You Never Know Who’s Listening

The amazing thing with doing public relations is, you never know who’s out there listening, watching or reading about you.

This might be a scary thing, but most of the time, it’s a GOOD thing.

The more consistently you put yourself out there, the more unexpected praise, recognition and opportunities come your way.

The ripple effect of PR has only gotten more intense with social networking. Journalists as well as other content publishers and influence peddlers are online. They may be “on to you” without you being aware of it.

I experienced this myself recently when I was included in Forbes.com’s 20 Women for Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter.

I hadn’t been interacting with the writer on Twitter.

Who’s listening?

However, I have no doubts that my online presence–including this blog and my activities in Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn–helped Forbes writer Natalie Sisson to discover me. In fact, she sites PRinYourPajamas.com as a “great blog.”

Social networking has expanded the realm of PR from the traditional newspapers, magazines, radio and TV to blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media.

The Internet provides a vast opportunity for entrepreneurs to become, not only more visible, but also more “findable”.

If you’re reading this post,you’re probably already active in various social media. If so, it’s worthwhile for you to ask yourself the following questions:

• How am I using my social media involvement as part and parcel of my PR efforts?
• Do I consciously project a consistent brand, image and message across social networks?
• Which groups, lists, blogs, networks, forums and pages should I be active in to reach my audience and the people who are already reaching my audience?

If you consider social networking to be something distinct from PR then you could be leaving a lot of opportunities on the table. You could even hurt your overall PR efforts.

On the other hand, if you embrace social media as part of your PR strategy, then you will see bigger results with less than the usual effort.

And to make sure you don’t miss any exposure you’re getting, remember to set up a Google alert for your name, business name, and product name.
woman listening to music from Crestock Stock Photos

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Elena is founder of a technology PR agency that works with startups to billion-dollar companies. She is passionate about helping marketers and small business owners with practical publicity strategies.

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