Do you have the courage to do what you believe in? Do you have the courage to complete the task even though the whole world thinks you are crazy? Do you have the courage to continue with your dreams when they appear to be impossible dreams? Or do you just cave in and find good excuses as to why they were impossible? The question is: Do you have the courage to follow your heart?

It seems to us that one of the traits of successful people is their ability to keep focussed on the ‘inner desire’ no matter what. They are people who believe in themselves and can close their ears to people who say ‘it can’t be done! ‘It’s impossible’ ‘You’re crazy!’ They close their minds to people who want to impose limits on their lives. They have the ability to focus on the positive at all times. They don’t see obstacles they only see the solutions.

These are not exceptional people. You can do this too. All you need to do is eradicate the limiting beliefs you have that tell you that you are not good enough or ‘people like us don’t do these things, or it’s all right for them but me…………. To be like them, successful, all you have to do is believe and live by the understanding that everything you achieve or fail to achieve is a direct result of your own thoughts.
People who make a difference in life do not merely, TRY to do something they Do it. To try to do something is just to create an illusion in your thoughts. Have a go at the following experiment:

IF you are sitting down…. TRY to stand up. Did you succeed? Then you didn’t try, you did it. Did you remain seated? Then you didn’t succeed but with effort and commitment, unless you have a disability, you can succeed. The point is. TRY is a nothing word designed to ensure that whenever you start anything new you don’t put full commitment and courage into it. You just go in half hearted and hope it works. Guess what; whatever you put in you get out. So go in half hearted and get out indifference i.e. no success. Go in with full commitment and courage and you will succeed. You may not succeed in the time scale you wish but we promise, you will succeed. All you have to do is,
focus your thoughts and energy,
work hard and make effort for as long as it takes,
be courageous and remove or go around the obstacles you meet on the way.

You can achieve whatever you want, all you have to have is the belief that you can do it. The belief that you can make a difference in this world.

Just stop for a moment. Ask yourself:

Do I believe I can make a difference in the world?

If I were to die tomorrow, what would I be remembered for?

Are you happy with that?

It’s your choice. You can make a difference in the world, if you want to. You choose.

The mountain that stops you achieving is inside you. It’s your fear. It’s what stops you from being a success.

It’s what allows you to say I’ll try rather than I’ll go for it 100%.
It’s those thoughts that constantly show you the negative, why it cannot be done. The self defeating thoughts of why you are not the person to do it because you are not good enough. No one in your family has ever done it before. It’s the voice inside your head that belittles you, disapproves of what you are going to do and even shows contempt towards you.

Pierluigi Collina, a football referee now acknowledged to be the best referee in the world and one of the greatest referees of all time said:

“Faced with the choice between challenge and fear, I never have any doubts,
I’ll take challenge every time”

Do not allow yourself to be a victim of your thoughts. Allow yourself to live, to reach your dreams. You owe it to yourself to reach your dream. To achieve your potential. To make a difference to the world. You need to write more on your epitaph than S/he survived until s/he was ?? years of age.

It’s quite simple to succeed in life: you have to be different to other people. You have to do things differently. You have to change those negative, disabling limiting beliefs. You have to keep focussed on the job in hand. You have to do it better than anyone else. When you put effort into thinking and talking and being better then naturally you feel better and you have a better life. Therefore you deserve to succeed because you are willing to keep going when others fall by the wayside.

Remember life is about learning not perfection. Go for it. You have the courage.

Graham and Julie
www.desktop-meditation.com

About the Author: To improve your intuition, initiative and energy levels please go to:www.desktop-meditation.com

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Focus is the key to a successful startup

The definition of a startup means you have very few resources to employ and little time to get them to do something valuable. The clock is always ticking, and the money (if you even have any) is running out by the day. With so little to leverage, you need to make sure that the focus of your company’s product offer is as razor sharp as possible.

Don’t be all you can be. Be as little as you can be.

Most startup companies fail because they try to be too many things to too many people right from the onset. They think of every possible option they could load into their product offer. While this may give them the feeling of being one of the “big boys,” the grim reality is they are not. In fact by trying to be too many things from the start, these companies often end up delivering no real value at all.

Instead of trying to be all things to all people, try being one thing to all people. Think of PayPal, the highly successful startup that allowed users to e-mail money over the Internet to each other. PayPal could have chosen a million options for their offer. They could have become an on-line credit card company, an auction site, a loan provider and so on. But what made the company successful was their focus on only one offer – e-mailing money from one person to the other.

PayPal did one simple thing so well that the industry giant eBay purchased them for $1.5 billion in 2002, even after eBay had already built the same service themselves. PayPal is a great example of a company keeping a sharp focus one doing on thing right even when so many great opportunities could have easily distracted them.

Bite off less than you can chew

Delivering your product to market is an amazing feat to begin with. Even still, a common problem among small companies is their inability to predict what it will take to actually support a product once it has gone to market. It’s easy to conceive complex products with lots of features.

But actually bringing that product to market and supporting its use with customers is a whole different story.

