PR Company or Self PR any help

[blissman]

We are looking to raise the profile of our Company through PR

we are a small Company like most with a small budget to match, can anyone recommend someone to work with us
Or does anyone know an online PR website etc that we can join that will do the same thing

any help or advise

Jason

 

[AllUpHere]

What industry are you in?

 

[blissman]

plumbing, heating and drainage Company

 

[AllUpHere]

Is it a national or local business?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

One method would be to write a story about yourself and the team along with a bit of news like"first year has been far above expectations" etc and send to to your local paper, the papers are always looking for good new stories and most have a business section so the more interesting you make it the more chance the editor will publish it for free and may even send a photographer around for a snap.

Half page advert in the local county wide paper can work well at maybe under £400 for first time

 

[blissman]

its a Kent/ South East based Covering Company

 

[ethical PR]

Hi

If you have a limited budget you might be best investing it in getting a PR/marketing person on board to develop a practical PR/marketing plan that identifies what sort of approach you need take to reach your target audience and some practical activities you can undertake on a month by month basis to raise your profile and gain you more work/customers.

You could also invest it in some "pr training for small businesses' type training that helps you understand what you can do to support your communications going forward.

I know that a certain person here doesn't like me recommending Marketing Donut. However, it is a great site for small businesses who are new to marketing and PR with 'how to' guides on everything from marketing strategy to media advertising and newsletters, so I'm happy to continue to recommend it. http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/

Speak to your local council business team they should be able to let you know if there are any local courses you could go on. Also try the British Library Entrepreneur they do free courses for entrepreneurs including marketing, SEO and PR courses http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/...fn=search&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLogin=true

 

[AllUpHere]

As Ethical has suggested, with a company like that you are probably best to pay for a plan that you can then action yourself. The value often offered by decent PR firms is that they can get access to many publications that you would struggle to get into yourself. In your case any publications that may be useful to you will more than likely be up for a chat with you without the help of a PR person.

I'll second the marketingdonut suggestion. Depending on your level of basic marketing understanding, it can be a really good resource.

 

[blissman]

thanks Chaps

 

[ethical PR]

thanks Chaps

...and chapessess?