people who may have notable connections.

Listen to everything your audience has to say. But don’t just focus on their responses but also on the intent and emotions being reflected. This helps you understand how they perceive you and your message.

Prompt Follow-Up

Fostering partnerships starts with exchanging contact details. However, business cards alone can’t make your business grow.

Develop and use these contacts to thrive for new connections. Maintain the engagement before your speech ends. Set a goal for networking follow-ups.

In doing follow-ups, first determine whom you’ll contact immediately. Then, begin re-introducing yourself and reiterate your goal. Maximize the use of various networking mediums such as SMS, voicemail, and email.

To make it easier to maintain networks right after presentations, LearnVest’s Emma Miller suggests that you treat your connections like friends. This makes it more natural to do.

Conclusion

Effective networking strategies generate new leads and nurture professional relationships. Follow these tips for business growth and professional success.

Looking for high-quality presentations for your business? Give us a call at 1-858-217-5144 or request for a free quote from SlideGenius today.

 

References

“Email Marketing Tips: The Art of Pitching through the Inbox.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2014. Accessed June 29, 2015.
Miller, Emma. “Want More Work Contacts? Try The 80/20 Rule For Unselfish Networking.” Forbes. Accessed June 30, 2015.
Vest, Andrew. “How To Network The Right Way: Eight Tips.” Forbes. Accessed June 29, 2015.

Networking Tips: What to Do After Your Presentation

Posted on by Rick E

There’s still an opportunity to connect with your audience even after you step down the podium. Start networking at the end of your presentations. You can solidify your core message and start to build meaningful relationships with potential clients and partners.

How do you go about it? We’ve compiled these networking tips to help you work the room:

1. Think Ahead

Don’t just stick around after your presentation and wait for people to approach you with their questions. You have to be pro-active in your networking.

Open an avenue for conversation. Let your audience know that you’re willing to talk at the end of your presentation. You can include this in your closing spiel.

2. Make it About Them

Body language and physical cues are important in conveying that you’re present and available during conversations. Don’t repeatedly check your watch or phone. Don’t let your eyes stray around the room. Instead, show warmth and enthusiasm in the tone of your voice.

Maintain eye contact throughout the conversation and end it with a firm handshake. According to the Young Entrepreneur Council‘s Andrew Vest, being sincere and genuinely interested in meeting new people, rather than with a hidden agenda in mind, is more effective in establishing lasting relationships with your network.

3. Relax and Be Yourself

In relation to the previous point, being true to yourself is essential in gaining people’s trust. Tensing up because you feel the need to expand your network after a presentation might actually drive people away.

One way to make this process easier is by allowing the other person to share their thoughts about what you presented. Let them ask questions or give feedback. When you listen attentively to what they have to say, you’ll easily figure out how to work the conversation.

4. Find Common Ground

Exchanging contact details is probably the most crucial of all networking tips. Lasting business relationships aren’t built from a few minutes of chatting in an auditorium or boardroom. The real work begins with connecting and following up with the people you met.

To maintain your connection with previously established relationships, make sure to find common ground from the get-go. This doesn’t just mean you’re both in the same industry or have the same work. You can find interests you share on a personal level, like your inspiration to venture into the field, etc. You can also put people at ease by offering a mutual benefit to them.

The Takeaway: Invest in Networks

Thankfully, today’s technology also makes this step more convenient. Write them an email or connect via social sites like LinkedIn.

Re-introduce yourself briefly and bring up the points you talked about. For this part, it’s important that you take note of individual conversations so your messages can have a more personal feel.

You can also include a link to your uploaded PowerPoint deck, especially if you’re connecting with someone who was particularly interested in your presentation.

Keep these networking tips in mind to maintain engagement even after your presentation is over. Your core message won’t get lost if you take the time to converse and build relationships.

As with most things in life, a business thrives in communication and interaction.

 

Reference

Vest, Andrew. “How To Network The Right Way: Eight Tips.” Forbes. Accessed July 01, 2014.
Featured Image: VFS Digital Design via Flickr

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