Instead of trying to roll out everything and the kitchen sink in your approach to market, just roll out the sink. If you find that you can support your product just fine after it’s been successfully selling in the first year, then go ahead and add to it. It’s a lot easier to add features along the way than it is to support features you don’t have the resources for to begin with.

You have ten seconds to get it right

Your customer has a life, even if you do not. They are being constantly bombarded with marketing messages from the latest movies releases to the newest type of shampoo. They don’t have the time or energy to stop their entire day to focus on just your product. So if you are lucky enough to have ten seconds of their attention, you had better make good use of it.

The exercise of developing your value proposition in ten seconds is a great way to distill down your feature set to those items that will get people’s attention right away. If it’s not going to add value to the ten second pitch, it’s not critical to your product’s success. If you can’t get your customer’s attention with the one key benefit to your product, the rest of your features will never see the light of day to begin with.

Stay on target gold leader

Your product launch is just the beginning of keeping your focus. Once you have brought your product to market and enjoyed some early success, it may become even harder to stay focused. Now you have customers calling you and recommending (or demanding!) features to be added and services to be provided. All of these distractions make it even harder to keep you and your team focused on a single goal.

Fortunately the process of keeping your resources focused post-launch is entirely the same. You need to pick your battles and allocate your resources toward the few initiatives that will be best served to do the one thing right that is truly driving your company. Serving the needs and whims of every customer sounds great, but it can also be a terrible detour when trying to keep the forward progress of your company moving.

If at any point during your journey you’re unsure whether or not you’re spending your time and resources effectively, just ask yourself one question, “Is this driving the core benefit of our product?”. If the answer is “yes”, you’re headed in the right direction.

About the Author: Wil Schroter is a serial entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. Wil has started and sold three multi-million dollar companies. He has been recognized as U.S. Small Business Person of the Year, twice as the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year(1999 & 2004), and is a member of the Business First Top 40 under forty. His latest book “Go Big or Go Home” will be available in 2005. Connect directly with Wil at wschroter@yahoo.com

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Because good public relations can alter individual perceptionand lead to changed behaviors among key outside audiences.And that can help business, non-profit and associationmanagers achieve their managerial objectives.

It all happens when you do something positive about thebehaviors of those important external audiences of yoursthat most affect your operation. In particular when youpersuade those key outside folks to your way of thinking,then help move them to take actions that allow yourdepartment, division or subsidiary to succeed.

I believe the key to good PR is this reality. People act ontheir own perception of the facts before them, which leadsto predictable behaviors about which something can bedone. When we create, change or reinforce that opinionby reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action thevery people whose behaviors affect the organization themost, the public relations mission is accomplished.

In other words, your public relations effort must involvemore than special events, brochures and news releases ifyou really want to get your money’s worth.

The payoff can make your day: membership applicationson the rise; customers starting to make repeat purchases;fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures;community leaders beginning to seek you out; welcomebounces in show room visits; prospects starting to dobusiness with you; higher employee retention rates,capital givers or specifying sources beginning to lookyour way, and even politicians and legislators starting toview you as a key member of the business, non-profit orassociation communities.

But who among your PR team really understands theblueprint outlined above and shows commitment to itsimplementation, starting with key audience perceptionmonitoring? Luckily, your PR people are already in theperception and behavior business, so they should be ofreal use for this initial opinion monitoring project.

Be certain that your public relations people really acceptwhy it’s SO important to know how your most importantoutside audiences perceive your operations, products orservices. Make sure they believe that perceptions almostalways result in behaviors that can help or hurt youroperation.

Talk it over with them, especially your game plan formonitoring and gathering perceptions by questioningmembers of your most important outside audiences.Questions along these lines: how much do you know aboutour organization? Have you had prior contact with us andwere you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiarwith our services or products and employees? Have youexperienced problems with our people or procedures?

Because it can run into real money using professionalsurvey firms to do the opinion monitoring work, you maywish to use those PR folks of yours in that capacity sincethey’re already in the perception and persuasion business.But, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking thequestions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths,false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies,misconceptions and any other negative perception thatmight translate into hurtful behaviors.

What your aiming at, obviously, is a PR goal that doessomething about the most serious distortions you discoverduring your key audience perception monitoring. Will itbe to straighten out that dangerous misconception?Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentiallypainful rumor cold?

Of course, without the right strategy to tell you how toproceed, you won’t get there at all. So keep in mind thatthere are just three strategic options available when itcomes to doing something about perception and opinion.Change existing perception, create perception where theremay be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick willtaste like horseradish on your pancakes, so be sure yournew strategy fits well with your new public relations goal.You wouldn’t want to select “change” when the factsdictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Here, you must come up with a well-written message and sendit to members of your target audience. It’s always a challengeto create an actionable message that will help persuade anyaudience to your way of thinking.

What you want now is your strongest writers because s/hemust build some very special, corrective language. Wordsthat are not merely compelling, persuasive and believable,but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opiniontowards your point of view and lead to the behaviors youhave in mind.

