We are all out here trying to grow our businesses, right? So can you really afford not to know what might be destroying your business? This is number six of the trends that could be making your business fail. It is a triple threat. This trend is; not doing PR, not knowing the five items that the press hates, and not knowing the five items the press loves.

Action is the key to success and growth of your business. So if this is true then it should be true that you are already doing the things you need to market your business and help it grow. But one of the vital processes people are missing when they are marketing is to focus on PR. Public relations (PR) is a imperative way of getting known as an expert and for people to know who you are. So the first thing you have to know is where to start and what should you be doing with PR.

Breaking PR down into it's parts; public is who you are trying to reach, relations is what you what you are wanting to build with the public. So knowing that, you have to do what Jill Lublin of Guerrilla Marketing talks about which is develop the "I've heard of her/him/the company somewhere" syndrome. To do this you want to start with getting in your local paper every thirty days. You do this by sending in one or two paragraph articles that just announce something about your business. It can be something as simple as you got a new account, you received an award, or even that you recently went to a new workshop or camp. Whatever is new for your business.

The second thing that is important is to get in the Business Journal or on a radio show, or a television spot. To do this you are going to have to have something bigger, stronger if you will. You have to let the press know you are an expert in something where there is a problem and you have the solution. Getting these more prominent pieces is going to give you visibility and credibility. What you have to do here is two fold. First you must think bigger than who you are as a business owner. Are you working from home? Then you are an expert in home based businesses. Do you work with a family member in your business? Then you are an expert on family businesses. Use those things and whatever else fits to get a press release out there. Secondly, this also means you need to always be 'news aware'. If there is something that is happening in the news that you are an expert on, be sure to let the press know so they can have you do a commentary on that subject matter. Find and use all the opportunities you can! Get your name out there for the immediate press release fame but also to use that for clients or potential clients so they see that you are known and are an expert. This is really a must for growing your business.

The next thing you have to do is look at what does the media hate about people who are giving them press releases. You need to be aware of these things so you are not ignored or even worse banned from the media.

The first thing they hate is for you to try to sell. Obviously that is what you hope the end results will be, but you must never turn your story - your press release into being all about you. You will not get recognized and you will destroy your credibility. The second thing they hate is when you are not prepared. Some people don't even know their core message and what they are truly representing. Even worse is they don't know anything about the newspaper or magazine they are trying to get into. This is a real killer of respect in their eyes. The third thing they hate is 'fake' press releases where you really don't have any valuable information but are just trying to get your name out there. Any time you give a free report, do a teleclass, or do a press release there always needs to be very important, valid, and valuable information in it. Fourth thing is they do not like it when you do not have focus. They are very busy and do not want to read or hear chit chat. They want quickly stated information that they can take and run with. You have to know exactly what you want to say and get it out quickly. And last they hate it when you keep sending them the same ideas over and over again. Everything has it's time but you want to have new ideas, something refreshing that you can present to them each time. Avoid all of these pitfalls and you will have a much better chance of getting heard and seen from the people in the press.

The next thing to be aware of are the five things that the press likes the most. These are things that will quickly endear you to them and give you a much better shot at getting the coverage that you want. The first thing is preparation. Be cognizant of what media you are dealing with so you present your information in the most appropriate way. If it is radio be very aware of your voice. If it is television be sure to have visuals or be expressive in the way you present. The second thing is build a relationship. Get to know the person who is going to be making the decision. Give them good tips and information so that you become the go to person when they are looking for a commentator on a subject that is your specialty. Thirdly be aware of when the person that does the interview is on the air. Calling five minutes before they are about to go on the air is not going to get you the attention you need. They are focused on what they have to do and not looking for ideas at that time. Fourth thing they love is brevity. Be clear and focused, say what you need to say and don't make small talk. Fifth is broad appeal. They love it when what you have to talk about fits in with trends that are happening right now. That means people are not going to change the channel and obviously that is their biggest goal.

It is definitely a dangerous trend not to have press releases as a big part of your business and marketing. With the above items in mind and now knowing how to place yourself out there to allow people to know about you, you can grow your business bigger and faster. Being aware of the five things the media hates and loves should prepare you for a great release of your press related material. So now it is just the action you must put in place to make PR a regular part of your business growth!