The Public Relations Blog

When you have a great business, franchise it. When you want to make it greater, use PR.

Franchising your business can be the best of both worlds: You get to extend your winning business plan to different locations without having to run all of them. For many – both franchisors and franchisees – this represents the ideal business model.

Still, every kind of business needs to grow, manage its brand, raise visibility and handle potential crises. This is especially true for franchisors, and good franchise PR can help.

Find out how to maximize your media relations efforts

A new survey has found that the majority of reporters are displeased with the quality and content of materials they receive from PR professionals. For the survey, ISEBOX.com, a content distribution and tracking platform, interviewed numerous journalists and media professionals about their views on PR and corporate communicators.

Let PR show you how to make sure the public sees you as the superhero, not the villain

A crisis can occur in any company at any time. This is one area where size does not matter. While there’s no way to truly plan for every type of disaster, there are actions you can take today to help prevent a crisis tomorrow. One way is through reputation management.

When a crisis occurs, it can damage your brand. Part of your brand is your reputation. With help from PR for reputation management, you can protect your company and control your image.

By Wendy Bulawa Agudelo

Lately, Starbucks has been earning headlines for its Race Together campaign, designed to stimulate dialogue about the controversial topic of race relations. Americans immediately took to social media with unrest, questioning why a coffee behemoth would take on the dialogue – and, more importantly, why it would use handwritten #racetogether scribbles on disposable coffee cups to engage customers on a topic so controversial.

Would you like a discussion about race with your latte this morning?

By Lisa Goldsberry

You’ve probably seen all the news reports and social media posts about Starbucks’ latest PR campaign. In case you’ve just emerged from a deep cave and missed it, here’s the gist: In order to spark discussions about race relations between employees and customers, the world’s most famous coffee chain has begun writing “Race Together” along with customers’ names on their coffee cups.

If you ignore Google, it may ignore you!

By Jason Mudd, APR

Your company has followed all the smart advice about making the most of social media for business. Most likely, you have hired a social media manager (or outsourced one) who ensures that you have a constant presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and maybe even Instagram and Pinterest. You may also have some videos on YouTube. What about Google+?

Many companies have neglected Google+ because they feel it’s still new and unpopular. However, there are several reasons why you need to give this platform more than a passing glance. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Google+ should move to the front of the line when it comes to the social media focus for your business. Here’s why:

Use PR tools and tactics to fight back the right way

You Google your company name and one of the first things you find is a scathing review written by a disgruntled customer. Before you go into panic mode, stop and think.

For many people, the initial reaction is to strike back, maybe with a reply accusing the customer of not using the product properly. There are right ways and wrong (reputation-damaging) ways to respond to negative online reviews, and PR can serve as your guide.

Axia PR shares results from the TEKGROUP 2015 Online Newsroom Survey Report

Knowledge is power and at Axia Public Relations, we believe the more information you have about how the media works, the more successful you’ll be at attracting positive news coverage for your company. Therefore, we would like to share the TEKGROUP 2015 Online Newsroom Survey Report, which covers how reporters, editors and other news professionals work with online newsrooms and press releases.

Put the luck of the Irish and remarkable PR to work for you

March 17 is set aside each year as St. Patrick’s Day to honor one of Ireland’s patron saints. In America, it has become associated with parades, celebrations and channeling some of that famous luck of the Irish. For your business, it should also serve as a reminder that great PR requires a lot of planning and a little luck.

Distinguish yourself from the competition to see results

Odds are you don’t have a monopoly on your customers’ loyalty, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. It doesn’t matter how many people know about you unless they’re actually making purchases. To achieve remarkable results, produce a remarkable message.