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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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With the Internet opening up the doorway to the global market, everybody is up and running to reap the maximum benefit of this widely used medium. Not only has Internet gained importance as an important medium of communication but also has given a platform to thousands of people to nurture their entrepreneurship and realize their dreams of self-employment.

The designer community is the group that are harvesting the maximum benefit in this global market. To keep with the pace, every business concern, big or small, are putting in resources to create their cyber identity. They need websites for business, banners for advertisements, corporate logos to establish their brand identity and for all these they need designers.

Given this market scenario, and the advantage of having a global market in the cyber world, distance is no longer a factor for the right person, neither are companies concerned to assign there designing projects to people living a few thousand miles away from them.

From the perspective of a client, it is quiet natural to be a bit shaky and anxious about paying someone they would never see, to do something so important, that might affect the companies business. Going traditionally, most companies would like to work with employees working in front of them. However, these things will never be a factor, once you think of the benefits that you get out of it.

Internet allows you to look into the best design services available all across the world. You need not have to limit yourself to the designers in your own city, state or country but free to assign the project to anyone that you see fit, irrespective of the physical location of the person. You also save on cost, as you might find that there are many equally competent individuals providing wonderful designs at a much lower rate compared to some small business house attaching a big price tag for that work. But this is just one side of the coin. The designers are also happy with the situation. They are getting a global market to sell their service and some of them who are able to do a real good work are also developing good global reputation, seating at their home.

One other factor that I should definitely mention is that with the Asian countries like India, Japan, Singapore, all coming into this market with highly skilled workforce, it gets more easy for the advanced countries like USA and other European Countries to get their job done at a much lower price. These countries have designers who can compete, if not beat, the designers across the world in quality and definitely in price.

However, there are certain factors that any prospective client should consider before assigning a project to any designer over the Internet.

The first thing to do is to check the portfolio of the person, if the designer has got a website, check the website, check the works that he has showcased in his portfolio section, you can also ask for a few references and cross check. These references definitely help you to determine the reputation of the designer. If they have been working for a while, they should be able to provide you with references from past clients, attesting to their professionalism, ability to complete the job and the quality of job done by them.

The next factor that you need to consider is the price that you are paying for your design work. Depending on the factor whether, your designer is a reputed designing firm or just a one-man designing company, you get to negotiate the price. Before you finally assign the project to the designer insist on a formal contract. With the advent of the Internet, most of the designers will not send you a snail mail but will be able to email a contract and once both of you agree to the terms and conditions you can definitely go ahead. Most professional company would use a form mail on their website where you can put in your order details and payment details and once the payment is processed they will start off with your work, while sending you an order confirmation mail.

To have a satisfactory design from any designing company, you need to remember it is the joint responsibility for the designing company and the client. The client should provide a proper brief for the project, what are the specifications, any concepts that they might like to utilize in the design. There should be proper communication flow between the two parties and the promptness of replies will definitely affect the time consumed on the project.

The Internet has given the small businesses and individual entrepreneurs an unbelievable opportunity to compete with the large firms in equal terms. At the same time it has thrown open a chance for the prospective clients to choose their service provider from the global market while paying the lowest possible price. Today any business, irrespective of its nature, should be aimed at the global market. So, do not limit yourself, go out and get the most of it !

About the Author: Ray Smith is a marketing Expert with years of experience in different industries and specialized knowledge on branding and internet marketing.http://www.mycorporatelogo.com

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