“Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson called consistency the hobgoblin of little minds, but when it comes to public relations, consistency is THE most crucial key to success. Why? Because we live in a world of cause and effect. The number of people who know about your company is a result. Your company’s reputation is a result. The way people feel about buying from you is a result. What people associate with your product is a result.
All of these things stem from the communications activities you undertake on a regular basis. If you undertake no communications activities on a regular basis, your public perception will reflect that too. In that sense, public relations is a lot like exercise. If you do it effectively and steadily you’ll see good results. If you do it sporadically or not at all you won’t.
One of my clients runs a leadership development firm. It’s a small company with only a couple full-time employees, but because of a consistent focus on media relations, it has enjoyed media attention and awareness that belies its small size. My client says her competitors often comment that they “see her everywhere,” and ask how she does it. Our approach is not difficult, it just requires a solid commitment to ongoing media relations.
As a PR counselor and advisor, people often come to me because they’re unhappy seeing their competitors, who have a lesser product or service, garner the lion’s share of attention in their industry or town. When people are unhappy with the fruits of their tree, the solution is often found down in the roots. The first thing I look at is what they have done to build a robust PR program that incorporates all the audiences that matter most.
o TIP: What one small PR task can you commit to doing consistently? It could be a press release every quarter, a monthly ezine or picking up the phone to call your customers Just to say hello at least twice a year. The task isn’t as important as the commitment to actually doing it is.