After your PR team has signed off on draft copy of yourmessage, you move on to the next selection process — thecommunications tactics most likely to carry your messageto the attention of your target audience. There are scoresthat are available.

From speeches, facility tours, emails andbrochures to consumer briefings, media interviews,newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But youmust be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reachfolks like your audience members.

An alert: you may wish to avoid too loud a voice withthis kind of message and unveil it before smaller meetingsand presentations rather than using higher-profile newsreleases, as the credibility of any message is fragile andalways at stake.

From this point forward, you’ll start getting requests forprogress reports, which tells you and your PR team to begina second perception monitoring session with members of yourexternal audience. You’ll want to use many of the samequestions used in the first benchmark session. But now,you will be on red alert for signs that the bad newsperception is being altered in your direction.

It does seem fortunate that such matters usually can beaccelerated simply by adding more communicationstactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

The value of public relations to managers becomes clearerwhen you realize that the people you deal with behave likeeveryone else – they act upon their perceptions of the factsthey hear about you and your operation. Which means youreally have little choice but to deal promptly and effectivelywith those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reachand move those key external audiences of yours to actionsyou desire.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

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Business, non-profit and association managers committing their public relations resources to (1) doing something about the behaviors of those important outside audiences that most affect their operation, (2) creating the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives, and (3) doing so by persuading those key outside folks to their way of thinking by helping to move them to take actions that allow their department, division or subsidiary to succeed – greatly increase the chances of success for their operation.

Thus, feeding the engine of their own economic growth AND that of the nation at large.

But, in reality, it takes more than good intentions for any manager to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors, something of profound importance to ALL business, non-profit and association managers.

What they need is a simple PR blueprint that gets everyone working towards the same external audience behaviors insuring that the organization’s public relations effort stays sharply focused.

For example, a blueprint like this: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

In that way, those same business, non-profit and association managers can see results such as new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; customers making repeat purchases; prospects starting to work with them; membership applications on the rise; capital givers or specifying sources looking their way, and even bounces in showroom visits.

But HOW those managers pull that off forms the real challenge.

Here’s how the best of them can do it. They find out who among their key external audiences is behaving in ways that help or hinder the achievement of their objectives. Then, they list them according to how severely their behaviors affect their organization.

But precisely HOW do most members of that key outside audience perceive their organization? If the budget to pay for what could be costly professional survey counsel isn’t there, Ms. or Mr. manager and his or her PR colleagues will have to monitor those perceptions themselves. Actually, they should be quite familiar with perception and behavior matters.

Getting that activity under way means meeting with members of that outside audience and asking questions like “Are you familiar with our services or products?” “Have you ever had contact with anyone from our organization? Was it a satisfactory experience?” And if you are that manager, you must be sensitive to negative statements, especially evasive or hesitant replies. And watch carefully for false assumptions, untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and potentially damaging rumors. When you find such, they will need to be corrected, as they inevitably lead to negative behaviors.

The job now is to select the specific perception to be altered which then becomes your public relations goal. You obviously want to correct those untruths, inaccuracies, misconceptions or false assumptions.

One of the painful aspects of the whole drill is that a PR goal without a strategy to show you how to get there, is like a three-bean salad without the beans. So, as you select one of three strategies (especially constructed to create perception or opinion where there may be none, or change or reinforce it,) what you want to do is insure that the goal and its strategy match each other. You wouldn’t want to select “change existing perception” when current perception is just right suggesting that “reinforce” strategy.

The moment has come when you must create a compelling message carefully constructed to alter your key target audience’s perception, as specified by your public relations goal.

Keep in mind that you can always combine your corrective message with another news announcement or presentation which may give it more credibility by downplaying the apparent need for such a correction.

The content of the message must be compelling and quite clear about what perception needs clarification or correction, and why. Of course you must be truthful and your position logically explained and believable if it is to hold the attention of members of that target audience, and actually move perception in your direction.

Some allude to the communications tactics necessary to move your message to the attention of that key external audience, as “beasts of burden” because they must carry your persuasive new thoughts to the eyes and ears of those important outside people.

Actually, we have a wide choice because the list of tactics is long indeed. It includes letters-to-the-editor, brochures, press releases and speeches. Or, you might choose radio and newspaper interviews, personal contacts, facility tours or customer briefings. There are scores available and the only selection requirement is that the communications tactics you choose have a record of reaching people just like the members of your key target audience.

Of course, things can always be accelerated by adding more communications tactics, AND by increasing their frequencies.

It won’t be long before those around you will be asking about progress. But you will already be hard at work remonitoring perceptions among your target audience members to test the effectiveness of your communications tactics. Using questions similar to those used during your earlier monitoring session, you’ll now become beady-eyed looking for signs that audience perceptions are beginning to move in your general direction.

Yes, performed in this manner, public relations obviously does feed the engine of YOUR economic growth and, thus, that of the nation at large.

