If you've done your research and identified a service or need in the market place that you or your business is able to meet with some finesse, then you're well on your way to building a sustainable business. The one area, however, that many new work from home moms fail is in promotion. You've got to make some noise about your business otherwise no one will know you've got a great service or product. You need a consistent and effective public relations program. Welcome to PR 101.

Note that I said public relations and not advertising. Advertising has its place, but if you're a new work from home mom chances are you don't have the resources for an effective advertising campaign. For advertising to work you've got to have your ad running for a significant period of time and that can be costly.

That's why public relations is the choice of many small businesses. Even large firms with huge million dollar budgets dedicate a significant segment of their marketing plan to public relations. The reason is that public relations involves promoting your company in ways that ring truer with the public at large.

Let's face it, an awful lot of people aren't interested in reading or focusing on an ad about your service unless they are in dire need of what you have to offer. But that same potential client might read an article or listen to a feature about a neighbor in their community who ended up using your service or product during a particular time of need.

Public relations finds the right context for your business and then communicates your message in a way that is relevant and suited to your target market. So if you're say a WordPerfect trainer working out of your home and you want to promote your services to human relations managers in your region, you'd likely want to get an article in the business section of your paper. Let's work through this example so that you can get an idea of a simple PR strategy that you can execute for your own business.

So if you were our WordPerfect Trainer I would suggest you:

1. Write a news release highlighting your skill as a WordPerfect trainer and the ways in which your service benefits companies. In this release you would demonstrate your expertise, with examples of how your training program enables employees to work faster, more efficiently and with more creativity. Proof your news release well. If you're not comfortable writing a news release it is worth your while to hire a freelancer to prepare one for you. Cost: anywhere from $50 to $100 per release. Remember if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

2. Next: You would distribute this news release to all the major print media and broadcast stations in your region as well as national network morning shows.

3. Your final step: Call business/career/HR reporters at all the publications and stations that received your news release. During your conversation with reporters or editors remind them of your availabitliy and willingness to do interviews and provide additional statistics and information about the relevancy and importance of training and continuing education in the workplace today.

If this plan is executed well and the timing is right for this topic, our hypothetical WordPerfect trainer might get a call back from one or more journalists. That call back could result in an interview that is either broadcast on radio or TV or featured in a print or web publication.

If the interviewer was thorough and professional and the piece well produced our WordPerfect trainer might generate for herself free positive exposure in a medium that could reach thousands or hundreds of thousands of potential clients. The total cost for this effort could range from a few dollars to a couple hundred dollars for exposure that would normally cost thousands of dollars as an advertisment.

This is media relations and it is really a key component of your public relations plan.

Other ways to to enhance your public relations effort:

• Offer to speak at a conference covering your area of specialty. Conference organizers are always looking for speakers - especially those willing to speak for free or for a nominal fee. They'll usually cover your transporation, food and hotel costs.
• Find podcasts that are particularly popular with your target market and offer to record a a professional segment on your topic.
• Attend networking events sponsored by your local chamber of commerce.
• Get involved in social networking groups online and share your expertise during relevant discussions

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