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One thing most new businesses struggle with is marketing and PR.

Most people are familiar with marketing and it's many forms, online, such as forums, blogs, directories, social media etc, or offline such as flyers, newspapers, networking etc.

But what about PR? What exactly is PR?

A lot of people assume PR is simply Press Releases, and firing off occasional ones to PR Web or a similar distribution service will do the job

For those that don't know (including me for a long time ) PR stands for Public Relations, and it's pretty much intertwined with marketing. 

Public Relations is an archaic term that put simply is how you communicate the public face, image and reputation of you and your brand. It includes all on and offline activity and is (or should be) a key aspect of your marketing strategy. 

You are probably doing a lot of PR already without even thinking about it. Social Media, forums, blogs, commenting, anything that communicates your brand, business ethos, values or reputation.

Customer service is a key aspect of PR. How you or your team deal with customer enquires or complaints. Conversations on the phone can lead to a ripple effect you might not have considered, a favourable review on your Facebook page, a tweet, or a comment in passing at a networking event. Likewise you can expect the opposite effect with bad customer service.

Press Releases

One of the hardest aspects of generating favourable PR exposure is via news and media services or approaching journalists. This is traditionally where the Press Release comes in, where something newsworthy is crafted into a Press Release and sent out to various news organisations in the hope of some exposure.

Unfortunately in the digital age, this tactic (along with everything else) has been abused, with businesses pumping out Press Releases which have morphed into sales spam rather than newsworthy events. The rise of online PR distribution services hasn't helped.

But gaining exposure from news agencies or industry related organisations is a key tactic to growing your business, generating exposure, traffic to your website and can also be a good source of Google safe link building, as your news gets picked up and re-churned by different sites.

So if you think you have something that is genuinely newsworthy rather just a self promo sales pitch, then get it sent over to your local media. Try approaching your local papers. Make their life as easy as possible. Most regional papers are a shadow of their former selves, with minimal in-house staff, so the easier you make it when passing news, the more likely you are to get stuff published.

Find out what format they want any copy in, attach images/pictures that they can use. Most regional papers have an online version, so make sure you include a weblink. If you are incredibly lucky, you may get picked up by the nationals.

HARO

Another way of flirting with journalists is to be proactive and be used as a source for a story they are creating. A good way of doing this is by joining the HARO (Help a reporter) network. Until recently this was primarily USA based, but they just expanded the network to include the UK.

Completely free, and although have yet to score any success myself, it certainly seems a good idea at face value, so shall give it a try!

So if this has been of any use to anyone, feel free to share it and give me some positive PR 

Otherwise let me know your own PR stories or experiences, good or bad. Anyone managed to get some national exposure, and did you capitalise on it? Or was it a damp squid?

Be interested to know if anyone has used HARO and had any success?

Knowing what you know now, if you started your business again from scratch, what would be your top tip to pass onto a new business?

Maybe if we get enough I can compile a top 10, or do a startup advice thread.

So I'll go first

Resist the urge to employ people or move to an office for as long as feasible and keep your overheads down!

There we go then, we're about right 

"Sixty to 65 hour work weeks were not uncommon."

This weeks how not to send a sales mail goes to...  Gallery Custom Website Design 

Hi,

Would you like to have the most eye-catching website over everything you see?
Make your business stand out from the rest.

Over a short period of time, websites become antiquated and outdated,
losing business without owners even realizing it.

We can take your current website and redesign it for you
or design one from scratch for maximum effect.

<more waffle>

I'm now expecting a world class web design firm that will drag me into the 21st century...

Blimey, a web designer hosting on Windows  

I got an Interflora email last week reminding me it was my birthday and asking if I wasn't to send myself some flowers 

Is the quality of spam getting worse or are marketeers getting lazy?

It's been a while since there's been any news of Googles Panda, but he's up and about and heading over to your website!

If you are unaware or have heard the terms Google Panda and Google Penguin and have no idea what people are talking about, then read on!

Google Panda - what is it?

Google Panda is simply the codename Google apply to an algorithm update which targets websites that have a perceived low quality. This can be called "thin content" ie you don't have very much on your page, or you have the same text repeated on lots of pages.

They are also looking for duplicate content and poor quality. So in Googles eyes, if you aren't offering anything new or of value to the internet, then you shall be punished and the Panda algorithm will suppress your keywords and content from ranking highly in the search engines results pages. The updates started in 2011, and since then there have been multiple major updates, but it settled down to a quiet monthly behind the scenes update. When Google announce a Panda update, it normally means there have been some major changes to the algorithm.

So what about the Penguin?

Googles Penguin updates are simply another algorithm that specifically target link building practices. If you have had some shady link building practices in the past, by an even shadier SEO person who promised you the top of Page 1 Google, then there is a chance you may have or will be affected by a Penguin update which run every so often.

To catch up on all the latest Google Panda and Penguin Updates, we have a link here: Googles Algorithm Change History

So do I need to worry or what should I do to Panda proof myself?

In theory, none of us worry about search engines, there is no need for SEO, we all write original and informative content, display minimal adverts and the world is a happy place.

In reality no one really knows the true picture. There have been lots of high profile website casualties who have lost 50% or more of traffic (or even removed from the index). There has also been lots of reports of innocent websites getting hit, and mountains of information and dis-information.

