This is a post from Sara Nash; Sara earned her degree in Public Relations from Penn State University. From there, she worked a PR agency in Boston before joining the PR and Social Media team at Vistaprint.
As evidenced from our post on Facebook today, everyone has a story, and there is probably someone out there who wants to hear it. Here are some examples of PR-worthy stories you can share with your local media or small business publications: Read more…
Hey everyone, hope you have had a great week and that you weren’t hit with any of the snow reported over the past few days across the country. This week was a busy one in the editorial offices of Micro Business Perspectives and we’re looking forward to watching some football this weekend. Our team is primarily pulling for the Patriots this weekend with one exception, who are you pulling for? This week’s edition of the Micro Business Roundup is filled with topics ranging from retirement to growing your business. Hope you enjoy it and have a great weekend!
Are You Really in Charge of Your Business? – this article from Entrepreneur focuses on a 17-year old business owner that has his mother questioning his work ethic. While you might think that he’s slacking off, the mom fears that the boy is working himself to death and threatens to shut the business down. Sure many of you reading this blog are not children, there is probably someone that you have to answer to on the time you spend investing in your business. So the question to take away from this is how much is too much?
Why Doesn’t Anyone Check References? – when you hire employees do you check references? Now we aren’t talking just calling up and leaving a message, but really talking to someone and getting a feel for the hire? If you don’t, you are not alone. This article from the New York Times notes that an employer with many temporary workers has only been called 10 times in the past 30 years about former employees and it opens up the question as to why businesses are not inquiring about potential employees.
When I Retire, I Want To … – have you ever thought about what retirement means to you? Will you be living in the Florida Keys or just spending more time with family?
Your New PR and SEO Year – as the first full work week of the New Year comes to an end; many of us are staring at our resolutions and starting to forget about them already. If your business resolution was to build up more awareness for your business, be sure to read and bookmark this article from Startup Nation on SEO and PR.
Take The Time to Grow Your Business – this article offers you three steps to grow your business. None are overly daunting and will make you take a step back and wonder why you may have overlooked them in the past.
Image - markb120
Hey everyone! Hope you had a great week. In this edition of the Micro Business Roundup, we’ve pulled together some great articles for you on PR, cold-calling and small business lending. Have a great weekend!
A ‘Systemic Shift’ in Small Business Lending – this article from BusinessWeek’s John Tozzi takes a look at the expansion of Community Development Financial Institutions and how small businesses are able to attain loans through them.
5 Steps to Small Business Public Relations Success – Are you looking to build buzz around oyour company or attain media coverage? If so, check out these five solid tips to get you started on grassroots public relations.
How to Get Cold Call Results – Let’s face it, making cold calls is scary and hard. No one really likes doing it, but at some point we all have to do it. This article from Inc.’s Marla Tabaka offers tips on getting the most out of these calls.
Avoiding the Growth Trap – If you are considering growing your business, check out this article from the owner of Jayson Home where he discusses his reasoning for growing his business at his pace.
Free Conference on Government Contracting in Dallas – If you are in the Dallas area and interested in learning if Government contracting is right for your business, check out this free event on October 18.
This guest post is part of our ongoing Small Business Experts series, and is written by Shakira Brown, co-founder of Best Business Mastery in New Jersey.
I know of a small yet somewhat successful business that just doesn’t understand what it takes to get to the next level after 35 years. Even when someone like me, an award-winning public relations and marketing expert, advised the company’s owners to spend a little money on advertising, a resistance to spending money continues to hold the fledgling company back like a ball and chain. Instead of becoming profitable, this struggling company continues to linger on the hopes of press releases with soft news no one cares about and printed marketing letters with no real message. It is nothing more than a waste of time. Read more…
Previously we have offered tips to help you manage your small businesses public relations outreach. These are some great tips on how to research, reach out to and establish relationships with the media.
If you are interested in generating online or offline publicity, traditionally there are two approaches. The first way is to find a reporter who covers the type of the subject matter you can offer leads for, pitch them your idea or expertise, and hope they include you in their article. Read more…
Welcome to the fourth and final installment of Tips for Small Business Public Relations Success. If you missed either of the previous three posts, be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3. Today we will go over two additional tips to 
maximize the PR exposure for your small business.
Lend a helping hand – Putting on your reporter’s hat is a creative way to increase your chances of achieving PR nirvana. Do some of the leg work for your media contact by offering up facts and figures related to your business or product. Offer a trend story featuring information about your company and similar but non-competing organizations. Read more…
Welcome to the third installment of Tips for Small Business Public Relations Success. If you missed either of the previous two posts, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2. Today we will go over three more tips to maximize the PR exposure for your small business.
Look like a professional – Your organization’s image is at stake every time you present it to the media so it’s important to use professional-looking materials when mailing and faxing pitches, cover letters and other printed samples or items. Your chances for a media placement will be vastly improved when your pitch materials look professional and are printed on high-quality paper. Include your business card and use sharp looking return address labels for all mailings. Display your logo on mailing envelopes for extra credit.
Welcome to the second installment of Tips for Small Business Public Relations Success, CLICK HERE if you missed part one. Today we will go over three more tips to help you improve your media presence.
The art of the handwritten note card – Nothing beats the personal touch of a handwritten note card when it comes to thanking a media member for their professionalism during the process of cultivating your small business into a full-blown media sensation. It’s inexpensive, makes a lasting impression and has a strong impact, especially because so few people use them these days. Read more…
You are a small business owner without the resources to hire a public relations firm or an in-house PR professional so the task of 
publicizing your company falls onto your lap. How can you achieve PR greatness without a staff or budget? The following 10 tips will help small business owners grab the attention of media members and gain positive media coverage for your organization. Read more…
Delivered by FeedBurner
tg888: www.wholebakedgoodness.com. A bakery based in Nashville, TN that bake...
tg888: www.wholebakedgoodness.com has grown simply by having the vistaprint l...
senior travel: It is really great that I have found this informative article. With yo...
dhardra: Any info on the ranges of price points of products on Pinterest? Wonde...
FitnessPartner: As a small business owner, my tasty breakfast smoothie is the healthie...