PR Strategy Key to Integrating Face-to-face & Online Networking

I love publicity and promotion. I must have been born with a gleam in my eye instead of a loud cry! I know I “conned” a teacher or two along the way. I continue to think “PR” everyday in my own speaking, training and coaching business. I learned well from peers in my non-profit and corporate public relations positions, including 11 years at AT&T.

In meetings when people share their Verbal Business Card, elevator pitch or recent successes, my mind hears promotional possibilities. If I’m not paying attention to every detail, it’s because I’m already “seeing” ways they could benefit and “share with the world.” It’s amazing how many great opportunities never see the light of day because people don’t understand how to market their successes.

I call it the “ripple effect.” Just as a stone keeps making waves when you skip it in water so should your successful efforts (electronic or print interviews, awards, products, e-zines) create more and more publicity and recognition for you. You don’t need to keep reinventing wheels; use the ones you have until they are treadless. There’s no such thing as a newspaper article about you that has only one life. (Maybe you would wish it were so if you are an Illinois politician!)

Networking, another of my great loves, is a perfect example of how a good PR strategy can keep working for you. It’s not about face-to-face or online networking; it’s about integration and how to use one to enhance the other.

Case in point: I rejoined the board of directors of the National Speakers Association-Illinois Chapter (NSA-IL) as director of communication. One of the major duties of my committee is to promote and enhance the credibility and visibility of the group. One of our first media releases/LinkedIn postings was about our Sept. 18, 2009 Fabulous Friday (FF) program featuring Lou Heckler, a multiple-awarding winning NSA speaker and presenter.

After a post on the Chicago Chapter of the Meeting Professionals International’s LinkedIn group, I was delighted to see a response (one of those that sounded as is I had crafted it for the writer … but I hadn’t!). In part, it read:

“My company has had many dealings with Lou Heckler and know him to be an excellent, versatile talent who adds magic to each event he's a part of. What he has to say is also well grounded in research … People serious about speakers should go out of their way to see Lou.”

Brian Palmer, presidentr
National Speakers Bureau

The power of the third-party endorsementr
I was salivating! I asked Brian for permission to use his words in the InfoBlast NSA-IL sends to members and prospective members and in an updated media release. He said, “yes.” I also send Lou the endorsement and immediately received a nice note from him. Further, I send it to the NSA-IL board to share the great PR we were generating for the chapter and a suggestion that they, too, might be able to use the quote in promoting FF to their network.

Lou and I met in person at the FF where it was easy for us to engage in face-to-face conversation since we had broken the ice through our emails. We also linked to one another.

PR is image building … and also intangible. I’ll never know how many people came to the meeting because they saw Brian’s comments in the InfoBlast or a newspaper or online post. What I do know is that it is an important cog in the process of enhancing NSA-IL’s reputation.

And now I am creating more waves by using the scenario as the feature article in my newsletter and by posting it to online ezine sites.

It will keep rippling!