Allison Dawn Public Relations

Public Relations grassroots campaigns rooted in blogging, SEO (search engine optimization), press release distribution and generation of relevant incoming links are an amazing tool for building a groundswell of recognition and support  for your business.

So many people are in a rush to obtain magazine, radio and television coverage for their business, while neglecting the public relations benefits of online social media and online social networking. In this case I have to credit one of my public relations clients for teaching me this valuable PR lesson.

Not too long ago, I began running a public relations campaign for a new niche social networking and micro-blogging website and after some strategy meetings we collectively, if apprehensively came to the conclusion that the right approach for us would be to first build a thriving online community and a groundswell of buzz before venturing into the traditional media.

Long story short, we vigorously pursued a presence on Facebook, FriendFeed, Xanga and Twitter and then began contacting social networking, dating, relationship and other types of high profile blogs that fell into the site’s proper demographic. Well our efforts paid off, and our greatest public relations advocates became Internet users, who began linking to the site, Tweeting about the site and posting excerpts from the site and our viral reach was outstanding.

Radio soon came calling and there has been radio coverage of the site on an ongoing basis almost since launch. We are now taking all of this incredible grassroots public relations ammunition that we have accrued over the past two months and beginning to approach televison and magazines.

The definition of public relations is changing, and although glossy magazines have prestige they don’t offer groundswell public relations like the blogs do, and nothing else in our modern history does either.

I said in my last blog post about political public relations that I would give feedback on my experience interviewing David Plouffe, the mastermind campaign manager who led President Barack Obama to victory last year.

One thing that certainly gives me an advantage as a publicist and marketing consultant that most of my colleagues do not have is my direct access to some of the most famous, brilliant, and innovative minds of our time. I don’t take this opportunity lightly or ever take it for granted. I am grateful for this every day!

That being said, President Barack Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe was one of those meetings of the minds that left a huge impression on me, mainly because he was one of the greatest teachers of grassroots marketing and public relations that one could ever hope to learn from. As I read his book, The Audacity to Win, in preparation for our interview together I couldn’t help but soak up the invaluable playbook by which David Plouffe and his partner David Axelrod ran Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign. Some of the things that jumped off the page the most were the following strategies:

1. Rather than simply competing with your competition for existing customers or clients, create new customers in areas where your competition may not have looked. I use this tactic to my clients’ advantage when I work now.

2. Don’t be above canvasing at the most grassroots level. If it’s good enough for our President, it should be good enough for your company or organization. This could include making phone calls, door to door, newsletters, flyers, attending conferences, visiting private clubs or schools… anywhere you can reach people in their own familiar environment to get your message across one person at a time. The catch: You better have a solid and concise message. Practice and polish before you hit the “field.”

3. Be above anything petty. Don’t get “down in the muck,” as President Obama would always say to David Plouffe during his campaign. Forget negative message public relations strategies or retaliation. Stay a cut above by displaying integrity. Announce what sets you apart in a positive way rather than cutting down your competition. Don’t retaliate against your competition with a counter negative attack. That is so 20th century, no? Be more evolved. Instead, clarify why they are incorrect and go on to communicate your authentic message.

To read my interview with David Plouffe – http://www.pr.com/article/1137

To visit Allison Dawn Public Relations and read more about how I work with my own clients click – www.allisondawnpr.com