But do keep your eye on the core of this approach: persuade your most important outside audiences with the greatest impacts on your organization to your way of thinking. Then move them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary prevail.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

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For business, non-profit and association managers, is itpublicity that delivers newspaper and talk show mentionsbacked up by colorful brochures and videos, combinedwith special events that attract a lot of people?

Or could your business, non-profit or association PR dollarbe better spent on public relations activity that createsbehavior change among your key outside audiences thatleads directly to achieving your managerial objectives? Anddoes so by persuading your most important outsideaudiences to your way of thinking, then moves them to takeactions that help your department, division or subsidiarysucceed?

What we’re talking about is the kind of PR that lets youdo something positive about the behaviors of those externalstakeholders of yours that MOST affect your organization.Which means the right PR really CAN alter individualperception and lead to changed behaviors that help youwin.

Here’s a recipe for you: people act on their own perceptionof the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviorsabout which something can be done. When we create, changeor reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect theorganization the most, the public relations mission isaccomplished.

And it can generate results like increased membershipapplications; prospects starting to work with you; customersmaking repeat purchases; capital givers or specifying sourceslooking your way; stronger relationships with the educational,labor, financial and healthcare communities; and evenimproved relations with government agencies and legislativebodies,

Once the program gets rolling, you also should see resultssuch as new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures;rebounds in showroom visits; community service andsponsorship opportunities; enhanced activist group relations,and expanded feedback channels, not to mention newthoughtleader and special event contacts.

To garner such results your PR crew – agency or staff – mustbe committed to you, as the senior project manager, to the PRblueprint and its implementation, starting with target audienceperception monitoring.

As you know, its extremely important that your key outsideaudiences see your operations, products or services in the mostpositive light. So make certain that your PR staff has boughtinto the whole effort. For example, do they accept the realitythat perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can helpor hurt your unit?

Review the PR blueprint with your PR team, especially theplan for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioningmembers of your most important outside audiences. Questionslike these: how much do you know about our organization?How much do you know about our services or products andemployees? Have you had prior contact with us and were youpleased with the interchange? Have you experienced problemswith our people or procedures?

IF the budget is available, survey firms obviously can handle theperception monitoring phases of your program. But rememberthat your PR people are also in the perception and behaviorbusiness and can pursue the same objective: identify untruths,false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies,misconceptions and any other negative perception that mighttranslate into hurtful behaviors.

But what about your public relations goal? You need a goalstatement that speaks to the aberrations that showed upduring your key audience perception monitoring. And itcould call for straightening out that dangerous misconception,or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or doing something aboutthat damaging rumor.

PR 101 says when you set a goal, you need a strategy thatshows you how to get there. Here, you have three strategicchoices when it comes to handling a perception or opinionchallenge: create perception where there may be none, changethe perception, or reinforce it. A bad strategy pick will tastelike lime zest on your veal chops, so be certain the newstrategy fits well with your new public relations goal. Forexample, you don’t want to select “change” when thefacts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Your PR team has their work cut out for them because nowthey must come up with just the right, corrective languagethat will persuade an audience to your way of thinking. Wordsthat are compelling, persuasive and believable AND clear andfactual.

You have little choice if you are to correct a perceptionby shifting opinion towards your point of view, leading tothe desired behaviors.

Message impact is also key in such a message, so sit downagain with your communications specialists and review yourmessage for that quality as well.. Then, select the communicationstactics most likely to carry your words to the attention of yourtarget audience. You can pick from dozens that are available.From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumerbriefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings andmany others. But be sure that the tactics you pick are known toreach folks just like your audience members.

The credibility of a message can depend on its delivery method.So, think about introducing it to smaller gatherings rather thanusing higher-profile tactics such as news releases or talk showappearances.

Calls for progress reports will send you and your PR folks backto the field for a second perception monitoring session withmembers of your external audience. Using many of the samequestions used in the first benchmark session, you’ll now bewatching very carefully for signs that the bad news perceptionis being altered in your direction.

If colleagues (or bosses) seem impatient for results, you can always accelerate things with more communications tactics and increased frequencies.

Folks act on their perceptions of the facts they hear about youand your operation. Which means you have next to no choicebut to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions bydoing what is necessary to reach and move those key externalaudiences of yours to actions you desire.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

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Are you a business, non-profit or association managerwho pretty much ignores your organization’s importantoutside audiences?

If that’s you, do you realize how difficult you’re makingit to achieve the important behavior changes you reallyneed and want? I mean changes that lead directly toachieving your department, division or subsidiary’sobjectives?

I’m talking about achieving new levels of membershipapplications; growing the repeat purchase rate; capitalgivers looking your way; attracting new prospects;expanding the list of organizations officially specifyingyour service and products; or suppliers newly motivatedto meet your strict quality and delivery requirements.

Start operating in your own best interest by taking acloser look at the public relations work underway onbehalf of your unit.

Is it focused more on communications tactics than upona workable, comprehensive plan for dealing with thosekey external audience behaviors that impact youroperation the most?

