During our discussion, she had mentioned that she thought I would be good in ‘public relations’.  I remember literally looking at her and saying ‘I have no idea what that means, but when you can tell me what it is, I’ll do it…’. At the time, it was a flippant remark.  Because A) I had no idea what public relations was and B) It annoyed me that she already had me pegged into a field that I knew nothing about, nor did I think I would ever be interested in.

As we all know, mom is always right! Not only do I know firsthand now what public relations is, but it has become my career and passion to understand its importance and why companies, especially startups, should invest in it.

Think of public relations as a professional way to maintain a company, person or organization’s public image in a favorable light. Practitioners in the field focus on building your brand while protecting it at all times. Oftentimes people perceive public relations roles negatively, that we are doing damage control. This can certainly be part of the job – and a large part of the way the mainstream media portrays PR – but for the B2B environment, it is usually quite the opposite. We continually strive to enhance our client’s brand through relationship building with reporters, editors and the public to explain our client’s business and products as well as set a positive impression.

So why is this so important to startups?

It sets a company off on the right foot so that it can blaze a confident trail into the future. There is never a better time to tell your story than at the beginning.  The most interesting part of the initial story will be you and what drives you.  If you hope to have a long, successful go of it with the media and the public, talking about yourself and your business in a positive, thought-provoking light is a must.

Public relations gives you the most bang for your buck. In today’s content marketing world, one public relations piece that has been written can be respun into many different things, including blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts, quotes for an article, a longer article, etc.  The list is endless.  And public relations is less expensive than ad placement!

Your name gets out there and people start noticing. This is great brand exposure your new company should be aching for. Dovetailing on the point above, with tweets and posts, you begin to get noticed by other companies and customers that you may not have been able to reach any other way.  This helps you grow your business.  And who knows, it may also translate into investors if you need them!

You know the old adage, ‘You only get to make a first impression once’. With the right PR team behind you, you will be able to make that first impression memorable.  PR professionals are there to help you put your best foot forward and help you shine.

You can’t possibly do it all yourself, so why not let someone with experience help you get started. A good PR agency can help you:

Build relationships with the media

Plan your events

Keep your social media flowing

Teach you crisis management

Develop your brand

Work on both internal and external communications

Once you find a person or firm that you trust and shares your vision, you will never regret working with a public relations agency or hiring an internal public relations person.  But what you might regret is not employing public relations at all!