For example, if you are a boutique winemaker wanting to launch your new vintage, your customers would probably read the weekly food and drink lift-outs and columns in the metro dailies and weekend papers/magazines along with online web pages such as Top Drop. Then there are the numerous glossy magazines and influential freelance writers and bloggers who specialise in the wine industry.

The editors, journalists and self publishers who write news stories and feature articles on any particular subject are looking for material to write about. They can’t possibly source every story line themselves; that’s where the PR professional can help.

Whether in-house or outsourced, the PR person needs to find an angle to their news, which will resonate with the journalist they are trying to sell (pitch) their story to.

Just sending them a press release announcing its new vintage is now available, won’t generate much attention. That is, unless it is Penfolds Grange or something similar, of course!

You need to find a unique aspect to the story: perhaps the wine comes from vineyards that were burnt in the Black Saturday bush fires on 7 February 2009; perhaps the winemaker is the youngest/oldest in the country; or perhaps it has won a significant award. Look hard and try and find a story around the ‘news’, ideally one with a human interest flavour.

Having good photographs is essential, not just a straight product shot of the bottle of wine, but tie the photo into the person or story that supports the ‘news’ item.

With a new product such as wine, taste is obviously an important criteria. Therefore, samples and tasting notes should be provided to the journalist. Perhaps you could arrange for them to taste the wine at a well known restaurant with matching food?

A final suggestion, make sure you read and are familiar with the article, column or website of the media you are targeting. You need to know what their interests are, any topical issues they are following and their style.

ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (NasdaqGS: CKSW), the leading provider of automated mobile workforce management and optimisation solutions for the service industry, today announced the release of the new ClickAppStore, offering a rich variety of business apps and a visual development studio to integrate discrete apps into composite apps, sharing context and running streamlined workflows.

Its built-in integration with organisational back-office systems and business-grade mobility infrastructure, establishes the ClickAppStore as the most complete platform for enterprise mobility, and overcomes many of the limitations of contemporary consumer-level AppStores. Now every mobile worker, from field-service technicians to insurance agents, from healthcare workers to public safety providers, from sales representatives to bankers and business executives, can boost their productivity with a device of their choice.

Download the full media release in Word document (290 Kb).

The solution, which will be used in Electrix’s Reactive Gas Department, will reduce administration, improve response times and provide clearer visibility of its historical performance for their customers.

ClickSoftware, operating in Australia for more than 10 years, is the leading provider of automated mobile workforce management optimisation solutions for the service industry.

The mobility solution will enable Electrix to rapidly alert engineers to a gas callout, providing them with all the information they need to deal with each situation safely via their mobile devices. The advanced functionality will also update the company’s systems with the real-time progress engineers are making.  To read more….

Download the full media release in Word document (172 Kb). High resolution photo available upon request.

From Wikipedia, the definition of CSR is… a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and international norms.

The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders.

If CSR is not already entrenched in your organisation, it should be. All areas of your business should comply, including:
* workplace safety and employee training,
* product development and materials sourcing,
* packaging,
* product performance,
* pollution control and waste management,
* the complaints process,
* advertising and marketing,
* community service obligations,
* corporate philanthropy

At WMC Public Relations we applaud companies that take CSR seriously and are pleased to provide two examples of local companies, and their employees, who really do contribute to society through CSR.

Tasty Trucks: Colin Lear established Tasty Trucks in 1989 and since then they have been providing morning tea and lunch to factory and office workers, arriving on time each day and providing a fast and friendly service. The business is expanding rapidly, but earlier this year, more than 15,000 people a day are served from their mobile vans.

For the past 15 years, Tasty Trucks has been donating vast quantities of sandwiches, rolls, pies, salad packs, cakes and other freshly prepared meals to St Vincent de Paul Society’s soup vans, which go out every night to feed Melbourne’s homeless.

The community also benefits from Tasty Trucks in another important way with employees volunteering as part of a monthly roster system to help out in the soup vans.

To me, this is ground roots CSR. But Colin has taken CSR further. A feature of the vans is to utilise the energy from the engine to heat water that keeps the ovens hot. The fan forced ovens also have a gas assisted burner. The vans and the refrigeration system run on propane gas, which is one of the cleanest fuels available. This makes for a very energy efficient and environmentally clean vehicle.

Using the knowledge Colin and his team gained in developing their vans, Tasty Trucks has also been instrumental in helping St Vincent’s design and build their soup vans which fully comply with the requirements of food handling laws.

That is a perfect example of CSR.

Cummins: Leading diesel engine supplier, Cummins, introduced Community Involvement Teams (CITs) as part of its CSR program. Its CSR mission is to make people’s lives better by serving and improving the communities in which Cummins does business, and providing the tools and means for people living on the edge of society to overcome the barriers they face.

Cummins delivers on this core value through its CITs, which serve as an organised employee-driven structure through which CSR work is carried out in the local community.

The CITs select projects based on local community concerns and with a focus on people and groups who are marginalised in society. As reported in Knox Business Life, the Cummins Scoresby CIT chose to partner with three local community not-for-profit organisations: Riding for the Disabled (RDA), Wesley Do Care (WDC) and Hand Brake Turn (HBT).