What may be needed is a refocus on the fundamentalpremise of public relations: People act on their ownperception of the facts before them, which leads topredictable behaviors about which something can bedone. When we create, change or reinforce that opinionby reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-actionthe very people whose behaviors affect the organizationthe most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

When you meet with the PR people assigned to your unit,be clear about the need to list and prioritize those keyexternal audiences, and then monitor how your unit isperceived by members of those audiences. That meansinteracting with those folks and asking lots of questions.Now, and only now, can you mount an effort to alterthose perceptions, and thus behaviors, in your direction.

You need to evaluate the data gathered during the perceptionmonitoring session. Is there a glaring inaccuracy about yourorganization mentioned by several members of that audience?Any false assumptions come bubbling up about your products,services or management? Are misconceptions, rumors ordistinctly negative attitudes obvious during your monitoringinterviews?

From these data, you frame your public relations goal. Forexample, spike that rumor, correct that inaccuracy, clarifythat misconception or “we’d better do a better job ofcommunicating our service benefits.”

Every good PR goal needs an equally good strategyshowing you how to achieve your goal. But when it comesto matters of opinion and perception, there are only threechoices available to you: reinforce existing perception/opinion, create perception where there is none, or changeexisting perception. Just be certain your choice of strategiesis a natural fit for your new PR goal.

Your public relations people should be especially usefulto you for the next step, writing a message positioned toalter perception among members of the target audience.You should, however, be closely involved in putting themessage together. It must be not only persuasive, butcompelling as well. And it must be very clear as to whythe offending perception is simply wrong, or unfair,including the language needed to correct, clarify or changeit.

I’m certain you will agree that, as you make the case foryour point of view, you must be believable.

No easy task to alter what people have come to believe,but certainly worth the effort.

Your public relations people will help you deliver yourmessage to the attention of members of your key targetaudience. They will identify the communications tacticsto help you do the job. As they will tell you, you have abroad choice of tactics such as newsletters, radio andnewspaper interviews, newsworthy special events,brochures, speeches and scores of others. The only caveathere, check carefully that your chosen tactics have a recordof reaching people like those who make up your targetaudience.

In short order, all concerned will wonder aloud whetherprogress is being made toward the public relations goal.Obviously, to satisfy yourself that offending perceptionsare actually being altered, leading to the behavior changeyou desire, you must remonitor the perceptions ofmembers of your target audience.

The difference this time is, you will be watching carefullyfor clear indications that perceptions are, in fact, beingaltered.

Now, if you’re not pleased with the rate of progress, add afew more communications tactics, as well as using themmore frequently, to increase the impact.

So, as a manager, you’ve pretty much ignored those importantoutside audiences until now. But, hopefully, these commentshave convinced you to ramp up your unit’s public relationseffort and pursue the behavior changes you really need andwant, and that lead directly to achieving your department,division or subsidiary’s objectives.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

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As a business, non-profit or association manager, whatdo you want?

Publicity that delivers newspaper and talk show mentions,or behavior change among your key outside audiencesthat leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?

Special events that attract a lot of people, or public relationsthat persuades your most important outside audiences toyour way of thinking, then moves them to take actions thathelp your department, division or subsidiary succeed?

Zippy brochures and videos, or a way for you to dosomething positive about the behaviors of those externalaudiences of yours that MOST affect your organization?

As a manager, what I believe you need to know about PRare two realities:

1) The right PR really CAN alter individual perception andlead to changed behaviors that help you succeed, and 2),your public relations effort must involve more than specialevents, brochures and news releases if you really want toget your money’s worth,

The underlying truth about PR goes this way: people acton their own perception of the facts before them, which leadsto predictable behaviors about which something can be done.When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching,persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very peoplewhose behaviors affect the organization the most, the publicrelations mission is accomplished.

And it can generate results like; prospects starting to workwith you; customers making repeat purchases; strongerrelationships with the educational, labor, financial andhealthcare communities; improved relations withgovernment agencies and legislative bodies, and evencapital givers or specifying sources looking your way

Once the program gets rolling, you also should see resultssuch as new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures;rebounds in showroom visits; membership applications on the rise;community service and sponsorship opportunities; enhancedactivist group relations, and expanded feedback channels,not to mention new thoughtleader and special event contacts.

That’s a lot of results from even a high-impact blueprint.

It almost goes without saying that your PR crew – agencyor staff – must be committed to you, as the senior projectmanager, to the PR blueprint and its implementation,starting with target audience perception monitoring.

Is it crucially important that your most important outsideaudiences really perceive your operations, products orservices in a positive light? Of course, so assure yourselfthat your PR staff has bought into the whole effort. Beespecially careful that they accept the reality that perceptionsalmost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt yourunit.

Sit down with your PR team and review the PR blueprintin detail, especially the plan for monitoring and gatheringperceptions by questioning members of your mostimportant outside audiences. Questions like these: howmuch do you know about our organization? How muchdo you know about our services or products andemployees? Have you had prior contact with us andwere you pleased with the interchange? Have youexperienced problems with our people or procedures?

