Public and Media Relations Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Copyright 1997-2008. Before you learn more about public and media relations, you should get a basic impression of what they are. See What's "Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public Relations and Publicity, and Sales?". Public relations includes ongoing activities to ensure the organization has a strong public image. Public relations activities include helping the public to understand the organization and its products. Similar to effective advertising and promotions, effective public relations often depends on designing and implementing a well-designed public relations plan. The plan often includes description of what you want to convey to whom, how you plan to convey it, who is responsible for various activities and by when, and how much money is budgeted to fund these activities. Similar to advertising and promotions, a media plan and calendar can be very useful, which specifies what media methods that are used and when. Often, public relations are conducted through the media, that is, newspapers, television, magazines, etc. Publicity is mention in the media. Organizations usually have little control over the message in the media, at least, not as much as they do in advertising. Regarding publicity, reporters and writers decide what will be said. Regarding public relations, consider: What groups of stakeholders do we want to appeal to and how? What impressions do you want each of your stakeholder to have? What communications media do they see or prefer the most? Consider advertising, collaborations, annual reports, networking, TV, radio, newsletters, classifieds, displays/signs, posters, word of mouth, direct mail, special events, brochures, neighborhood newsletters, etc. What media is most practical for you to use in terms of access and affordability? What messages are most appealing to each stakeholder group? Sections of This Topic Include: Managing Your Public Image (Public Relations) Managing Media Relations Additional Information for Nonprofits General Resources -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Managing Your Image (Public Relations) You should care deeply about the image that you portray to major stakeholders of your business, for example, to current and potential customers, employees, investors/funders, suppliers, local and state agencies, etc. The following links are to information that will help you design and carry out an approach to ensuring a strong public image for your company. What's "Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public Relations and Publicity, and Sales?" Some Major Methods of Advertising and Promotion (of products, services and company) Public Relations -- Wikipedia About Public Relations list of PR links Online Public Relations Managing Media Relations Public Relations on the Web - Web Marketing Today Info Center NetAction Notes 20 Publicity Articles - how to write press releases and where to send press releases. Managing the Media lists of samples of press releases, product accouncements, etc. Additional "Managing Media" Information for Nonprofits Six Simple Steps for Turning Your Organization into a Heavily Quoted Source Basic Press Outreach for Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Organizations How to Reach Out to the Media Action Without Borders 20/20 Vision Coyote Communications For activists: Managing the Media: A Guide for Activitists FAIR's Media Activist Kit Netaction notes Links to media organizations Media Activst's List "New Ideas" is a free quarterly newsletter from the Center for Strategic Communications, devoted to ideas for nonprofits on developing communications strategies. To subscribe, call (212)-965-0180. General Resources Business Resource Center Extensive free articles and links on effective public and media relations, written by practitioners. Public Relations Toolkit: How to PR

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