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PR Tips to Keep Your Small Business Recession Free

How does a place like Ben's Chili Bowl become a hunger haven for tourists and townies.  Winning the admiration of Bill Cosby certainly helps.  And occasional drop ins by entertainers, sports figures and "The One" President Barack Obama can only add to your business' celebrity.  But even before this local hot spot became a star Mecca, it won the hearts of regular plain folks in its neighborhood.

CS Corporate believes that in the current economic climate, local Mom and Pop establishments must re-turn to doing the thing that they do best.

• Brand yourself in the community. Sponsor or coach a youth sports team. Find a local church or YMCA to volunteer at in exchange for ad or billboard space.
• Have promotional days. Make one small item free, especially with food. People gravitate toward free things and then end up spending money on a meal anyway.
• Set up a presence on the Web! We can’t stress this enough. Have printable coupons on your Web site. Give the consumer a reason to visit the site. Make ordering over the Web easier (and cheaper!).

These few tips will drive traffic to your in-store and online avenues.  Each of these bullets are critical and will be covered in detail in upcoming blogs.

In the meantime, tell us how you are keeping the doors open with positive inexpensive PR.

Brett Hertel

CS Corporate

Communications Manag

The way to a customer's heart is through her stomach

This week, I joined the tens of thousands of Americans downloading a KFC coupon offering a free meal courtesy of Media Maven Oprah Winfrey. The line in my Northern Virginia KFC was long, but nothing like the long riot producing lines reported in major cities like NYC.

Oprah is the queen of the media give-away. From her Big Car Give-away to her lasted KFC lunch, Oprah knows that we love free stuff. And boy do we love free lunch - free dinner and breakfast for that matter.

The PR Sidebar is to take a tip from the Queen of the Media. If you are peddling a product or service, we recommend you wrap it in a free meal. Here are some suggestions of events around free food that we have used in the last year, to win loyal customers for our clients.

1. Host a tea and product display. Put a unique twist on the traditional tea by serving something other than the standard tea fare. Serve cupcakes!
2. Bake a tray of toll house cookies and deliver them with business cards and a handwritten note to potential clients.
3. For those of you whose business is still a side hustle and not yet your main source of income, host a snack break. Invite co-workers to the conference room to share your product or service over chips and coke.

Of course presentation is everything...So be mindful of invitations, display and follow-up.

Remember, one of the best ways to a customer's heart is through her stomach

Monk....16 Episodes Remaining

OK...We know it's been awhile since, we blogged and this blog doesn't have to do with PR per se.  It actually has everything to do with how we completely escape when we have overloaded in a week and want to do nothing more than veg out with an interesting character...WE WATCH MONK.

Both Dee Dee and I have tried to analyze why we attempt to carve out a space for Monk in our Friday (Or the reprise on Saturday if Friday was impossible).  We have come to the conclusion that Monk takes us back to shows from our childhood - like Murder She Wrote, Simon and Simon,  Scarecrow and Mrs. Kane.  Granted the show usually starts with a weird and gruesome murder, but after the introductory murder, it's all a clever and rather wholesome who done it.  It's such a refreshing break from the onslaught of decapitated babies found floating in the river that seem to be such common fare for the Law and Order and CSI franchises which we admittedly watch. 

In June, Monk prepares to launch its last season.  If you've missed the last 7 or 8 seasons, we recommend you spend the next month renting the DVDs to catch up.  Our bet (HOPE) is that during this season, Monk the OCD Super Detective will finally get his man.  You see, he has been able to solve every crime except the most important one - the murder of his wife Trudy.

We are wringing our wrists that this is the last season!!!

Next Blog will be back to PR Sidebars...thanks for putting up with the mini tribute to what amounts to our weekly break from the world of PR.

db

Quote of the Week

Boorstin Said..

"Some are born great.  Some achieve greatness.  Some hire public relations officers."

Daniel J. Boorstin

We of course understand Boorstin's sentiment.  However, we take a slightly different view.  We recognize that in business there are many David's in this world of Goliath's.  Sometimes David is a little too humble to tell his story well.  That is what CS Corporate and countless other boutique PR firms do.  We share the greatness of the humble with the world.

Recession Era Public Relations (RPR!)

Have you noticed how commercials are using the fact that you're flat broke as a way to encourage you to spend what little money you have left.  Some of the ads are subtle - Sprint CEO Dan Hesse tells you that their plan is "right for these times."  Others clobber you over the head with a sledge hammer - Dominos Pizza CEO Dave Brandon dawns a pizza delivery uniform and delivers "bail out deals."

The interesting point about this new recession genre of PR (We'll call it RPR) is that it's encouraging the big boys to do what small business owners have done since the dawn of the bube tube.

The Chief Executive Officer is front and center asking for the trust of customers and potential customers.

Think about it.  The small businesses in your region that are successful  more than likely have the owner as spokesperson.  Car dealers, carpet retailers, mom & pop restaurant owners, the commercials tend to be rather cheesy but they get you in the store because ultimately, you do trust them.

The PR Sidebar: Don't be afraid to put your name out there.  If it's your product - if  it's your service, putting your mug on the label or your name on the dotted line may not be such a bad marketing move.

If You Don't Share Your Success Who Will?

if you  gather anything from reading this blog, i hope it's that you must be prepared to tell your story anytime all the time.  whatever you product or service, you can't be shy about sharing it with the world...or at the very least your friends and neighbors.

and because a picture is worth a thousand words, it's rather critical  to invest in a digital camera.  I always carry my little Nikon Coolpix.  It's inexpensive and captures descent shots.

As much as I really prefer being behind the camera, I realize it's important to show potential customers my success.  So I grin and bear it!

• if you're meeting with a new client, take a picture.
  
• if you have a company retreat, take a picture.
• if you launch a new product, take a picture.

What you do with these photos is key.  A monthly or quarterly newsletter emailed or snail mailed to customers and potential customers is PR101.  

While CS Corporate would be delighted to create such documents for you, honestly 

you could do it yourself with a Mac and Pages which is a part of the iwork software.

The P.R. Sidebar: There is no event too big or small to share in a well designed newsletter with clients and potential clients.

db

Trust Me...Not Just Another Blog

No... Not Just Another Blog.

No...Not another pundit waxing about that which she knows nothing.

P.R. Sidebars is a weekly comment from, well, me, Deana Bass.  I'm the President of CS Corporate a Washington, DC based public relations firm.  

Public Relations for Small Businesses is the thing that gets me going...I don't know how this came to be.  I've had some pretty interesting jobs a press secretary on capital hill, executive director of a small DC based think tank.  I even worked as an extras casting agent.  (Yeah, I didn't know they actually cast those random people walking down the street behind the stars either).

Out of every job that I've ever had, the thing that I enjoy most is owning my own business.  And my business is to get you and your company noticed.  I LOVE DOING THAT!  

Owning your own business is terrifying and exciting in one breath!

I hope to help take a bit of the terror out of the endeavor by giving small business owners tips on earning FREE PRESS and winning the loyalty of a whole crop of new customers!

Once a week (maybe more, but never less) I will share the latest, coolest ideas in public relations tools to help small business owners nab their piece of the proverbial pie.

enjoy,

deana