Volume 5, No. 11
June 7, 2010

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Cuclis PR
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Sonoma, CA 95476
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gina@cuclispr.com
http://cuclispr.com/

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Final Tip - Your Business Needs a Communications Plan

As I said in last month's issue, after five years of publishing PR Tip of the Month, this is the last issue. If you have found my tips worthwhile, I hope you will sign up to receive posts by e-mail from my North Bay New Media blog. There I provide PR tips and case studies for communicating in the changing media landscape. Back issues of "PR Tip of the Month" will continue to be available on Cuclis PR's website.

Why I'm Concluding with this Reminder

A couple of the initial 2005 issues of PR Tip of the Month discussed communications planning. I'm concluding with that topic, because I've seen what happens when organizations don't have a plan. They complain about not being known in the community. Business owners wonder why a competitor keeps being quoted in the newspaper as an expert, and they're not. Nonprofits wonder why they can't grow their donor or volunteer base.

You Need a Consistent Strategy

Sending out an occasional press release and creating an underutilized Facebook page is not a plan. A plan starts with asking the questions: with whom do we want to communicate, why, what do we want our target audience to know about us, and, more importantly, what do we think they want to hear about from us? Ask these questions to develop your message and strategy. After you've defined a strategy, decide which tactics and channels will best reach and engage your desired audience. Create a calendar identifying which communication activities you will do each month.

Where to Find More Information

Read this back issue about how to write a PR plan.

Thanks for Reading

With this last issue, I want to thank you for being a loyal subscriber. I hope you learned something you wouldn't have otherwise. I also hope you will continue to read my work at http://blog.cuclispr.com/. I plan write a post this week on why I ceased publishing this e-zine. Thanks again.

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