One of the most common and annoying forum and blog responses is "if you have done nothing wrong then you will be fine and Google only targets bad sites".

Unfortunately that's not completely true, which is why the algorithm is continually updated and tuned to reduce any friendly fire.

To keep yourself on the Panda straight and narrow, then the best place to start is the squeaky clean approach and adhere to the Google Bible of being a good web master 

Guidance on building high quality sites - Google

But in summary:

• keep content original, and the highest quality you can. Avoid shallow or thin content.
• Don't "overSEO" your pages. Stuffing your pages with the same keyword or writing the content purely for a search engine and not a human won't do you any favours. eg, overuse of unnatural language, so you can insert your keyword in.
• Don't rely on a single keyword or phrase to drive traffic or sales leads. If you lose this, would your business become vulnerable? Spread your risk. Have multiple good quality pages and try and only rank for 1 term per page.
• If you utilise advertising, be conservative with it. Google will penalise you now for having multiple adverts above the fold (the initial viewing area of your webpage without having to scroll).

How do I know if my site has been mauled by a Panda?

The most obvious thing you will notice will be a reduction in traffic, and/or under performing keywords. A lot will depend on your type of site. If you are selling a product or service, and the majority of leads come from your site, then have the enquires slowed down or stopped?

You may have also received a manual penalty, in which case you will have a message waiting for you in your Web Master Tools. (If you haven't set this up, follow the link and do it!)

A manual penalty although rare, is easily recoverable. Do what it says, fix the issue, then re-submit or follow the process in the message from Google.

The most common issue is your website is affected automatically by the algorithm. If you suspect an issue, go and have a look at your website analytics. If you don't use any analytics, slap yourself, then go and install Google Analytics (or similar) Its free and critical to your website success.

Your analytics should indicate a drop in traffic where your problems began, and if these correspond with a publicised Panda update, then it looks like your website has upset the Panda.

How do I recover from a Panda problem?

If you get a manual notice from Google in your web master tools, then do what it says. If you haven't and it looks like you have been hit by the algorithm, then it's time to take a look at your website and do some analysis.

You will know if your website is low quality, if you have plagiarised content, have lots of low quality content etc. But maybe it's only a few pages that are causing the issue?

Analyse your analytics and see if you can see which keywords have disappeared or lost ranking. This should then point you to some of the problem pages, or give an idea of the scale of the problem. Re-visit the Google guidance link, is there anything in there that rings true?

If you are struggling, then there are a variety of SEO forums, but beware of amateur speculation and crackpot ideas, some which may do more harm than good.

Obviously there are professional SEO/Marketing agencies that can do the investigation for you, or a quick google online for Panda Help will give you a variety of tools and techniques.

Unfortunately there is no quick fix or magic bullet. Once you think you have your house in order, it's a case of sitting tight until the next Panda update, which apparently is now monthly.

If your site is still suffering, then it's possible you haven't rectified all the issues, or it may be worth investigating your link profile (ie the sites you link to, and looking at the sites that link to you) just in case you have tripped over Googles Penguin (link quality) algorithm.

I hope that's been of help to some people, but feel free to shout out any problems, questions or share some experiences or thoughts.

Interesting but expected responses.

I'll confess to scaling mine right back, (under orders from the missus) and now being nearly a 9 - 5'er after years of doing obscene hours.

I'll sometimes do some stuff in the evening or on a weekend, but mainly adhoc sat slobbing in front of the goggle box, and it's normally just fun stuff, like forum posting, facebook, blog comments, or SEO education. Which lets face it, isn't work 

It's a hard balance as I think a business can consume you if you let it, but it's probably this attitude that makes you stand out from a typical employee, who downs tools and switches off until Monday morning.

Anyone else working daft hours?

What a great idea and and a UK company

Looking on their website, and pretty clever, they specialise in simple straightforward customisable phones, so ideal for kids, older folks, and now obviously the visually impaired. Caption on the BBC website made me smile "The Braille phones come in a variety of different colours"

Really like the kids phone ideas, may have to look into this 

1stfone.myownfone.com

You're a 100% right, there are plenty of review sites that have started up recently. Customer Services seems to be coming a hot subject (finally) and I think reviews are one of the reasons. Mainly because the power has shifted to the consumer.

But without wanting to repeat what's been said on the reviews thread, the consumer landscape is confusing with a myriad of "approved" sites and schemes.

The Trading Standards Institute are trying to level the laying field, and they have a huge uphill battle, but their vision is to bring all the Trading Standards and Government backed initiatives like Trusted Trader, Trustmark and Buy With Confidence under one roof, and simplify things for the end consumer. Exciting for us, as we are their directory provider, but there's a long long way to go.

A lot of people think running your own business is the secret to a work life balance and flexibility.

This can be true, but it can also be a lot harder than people anticipate to grow your business, generate leads, marketing etc, as well as looking after your customers, dealing with enquires...

So on average, how many hours a week do you spend running or marketing your business?

Profit driven, can't argue with that, most review sites including us are a business not a charity. 

Don't know if you have come across the Rip Off Report? Never used it myself, but know of people who have, and also seen some interesting threads from companies trying to get their reviews removed, without success.

Barney started a thread about reviews recently which you might find of interest.