RDA provides horse riding and related activities for physically and intellectually disabled people of all ages. The program has therapeutic, developmental and social value for the riders. For a few hours each week, several Cummins Scoresby volunteers assist by leading the horses and interacting with these special riders.

WDC provides services for socially isolated people, who are housebound and rarely have visitors. Staff at Cummins Scoresby volunteer their time to do home visits with these often elderly and isolated residents. The volunteers provide company and assist with odd jobs.

The Cummins-sponsored HBT program focuses on further education for local youth at risk with a specific focus on Certificate 1 in Motor/Engine Mechanics, and potentially Diesel Technician Apprenticeships. These youth have an opportunity to meet and mix with Cummins volunteers, who share similar automotive and technical passions.

The company encourages and gives all employees an opportunity to participate in community involvement activities on a voluntary basis.

Gino Butera, Managing Director of Cummins Asia Pacific couldn’t have said it any better: “Through Cummins’ Corporate Social Responsibility program, we seek to achieve a lasting and positive impact on our local community. We would urge all businesses to adopt programs to assist the less fortunate in our community.”

What are you doing to further your organisation’s CSR policies?

I welcome any comments you have about CSR and how public relations (PR) can help you achieve it.

Thanks to Mallen Baker for use of the illustration.

PR provides a platform to build brand credibility whereas advertising can build brand awareness. Third party endorsements, one of the favoured ways to create credibility, used to be the sole domain of the PR Department, but then the ad guys thought they’d do the same. You see these ads with testimonials all the time now, but you can’t get away from the fact that the company paid for the ad to be there. With PR, the endorsement is run by the media source who has checked (we hope!) the statements and publishes at their expense because they think it is a good story. So on the credibility stakes, PR wins hands down.

PR is also ahead when it comes to free editorials. Of course, the story has to be newsworthy for it to make it but when you consider the cost of a full page advert for the same space, you can see the benefits. Quite a number of publications now offer advertisers free editorial for running an ad and DON’T put advertorial on top of their editorial, which is a bit deceptive. I believe this will eventually diminish the respect their readers have for the magazine, as the editorials become just like a page from the company brochure without any news content at all.

Advertising provides control: you get what you want and what you’ve paid for. This is crucial if you have an event and want to promote it ahead of time. Advertising is guaranteed and if done correctly will generate leads or members or visitors or whatever you want to attract. PR can be provide some degree of control: for example, if you have a magazine or newspaper sponsor an award or event, they guarantee to cover it before, during and after.

Advertising can be expensive whereas a PR program is usually much less. However, advertising does allow a company to get really creative in its approach, whereas PR relies to a major extent on the medium it is using to communicate its messages. And of course advertising can continually promote brand imaging, whereas this is much harder with PR. But that’s where creative PR photography can be employed.

I’ve only just touched the surface on this and would welcome any comments you have.

Walking the talk is not always achieved so it pays to do the research. Check with customers on their experience with the said person or company, preferably speaking to them, not just via an email. To read more of this PR blog, click this link …

As a Public Relations Practitioner in a competitive environment I am always happy to provide referrals to prospective customers. Hearing first hand from a third party about our PR services and successful campaigns always carries more weight than me spruiking about our own services.

It doesn’t matter what industry or business you operate in, walking the talk will always generate more interest and customers.

An example of someone who does walk the talk is Steve Davidson, a bird watching tour guide who runs The Melbourne Birder. If you are going to pay someone to see specific birds then you want to know they have the expertise to help you achieve this.

I’m pleased to say that Steve achieves this. And what happens when someone does walk the talk is that they receive recommendations. And that’s what I’m doing here. If you want to go on a bird watching trip to see lots of birds or just some specific ones you haven’t seen before, I suggest you check out www.themelbournebirder.com

Having a website requires an ongoing responsibility to maintain it. For most companies it is their most powerful marketing tool, so it seems logical that it should be the best it can be. This PR blog explores more about the importance of website content.

Let’s assume it is easy to navigate and you keep track of the number of visitors to each page, how long they stay, where they go after landing on the site, etc.

Providing browsers (customers!) with the information they are seeking is pretty simple and you’ll find it all within your organisation. It is just a question of having someone who can pull it all together and present it professionally. This is a role easily handled by the company’s PR Officer or external PR consultant.

Firstly, provide facts: on your products and services. Any upgrades or variations should be communicated as they are released.

Where possible include photos, particularly in-situ photos that show off the product in its ideal environment – be that industrial, commercial or residential.

Provide a blog. This could include entries from more than one person in the company and invite comments.

Include white papers and other technical data sheets that add value to your offering.

Provide a photo and short bio of the managers.

Have a news section where you can place the latest media releases and photos that can be downloaded by the media as required. You should also include published articles on this page.

FAQs are still ranked highly in terms of page visits, so consider adding a Q&A page of the most frequently asked questions.

Product pricing is important even if you don’t have an online shopping basket. Include the RRP if you can and include a link to the seller’s website.

