Welcome to the blog of Wendy McWilliams, Managing Director of WMC Public Relations, which is located in Melbourne, Australia.

Through this site, I will provide insights into how businesses can utilise the PR tools employed by professionals to help their business grow. Using public relations can help to develop customer relationships, shape market perceptions and build valued brands. 

PR blog : latest entry

Thursday, 2 September 2010

Newsletters remain an valuable B2B communication tool, whether circulated as a hard copy or electronically. As long as the information is informative and beneficial to readers, there should be no reason why recipients would not want to receive it. Of course, you need to make sure that the frequency is spot on, so they aren't bombarded too often or forget all about you because it's six months between each issue.

Newsletters are an extremely cost effective medium, but don't make the mistake of using images that detract rather than enhance the story. In fact, most often it is the photo that carries the story. So don't scrimp on paying for a professional to take photos. If you know you will be requiring a selection of photos over the next three or four issues of newsletter, have the photographer take the shots at the same time. This way the cost can be spread over numerous issues.

If you are struggling to find content, create an 'editorial' team comprising people from different departments and offices. Set up a conference call every month and discuss the content and ideas/suggestions they have, which hopefully they have developed following conversations with people they work with.

Does your company have an internal newsletter? I always think it is important to have a regular newsletter to employees that covers the more human side of the business. Yes, marriages, engagements, births and the like should be included, along with entertaining human-interest pieces such as people profiles, promotions, industry news, new products, new employees, safety issues and successes, awards and recognition for both employees and the company, current advertising campaigns, community engagement projects, photos from recent exhibitions, new company policies and strategies, and a message from the CEO (optional).

Don't forget that sending out your customer newsletter unsolicited is a no-no. Make sure you have their permission. And use tracking software to see who is opening it, what stories they are clicking on and who requests to be unsubscribed (and make sure you comply with their request!).

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

Taking the topic of case studies one step further, using third parties to endorse your products and servics adds considerably more credibility to your PR efforts. There are many ways you can utilise comments or quotes from third parties in your promotional material. For example, if your company has won an award, try and obtain quotes from the award organiser or its CEO saying the reason why you were chosen. Sometimes it is better to get a quote from a member of the judging panel. We did this once for a Coobara Wines, which won an award for its cool climate shiraz. We spoke to the judge, who was well known in the wine community and used his comments as to why he thought the wine was so good.

Another example would be third party comments and quotes that can come from independent authorities who can endorse company statements. If business XYZ says it runs a carbon neutral operation, it would be more credible if an independent organisation can be quoted to say that they have accredited XYZ and have verified that they are carbon neutral.

In many public relations situations it's worth remembering that when writing a news release or article for a newsletter, newspaper, magazine or blog, try to incorporate quotes from third parties: people or organisations that have benefited from the product or service you are writing about. The comments should not be flowery or embellished with superlatives, but written in a way that summarises the benefits they gained. 

On another note, received a wonderful email this morning from an old client who moved to Perth and is now CEO of Mobilarm, man overboard safety systems at http://www.mobilarm.com/   He referred some new business to me saying, "Jason is in need of some PR to launch a new business venture and I have assured him you’re the best in the business!"

What a lovely way to start the day. 

Monday, 5 July 2010

When you get a new customer or client and start racking up some good results for them, it's a good idea to prepare a case study. There are so many uses to case studies, including: sales brochure/flyer that can be used by sales staff, handed out at exhibitions or shows, etc.; excerpts can be used on your website, including really good quotes from customer that shine a light on your services and products; advertisements that include a customer quote, or even just their logo, is seen as an endorsement of what you have to offer; editorials for use by trade journals, business magazines, newspapers and online media; and when submitting tenders they make great reference material. Make sure you have the customer's approval before you start putting pen to pape, otherwise all your good work could be for nothing. Usually they are happy to agree to case studies as it gives them additional - and free- publicity. It also looks good on the CV of the customer representative being quoted.

Wednesday, 22 June 2010

Just returned from two and a bit weeks in the NT Top End, touring around Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine and Litchfield National Park. Was very interesting looking at the Aboriginal rock art and hearing the stories about the paintings. The wet was a month later than usual so there was a lot of water around. And what does water mean? Mozzies. Thousands of them. Still a small price to pay for the great views of so many wonderful birds, including the Jabiru or Black-necked Stork.

If you are looking at creating some interest on your stand the next time you exhibit, how about giving visitors a scratchy card that reveals whether or not they are a winner. I suggest you have lots of small prizes in a barrell that they can delve into when they have a winning card. We've just designed a scratchie for a client that includes a list of their services and their logo, printed in their corporate colours. The interactivity of the scratching process and returning to the stand to collect their prize will hopefully mean they will remember the company for more than five seconds. And if the prize has the company logo on it, so much the better.

An update on Stylemaster Panels and their award entry. They were runner up in the award, so were thrilled with this. What award are you entering this year?

Thursday, 20 May 2010

Good news. Our client Stylemaster Panels has been announced as a finalist in the FBA awards, as mentioned below.

Thursday, 13 May 2010

Helping our clients to win awards is very rewarding. Of course if they don't win, it can also be disappointing - for the client and ourselves. We have recently submitted an entry in the 2010 Family Business Association Awards for one of our clients and in a couple of weeks the winners will be announced. Fingers crossed Stylemaster Panels will win their category and go on to the national finals.

I've recently written a white paper on why businesses should enter awards - you can read the complete document by clicking on this link .

In summary though, winning a business or industry award provides independent recognition of your expertise and success. And if promoted well, it allows you to stand out from your competitors. It also provides the opportunity to raise the profile of the company, demonstrate you are well-run and successful, attract media coverage, increase the company's appeal to potential investors and be seen as a good employer, which can help attract top flight staff. Winning is also a fantastic morale booster for everyone and sometimes provides a valuable prize.

To choose which awards to enter, investigate all the possible awards that are applicable to your business, both industry and business related. Don't forget to check out international awards as well.

In addition to the above benefits, there are other advantages in entering awards. The first of these is the actual process itself. Answering probing questions about your company succinctly will allow you to drill down to the key issues that make your business a success and stand out from the rest. Listing your major achievements and quantifying them is an excellent process that can be used in other areas of your business.

I strongly recommend that a professional writer or PR consultant reviews award entries before they are submitted. Make sure the answers are relevant and use real life examples to demonstrate your claims. It is so important to read the conditions of entry and ensure every item is ticked off so a technicality doesn't cause the entry to go to the bottom of the list. The award we submitted for Stylemaster Panels was also given to our graphics designer to improve the presentation, and it really did look good. 

Of course, once you win an award, or even if you are a finalist, there are so many things you can do to promote this fact and take advantage of the kudos you receive. Check out this list in the white paper, which can be found here .

Wendy McWilliams

PS I welcome any feedback, questions or queries. Just drop me a note at info at wmcpr dot com dot au.

Click on this link for a more detailed overview of WMC PR's comprehensive public relations services