Networking: The Power of Communication

Today we wanted to go over networking and how important and beneficial networking and communicating can be, not only for PR and media, but for any part of business and life.

You never know who or what is out there or who or what your associates, family, friends, coworkers or casual contacts know or are into, unless you communicate, network and find out.

If you are building a business and have a general plan and overview, by networking with already existing contacts, while also going out and about to meet and make new contacts and associates, you are doubling your chances of finding clients, work, contacts, and a vast range of opportunities and people who could help you in any number of ways.

It is very important to network and communicate openly, and sometimes things can really come together with people and opportunities which can grow and become more contacts and opportunities, and still more and more. Communicate and network the heck out of yourself, your business, skills, interests and opportunities and share this with everyone through your network or networks, and you will be amazed at the number of great things that can and will happen for you, your business and career.

The Power of Public Relations

All companies wish to grow, expand and enjoy great success and revenue streams, and public relations is a perfect means to achieving growth in customer/user base, name recognition, market share and expansion, and increase in revenue.

Under the marketing umbrella, public relations is a key part of communications and pushing your company brand to your target audience, customers, partners, investors and media. Public Relations (PR), is also very cost effective and is fairly low in price when compared to advertising.

Press Releases, Blogs, Twitter and Tweets are a few of the tools that help PR people to communicate your news and messages to the world. Using press releases and wire distribution services like Business Wire, as well as social media and social networking, blogs and company blogs and Twitter, allow communications professionals many different ways to make the world aware of your company, your name and your news.

Media placemets are the bread and butter, the cornerstone of PR. News stories in key target press can lead to huge increase in attention, customers and inquiries, and over the years I have been told by several clients that after story placements they have been "We have been overrun with so many calls, we have had to hire more sales people!" and "Our sales and customer service teams tell us our phones have been ringing off the hook!), showing just how effective a good story placement is for any company, in any market and any industry. A nice story placed in publications like Wall Street Journal, Mashable, TechCrunch, Businessweek, InformationWeek, GQ, Allure, DailyCandy or your local newspaper(s), can provide great publicity and a nice return of interest and customers/users and sales.

Public Relations is a truly wonderful and cost effective way to market and promote your company, brand, products and services.

Top Business Media Sources and Outlets

In PR and media relations there are many categories among the media - Business, Daily, Broadcast, Online, Blogs, etc. - and we wanted to provide a brief look at some of the top, key business media outlets.

Business Media includes magazines, newspapers, broadcast, online news and blogs, focused on the business side of news. The top business media that should be on any PR person's contact list include (but are not limited) to the following list of 15 important business media sources:

1. Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
2. Associated Press (AP)
3. New York Times
4. Financial Times (FT)
5. Businessweek
6. Fortune (part of CNNMoney)
7. Forbes
8. Reuters
9. Business Journals (across U.S. in 41 markets including Los Angeles, Silicon Valley/San Jose, Boston, Austin, Atlanta, etc.)
10. Fast Company
11. Newsweek/The Daily Beast
12. Fox Business
13. Investor's Business Daily
14. CNBC
15. CNNMoney

There are many more business media, small and large, like the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, strategy + business, Business Insider, Inc., MarketWatch, TechCrunch, AllBusiness.com and more, that all should be in your contacts. Also, when working with media it is important to establish a relationship with the media in the local market(s) your clients are based and involved with. Whether New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley or Chicago, or smaller places like Colorado Springs, Raleigh or Louisville, no matter how big or small a city and location, it is very important to establish a presence and the brand in your local market.

When working with these outlets be prepared, know your target and contacts, the angles and sources they like, the beats each reporter covers, and work on building a relationship with as many as you can, it will pay great dividends in the end.