As gas prices go up, wallets snap shut and the dollar weakens, many businesses see marketing as extra fat to cut, but one expert says it's not about eliminating programs, it's about making them smarter.

"Marketing is very hard to turn on and off like a faucet and keep that same flow," Kevin McLaughlin of Resound Marketing in Princeton, N.J., told U.S. News  & World Report. "You really have to maintain some sort of momentum. That's hard to do when you're just picking it up every now and then."

Marketing is especially important to small business owners, who should never let themselves fade from the local media's radars, McLaughlin says. To keep the focus, owners should worry less about making news and more about leveraging their power as an expert source. 

"You have a better chance of building a relationship with editors when you're less about pitching to them and more about being a resource for them," McLaughlin says.

To build your resource reputation, consider sending out a bulleted list of topics on which you routinely speak, especially when those topics are in the news, McLaughlin suggests. Look for upcoming events, perhaps through your Chamber of Commerce, for speaking opportunities and start a blog — and assign someone to keep it fresh — to make your business more accessible.

To see how one New York shop launched a public relations campaign, check out "Freedom with the Press" from Floral Management's April 2006 issue. Get advice on how to generate local news coverage for your shop by accessing customizable press releases on the SAF Web site.

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

 


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