Here are some PR tips you can follow if you intend to do all the PR work in your business.

With budgets having been cut down in businesses to cope with the slowdown in the economy that began in the last quarter of 2007, businesses have had to do some major restructuring in the operations. For companies that have had to cut down jobs, more and more employees have learned to multi-task and take on functions and tasks previously performed by others. Small companies have learned to stretch budgets even further and take advantage of tools that will help their business.

One of the things small businesses have decided to really do on their own is public relations. Do-it-yourself PR is a necessity for small companies. With no budget to hire a professional PR company to manage their brands, a company has to make sure that it pays attention to its PR and getting the necessary work done.  Here are a few tips for DIY PR:

• Hire a virtual assistant- sure your company may not have the budget to hire a PR company but you should spare a few hundred dollars on a virtual assistant to help you with your PR each month.  A virtual assistant with online PR skills can help you in many ways. First, the VA can create content for you.  A VA can write press releases for you and also articles that you can use for article marketing. The VA can also use social media for your business. Social media have become major tools for reaching the public and the VA can help you in maximizing the use of social media for PR.
• Sign up for a PR distribution site account- there are PR distribution sites that allow you to upload unlimited PR per month. If you plan on really taking PR into your own hands, you should sign up for the services of these PR distribution site.  PR distribution sites submit your PR to online and traditional media for possible publication If you are capable of writing news-worthy PR then you should definitely sign up for an account with a PR distribution site to help you get your PR published offline and online.
• Always study your industry and your market- make sure you know what’s going on around you.  Read news about your industry and your market so that you can also react appropriately to what’s going on in your industry. You should also pay attention to what people are saying about you online.

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