Videos are the latest must-have, not just for Google rankings, but because visitors to sites want to see how a product operates, what new information they can learn, what the plant/factory looks like, etc.

If appropriate, provide a page of links: include distributors, dealers, retailers, industry associations, affiliates, etc. This type of page needs to be checked regularly as links can be broken for many reasons.

For the contacts page, make sure there is at least one email address for enquiries. Needless to say this should be checked at least twice a day and the enquiry methodically processed. An automatic response email is a good idea saying the enquiry has been received and a response will be forthcoming within a certain time period.

PR Tip 1: consider international users when presenting information, especially currently and dates. Write out the month so there is no confusion: 8/7 means August 7 in the US but 8 July to Australians and Europeans.

PR Tip 2: make it easy to print anything at your site including press releases, blogs, bios and product information.

Believe me, there is considerable effort in publishing a professional newsletter that is interesting, attractive, error-free, is actually read, and works on all levels.

While e-newsletters are more typical these days, there is still a place for hard copy newsletters as this PR blog explores.

As part of the planning process, some important questions that you need answers to are:

1. Do you have a database of customers, prospects and other stakeholders or can you create one?
2. Could you buy an opt-in mailing list to add to this list?
3. Do you have someone to manage its production?
4. Can you source enough new information – and photos – for every issue?
5. How often do you want it come out?
6. Have you got a budget for it?
7. Is the web infrastructure in place to allow for feedback?
8. What statistics are required to check its success and is management supporting it?

If all these answers were positive and the reward for a successful newsletter will be beneficial, then you are probably ready to make further investigations.

Other aspects to be part of the planning process include:

* A name of the newsletter.
* A template that complements corporate graphics.
* Someone to research and write articles and edit others.
* Is this person good at catchy subject lines and keyword placement for SEO.
* Sourcing a photo, graph or illustration to go with each story.
* Appointing someone responsible for its production and meeting deadlines.
* Who will do the graphic design/web uploads/hosting?
* What web analytics software will you use?
* Who will be responsible for list hygiene?

I realise there are a lot of questions to be answered, but producing a monthly newsletter is not easy unless you have a reasonable budget and staff with time on their hands. If this isn’t the case you could consider a bi-monthly or quarterly newsletter, which still requires staff time and a financial commitment.

Having hard copy newsletters are great for handing out to customers and prospects, suppliers, new staff, attendees at workshops or seminars, the media and any other stakeholders.

There is a lot more that has to be covered before a newsletter can get off the ground, but these are the basics that need to be addressed first.

Extra Tip
Wondering what stories could be included in the newsletter? Here are some ideas:
* new products
* product enhancements/upgrades
* interesting end user applications
* special offers
* exhibitions & trade show participation
* new orders/contracts
* profiles of relevant people/companies
* videos
* export successes
* new applications
* tips
* survey results

Complete Insite Solutions will partner with Fusion Broadband to supply bonded broadband in regional NSW.

Fusion Broadband has appointed Complete Insite Solutions to provide and support Fusion Broadband's unique broadband bonding technology in regional New South Wales.

Fusion Broadband's bonding solution allows businesses to bond several standard broadband connections to achieve a single, faster, more resilient and stable virtual broadband connection. It is also considerably more cost effective than the alternatives.

Complete Insite Solutions specialises in providing IT, communication and cabling services in western regional New South Wales.

"Fusion Broadband's solution has been implemented in a number of customer sites and everyone has been delighted with the result," John Oomen, general manager of Complete Insite Solutions said.  Read more in the full media release.

Download the full media release in Word Document (296 Kb)

HR plays an important role in maximising the return on investment in employees. This involves recruitment, training and development, industrial relations, workforce management, record keeping and change management, amongst other functions.

Public relations also has a distinct role in employee communication while there is also some coming together of HR and PR functions on specific issues, such as industrial relations. One of the key reasons for using PR in employee communication is to foster good management/employee relations.

Knowing that one-way communication is of little or no value at all (ie management to employees) it is important to have mechanisms in place that allows the free and flowing transfer of information between all parties, particularly from the bottom up.

If you think that setting aside an hour each week where senior management and employees sit around a table eating company-bought sandwiches and talking about work issues, think again. This probably won’t cut the mustard these days. Staff aren’t going to raise an issue with the thought of being singled out as a troublemaker.

As employees are the people who usually have good ideas about how things can be run better, perhaps it is better to have off-site facilitated workshops on a team-by-team basis, without senior managers present. This is more likely to highlight problems in the workplace and provide suggestions on how they can be resolved.

In our arsenal of tools, PR practitioners can be instrumental in conducting attitude surveys, producing newsletters (electronic and hard copies), maintaining intranets/private websites, running employee competitions, producing videos (by the CEO giving a company update, for example), implementing staff recognition and reward programs, and using the web and social media to establish and maintain a sharing of information and two-way dialogue.

Also, if your organisation hasn’t done a communication audit, plan for one to be done – both formal and informal. Management need to know what is working well, what isn’t and what could work better.

Employee communication is just one of the many roles undertaken by the PR professional. Check the website at http://www.wmcpr.com.au/services for the other functions we can provide.