Professional survey people obviously can handle theperception monitoring phases of your program, IF thebudget is available. But always remember that your PRpeople are also in the perception and behaviorbusiness and can pursue the same objective: identifyuntruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors,inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negativeperception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

What about your public relations goal? You need a goalstatement that speaks to the aberrations that showed upduring your key audience perception monitoring. Andit could call for straightening out that dangerousmisconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, ordoing something about that damaging rumor.

When you set a goal, you need a strategy that shows youhow to get there. You have three strategic choices whenit comes to handling a perception or opinion challenge:create perception where there may be none, change theperception, or reinforce it. A bad strategy pick will tastelike marinara sauce on your brownies, so be certain thenew strategy fits well with your new public relations goal.For example, you don’t want to select “change” when thefacts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Because persuading an audience to your way of thinkingis awfully hard work, your PR team must come up withjust the right, corrective language. Words that arecompelling, persuasive and believable AND clear andfactual. You must do this if you are to correct a perceptionby shifting opinion towards your point of view, leading tothe desired behaviors.

Sit down again with your communications specialists andreview your message for impact and persuasiveness. Then,select the communications tactics most likely to carry yourwords to the attention of your target audience.

You can pickfrom dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours,emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews,newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be surethat the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just likeyour audience members.

You’ve heard the old bromide about the credibility of amessage depending on its delivery method. On the chanceit’s true, you might think about introducing it to smallergatherings rather than using higher-profile tactics suchas news releases or talk show appearances.

The need to produce a progress report will sound thealert for you and your PR folks to return to the field for asecond perception monitoring session with members ofyour external audience. Using many of the same questionsused in the first benchmark session, you’ll now be watchingvery carefully for signs that the bad news perception isbeing altered in your direction.

If impatience enters the fray, you can always accelerate thingswith more communications tactics and increased frequencies.

Finally, like a military unit, your public relations effort canuse an action-oriented motto: the right PR really CAN alterindividual perception and lead directly to changed behaviorsthat help you succeed.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=650&ca=Business

Unfortunately, there are managers who define publicrelations by its applications. Which explains neither itsunderlying strengths nor what PR is all about.

The casual observer is left with a confusion of tactical,application-oriented definitions of the public relationsfunction: Is it publicity? Crisis management? Specialevents? Reputation management? Promotion? Or a slewof other tactics in which we engage from time to time?

Which is it? More important, just what lies at the core ofmanagerial public relations anyway?

I believe the core lies in doing something positive aboutthe behaviors of those important outside audiences of yoursthat most affect your operation.

In other words, create external stakeholder behavior change –the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerialobjectives.

And do so by persuading those key outside folks to yourway of thinking, then help move them to take actions thatallow your department, division or subsidiary to succeed.

Luckily, there’s also a blueprint at the center of public relationsto help you cement that PR core for your own managerial benefit.

And it goes like this: People act on their own perception of thefacts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors aboutwhich something can be done. When we create, change orreinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect theorganization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

And for managers such as you, here’s the type of results thatcould emerge. Healthy bounces in show room visits; communityleaders seeking you out; prospects starting to do business withyou; membership applications on the rise; customers makingrepeat purchases; fresh proposals for strategic alliances andjoint ventures in the inbox; capital givers or specifying sourceslooking your way, and even politicians and legislatorsbeginning to view you as a key member of the business,non-profit or association communities.

You also need PR team members who understand that blueprintand commit themselves to its implementation, starting withkey audience perception monitoring. Let’s face it, your PRpeople are already in the perception and behavior business,so they should be of real use for this initial opinion monitoringproject.

Caveat: you must be certain your public relations people reallybelieve – deep down — why it’s SO important to know howyour most important outside audiences perceive youroperations, products or services. Make sure they accept thereality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors thatcan help or hurt your unit.

Talk it over with them, especially your plan for monitoringand gathering perceptions by questioning members of yourmost important outside audiences. Questions like these: howmuch do you know about our organization? Have you hadprior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange?Are you familiar with our services or products and employees?Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

While professional survey firms can always be hired to do theopinion monitoring work, they also can cost big bucks. So,whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions,the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions,unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any othernegative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

The PR goal, obviously, is to do something about the mostserious distortions you discover during your key audienceperception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out thatdangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy?Or, stop that potentially bloody rumor dead in its tracks?

Truth is, you won’t get there at all without the right strategyto tell you how to proceed. But keep in mind that there are justthree strategic options available when it comes to doing somethingabout perception and opinion. Change existing perception, createperception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrongstrategy pick will taste like pepper flakes on your Crème Brulee,so be sure your new strategy fits well with your new publicrelations goal.

You wouldn’t want to select “change” whenthe facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Now it’s time to put together a well-written message and directit to members of your target audience. It’s always a challengeto create an actionable message that will help persuade anyaudience to your way of thinking.

