The Power of Public Relations
All handmade business owners should aim to have enormous notoriety. They want to become such a well-known brand that stores automatically seek their products for their shelves.
Imagine how much easier life would be if customers flocked to your website placing large orders with dependable regularity. It is a primary goal independent makers seek, and so they necessarily spend a lot of time, thought, and money on marketing their products.
In past articles, I have discussed many of the most obvious marketing tools. You need a good-looking website and an efficient way to order your product online. You need to stay connected with your customers with periodic emails and inform them when you have new products or promotions. And yet most of that effort is aimed at building a strong relationship with your existing customers.
The outstanding question is how do you reach new customers? Potentially, there are hundreds of stores, museum shops, and catalogs that could have a great fit for your products. But they have never heard of you.
One traditional method for finding new customers is exhibiting at trade shows where you will certainly be seen by scores of potential buyers. Or you might decide to try advertising in retail-focused magazines.
In today’s digital world, you should enroll on an online wholesale platform, such as IndieMe or Faire. Each of these strategies will gain you customers, but all of them will cost you effort, time, and, of course, money.
However, there is one important, additional tactic many makers forget, and that is public relations, or as it is commonly called PR. Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds relationships between your business with other businesses, organizations, and even the public.
The good news is that unlike advertising, most of these efforts do not need large budgets. In fact, many of the most rewarding PR efforts are free!
However, like any other business strategy, PR success requires planning and a significant investment in research, writing, and communication. In short, a good PR plan for your business should include the following:
First, define the goals for your PR campaign. Do you want local, regional, or national attention?