I often get public relations proposals from my clients to review with requests to put my two cents in and make a recommendation.  Having worked with pr firms for the last 15 years gave me a great deal of respect for this profession and as I said in my last post I encourage all entrepreneurs  to seek them out.  So if you’re a small business or entrepreneur in start-up phase looking to get press here are some tips to help you figure out which pr firm is best for you:

From my experience a marketing budget is often an after thought.  The last thing entrepreneurs think about or plan for.  While it’s fine to make compromises,(all early growth stage companies usually have to) it’s where you decide to make those compromises that can affect your revenue growth.  Too often I am asked for marketing help and then reminded that there is only a shoe string budget. While there are of course always marketing tactics that cost little money they aren’t necessarily the ones that will help you grow your business the fastest.

In a recent discussion among business counselors serving small business the topic turned to what are the attributes that indicate likely entrepreneurial success.  The collective wisdom of the group including a serial entrepreneur is in the following list of attributes we look for to predict success when we’re in our advisory roles:

Just when you thought you were done, you realize that the campaign measurements aren’t necessarily conclusive.  Or you’re left with a lingering doubt as to whether the response was an aberration perhaps affected by a one time event. Smart marketers always retest results even positive ones to ensure before the budget is spent on a costly roll-out that they are fairly secure in a predictable outcome.