You need your best scribes for this one because s/he must buildsome very special, corrective language. Words that are not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual ifthey are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of viewand lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Once you’ve run draft copy by your PR team, it’s on to the nextselection process — the communications tactics most likelyto carry your message to the attention of your target audience.There are scores that are available. From speeches, facility tours,emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews,newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But you mustbe certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks likeyour audience members,

By the way, you may wish to avoid “shouting too loud” andunveil your message before smaller meetings and presentationsrather than using higher-profile news releases, as the credibilityof any message is fragile and always at stake.

The people around you will start agitating in short order forprogress reports, which signals to you and your PR team to getgoing on a second perception monitoring session with membersof your external audience. You’ll want to use many of the samequestions used in the first benchmark session. Big difference thistime is that you will be on red alert for signs that the bad newsperception is being altered in your direction.

Incidentally, I’ve always thought it fortunate that such mattersusually can be accelerated simply by adding more communicationstactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

So, at the end of the day, what you want the new PR plan toaccomplish is to persuade your most important outsidestakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them tobehave in a way that leads to the success of your department,division or subsidiary.

Public relations should no longer be a mystery when the peopleyou deal with do, in fact, behave suspiciously like everyoneelse – they act upon their perceptions of the facts they hearabout you and your operation. Which means you really havelittle choice but to deal promptly and effectively with thoseperceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and movethose key external audiences of yours to actions you desire.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=652&ca=Business

Why risk the embarassment when with a little basic PRtraining, you as a business, non-profit or associationmanager can always be ready for battle?

Never again will you fail to do something positive aboutthe behaviors of those important outside audiences ofyours that MOST affect your operation.

Never again will you fail to create external stakeholderbehavior change leading directly to achieving yourmanagerial objectives.

And never again will you fail to persuade those key outsidefolks to your way of thinking, or move them to take actionsthat allow your department, division or subsidiary to succeed.

In fact, once you digest the underlying premise of publicrelations, you’ll understand how the right PR really CANalter individual perception and lead to those changedbehaviors you need. Here’s how it goes: people act on theirown perception of the facts before them, which leads topredictable behaviors about which something can be done.When we create, change or reinforce that opinion byreaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action thevery people whose behaviors affect the organization themost, the public relations mission is accomplished.

However – and this is a big however – it requires more thanspecial events, brochures and news releases if you reallywant to get your PR money’s worth.

For example, business, non-profit and association managerswho employ this kind of public relations can benefit fromresults such as new proposals for strategic alliances andjoint ventures; rebounds in showroom visits; membershipapplications on the rise; community service and sponsorshipopportunities; enhanced activist group relations, and expandedfeedback channels, not to mention new thoughtleader andspecial event contacts.

As time passes, you should see customers making repeatpurchases; prospects reappearing; stronger relationshipswith the educational, labor, financial and healthcarecommunities; improved relations with government agenciesand legislative bodies, and even capital givers or specifyingsources looking your way.

Obviously, you want your most important outside audiencesto really perceive your operations, products or services in apositive light. So be certain that your PR staff has boughtinto the whole effort. Convince yourself that they accept thereality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviorsthat can help or hurt your unit.

Get together and go over the PR blueprint carefully withyour staff, especially regarding how you will gather andmonitor perceptions by questioning members of your mostimportant outside audiences. Questions like these: howmuch do you know about our organization? How much doyou know about our services or products and employees?Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleasedwith the how things went? Have you experienced problemswith our people or procedures?

You can depend on professional survey people to handle theperception monitoring phases of your program IF thebudget is available. But luckily, your PR people are also inthe perception and behavior business and can pursue thesame objective: identify untruths, false assumptions,unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and anyother negative perception that might translate into hurtfulbehaviors.

Let’s chat for a moment about your public relations goal.You need one that addresses the problems that cropped upduring your key audience perception monitoring. Chances are,it will call for straightening out that dangerous misconception,or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or doing something aboutthat damaging rumor.

But as you surely know, goals need strategies to show youhow to get there. And you have just three strategic choiceswhen it comes to handling a perception or opinion challenge:create perception where there may be none, change theperception, or reinforce it. Unfortunately, selecting a badstrategy will taste like peanut butter on your sea scallops,so be certain the new strategy fits well with your new publicrelations goal. For example, you don’t want to select “change”when the facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Here the right, corrective language must be created, becausepersuading an audience to your way of thinking is awfullyhard work Especially when you’re looking for words that arecompelling, persuasive, believable AND clear and factual.This is a must if you are to correct a perception by shiftingopinion towards your point of view, leading to the desiredbehaviors. So, meet again with your communicationsspecialists and review your message for impact andpersuasiveness.

In order to carry your words to the attention of your targetaudience, you need to select the communications tactics mostlikely to reach them.

Happily there are dozens of availabletactics. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochuresto consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters,personal meetings and many others. Just be sure that thetactics you pick are known to reach folks just like youraudience members.

Occasionally, the credibility of your message can depend onits delivery method. So, consider introducing it to smallergatherings rather than using higher-profile communicationssuch as news releases or talk show appearances.

