Attention seekers

As someone who was involved in setting up the Entrepreneur of the Year programme and building the brand for Ernst & Young over a four or five year period, Greg Byrne interviewed hundreds of business owners at varying stages of their evolution across all sorts of sectors. "When I boiled down what I observed and what I heard from these guys and girls who were successful in growing their ventures, there were eight key things they continually talked about in terms of building their business successfully," he says. "Within these, successful entrepreneurs make huge use of PR and they use it particularly in the early stages, in the start-up and emerging phases, to build up their brand equity and brand stature in the marketplace.

“PR gives them the opportunity to have a third-party, particularly a respected third-party, to comment favourably and intelligently about their brand and their product. Building credibility and brand stature is the first thing PR can bring to an entrepreneur. And they need every angle like that to open doors and get their sales."

Byrne maintains that PR also helps to generate initial sales. "They get to places where the innovator/early adopter for their product goes or hangs out or reads about. Typically, they'll get to industry exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, and so on. They'll also try to get into trade magazines and knowledgeable periodicals to connect to the innovator/early adopter who'll try out new things willingly.

“Start-ups need to get at the risk acceptors, those who are prepared take a punt on that first iPod, on that first plasma screen," he continues. "PR is a critical tool for that. And PR can generate much-needed and critical early sales."

A start-up's ability to generate news may also influence potential investors when assessing the business's attractiveness. "Amongst the various tests that an investor will run the slide rule over a prospective investment, you'll often see them looking to see if the business has news appeal. They know that if it's got news appeal, it'll get into the Irish Times and that's going to generate sales."

PR can also be used as a market research tool, particularly when entrepreneurs have come up with something very innovative in the marketplace. "If the journalists can get it and understand where this should fit in the marketplace, it can answer some very important questions for an early stage entrepreneur."

While PR is usually understood as media coverage, Byrne points out that it also encompasses other elements that can be very important to start-ups. "The second dimension to it is public affairs and a lot of start-ups don't think about that," he says.

Gerry McCaughey, who set up Century Homes in 1990 and introduced the concept of timber frame houses in Ireland, has been a particularly good proponent of public affairs, according to Byrne. McCaughey had to actively lobby various parties to ensure that timber frame would be included in the building regulations, which would be a vital element in his products being adopted in the marketplace. "He recognised that he'd never fully capture the market unless he employed public affairs, where you go about influencing and engaging the regulators, the civil service, the Government, on the things that need to be done to ensure the full success of your project," says Byrne. "Sometimes, the early stage guys forget that or don't see that. It's really important.

“The other dimension of the wider PR toolset is crisis management, which may be required if the new thing you're doing hits a blip and does something unexpected or not right," says Byrne. "At this stage, if something untoward happens in the process, or the product or the service, it's goodbye, because it's a small brand or no brand. If a start-up receives negative and damning commentary against them and they're not able to handle it or put their point of view across, it can often be terminal."

He says that PR should be an ongoing toolset that can either be carried out by the start-up or through a retainer with a PR agency. "I would recommend that they also seek a public affairs agency or toolset on a project basis if that's relevant to their sector or their product, and also crisis management, as and when it's needed."

Byrne firmly believes that PR - used well - is critical for long-term success. "Most start-ups can't afford paid-for advertising so they can't build profile that way," he says. "PR is really, really key."

Greg Byrne is a co-founder of Smallbusinesscan.com and author of The Winning Marketing Decisions That Grow A Business: How successful entrepreneurs do it.

REACHING THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

It is vital, says Greg Byrne, to prioritise the audiences you are trying to reach and determine how best to get to them when creating a media-relations strategy.
You need to find out what media your audiences listen to, view, read or browse. Also, you need to determine whether you want to reach the largest amount of people or target the key decision makers.

As well as press releases and interviews, events should be a key element of any media strategy.

WRITING A PRESS RELEASE

In her book, Quick Win Marketing, Annmarie Hanlon outlines how to write a press release for best effect.

- Explain who you are and what you have done
• Describe why, when and how. Include details of where to give the 'local interest' angle
• Keep it short - down to one page if possible
• Use a clear and simple title that explains what is to follow
• Include the main information and key points in the first paragraph
• Each paragraph should work on its own
• The main body of the release should expand on the key points in the opening paragraph
• Keep sentences simple and short
• Avoid jargon and technical language
• Try to give examples that are relevant to the audience
• Include contact details at the end of the release
• If possible, include a photo.