This morning I gave a brief presentation to a group of women small business owners, titled “PR 101: What is Public Relations?” Although I chose the topic because I knew it was needed and desired by this group, I was nevertheless struck by how surprised many were that public relations is a complex management function, not just the one or two tools (i.e., news releases) that often spring to mind.
Rather than finding this discouraging, I see this as an opportunity to educate new and upcoming small business owners on the merits of research, evaluation, planning, action, communication and evaluation (the old REPACE model of yore to those who have formal training in PR). Many expressed relief that there is such a framework, even as they realized — and became a bit overwhelmed at the thought of — how much more vast PR is than mailing a news release to the local newspaper.
Budgets are slim and competition fierce for those clients who can and are willing to pay for PR services these days. I am heartened, however, that today an opportunity, however humble, presented itself to grow the number of business owners who now have a better understanding of an appreciation for the value of PR as a core management function.