When you sense the need to provide a progress report, it’sprobably time for you and your PR folks to return to the fieldfor a second perception monitoring session with membersof your external audience. Using many of the same questionsused in the first benchmark session, stay alert for signs thatyour communications tactics have worked and that thenegative perception is being altered in your direction.

Should those around you wax impatient, things can always beaccelerated with a broader selection of communicationstactics AND increased frequencies.

You won’t get caught with your PR down when you applyyour budget to public relations activity that creates behaviorchange among your key outside audiences that leads directlyto achieving your managerial objectives.

That’s when it will become clear to you that the right PRreally CAN alter individual perception and lead to changedbehaviors that help you win.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=653&ca=Business

What is bad PR?

Well, if you’re a business, non-profit or associationmanager, bad PR does nothing positive about thebehaviors of those important outside audiences ofyours that most affect your operation.

It fails to create external stakeholder behavior changeleading directly to achieving your managerial objectives.

And it never does persuade those key outside folks toyour way of thinking, or move them to take actions thatallow your department, division or subsidiary to succeed.

Good PR, on the other hand, really CAN alter individualperception and lead to the changed behaviors you need.At the same time, however, it requires more than specialevents, brochures and news releases if you really want toget your PR money’s worth.

Your inoculation against bad PR is the underlying premiseof public relations, and here it is: people act on their ownperception of the facts before them, which leads topredictable behaviors about which something can be done.When we create, change or reinforce that opinion byreaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the verypeople whose behaviors affect the organization the most,the public relations mission is accomplished.

You may be surprised that good PR can generate results likeprospects starting to work with you; customers makingrepeat purchases; stronger relationships with the educational,labor, financial and healthcare communities; improvedrelations with government agencies and legislative bodies,and even capital givers or specifying sources looking your way

As the effort gains momentum, you can also see resultssuch as new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures;rebounds in showroom visits; membership applications on therise; community service and sponsorship opportunities; enhancedactivist group relations, and expanded feedback channels, notto mention new thoughtleader and special event contacts.

Just how vital is it that your most important outside audiencesreally perceive your operations, products or services in apositive light? Vital indeed, so assure yourself that your PRstaff has bought into the whole effort. Be especially carefulthat they accept the reality that perceptions almost alwayslead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.

Take the time to review the PR blueprint in detail withyour staff, especially how you will gather and monitormatters by questioning members of your most importantoutside audiences. Questions like these: how much do youknow about our organization? How much do you knowabout our services or products and employees? Have youhad prior contact with us and were you pleased with theinterchange? Have you experienced problems with ourpeople or procedures?

The perception monitoring phases of your program canobviously be handled by professional survey people, IF thebudget is available. But always keep in mind that your PRpeople are also in the perception and behavior business andcan pursue the same objective: identify untruths, falseassumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies,misconceptions and any other negative perception thatmight translate into hurtful behaviors.

Now, let’s talk about your public relations goal. You needone that speaks to the aberrations that showed up duringyour key audience perception monitoring. In all probability,it will call for straightening out that dangerous misconception,or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or doing something aboutthat damaging rumor.

The realities of public relations are that goals need strategiesto show you how to get there. And also that you have justthree strategic choices when it comes to handling a perceptionor opinion challenge: create perception where there maybe none, change the perception, or reinforce it. Unfortunately,a bad strategy pick will taste like ice cream on your cornedbeef and cabbage, so be certain the new strategy fits wellwith your new public relations goal. For example, you don’twant to select “change” when the facts dictate a “reinforce”strategy.

Your PR team must create just the right, corrective language.Persuading an audience to your way of thinking is awfullyhard work, so we’re looking for words that are compelling,persuasive and believable AND clear and factual. You mustdo this if you are to correct a perception by shifting opiniontowards your point of view, leading to the desired behaviors.

Here you must select the communications tactics most likelyto carry your words to the attention of your target audience.Meet again with your communications specialists and reviewyour message for impact and persuasiveness. You can pickfrom dozens of available tactics.

From speeches, facility tours,emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews,newsletters, personal meetings and many others. Just be surethat the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just likeyour audience members.

On the chance that the old line about the credibility of amessage depending on its delivery method is true, you mightthink about introducing it to smaller gatherings rather thanusing higher-profile communications such as news releases ortalk show appearances.

Consider yourself alerted when the topic of a progress reportis suggested. Time for you and your PR folks to return to thefield for a second perception monitoring session with membersof your external audience. Using many of the same questionsused in the first benchmark session, you’ll now be watchingvery carefully for signs that your communications tactics haveworked and that the negative perception is being altered in yourdirection.

If impatience rears its head, you can always accelerate thingswith a broader selection of communications tactics AND increased frequencies.

Obviously, this will convert bad PR into good PR by doingsomething positive about the behaviors of those importantoutside audiences of yours that most affect your operation.It will do the job by creating external stakeholder behaviorchange leading directly to achieving your managerialobjectives. And it will pull this off by persuading those keyoutside folks to your way of thinking, thus moving them totake actions that allow your business, non-profit or associationto succeed.

About the Author: Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=654&ca=Business