I’ve read statistics published by the Small Business Administration that say seven of 10 new employer establishments make it to the two-year mark, while 51 percent survive at least five years. While it’s awesome that slightly more than half of businesses make it, it’s also sobering to realize that almost half do not.

When I think about being in business for five years, I’m reminded of that saying about the turtle on the fence post. If you see a turtle on a fence post, you can be sure he didn’t get their on his own. I certainly didn’t get here on my own.

I couldn’t have done it without my husband’s support. To be supportive of me quitting my “regular” job with a guaranteed income to do my own thing took an amazing amount of faith in me. I didn’t want to let him down.

Vonya Griffin, a brilliant writer and excellent researcher, helped me in the early days when I had too much on my plate and needed another writer to ensure everything got done.

Typically when you hire an employee, you’re taking a chance on that person. But when Lanette Strong came to work for me, she took a chance on me. She has been an invaluable resource in this office.

And then there are the clients. Without them, this business would fail to exist. Through the years, many of them have become more than clients; they’ve become friends. We represent them because we believe in their work, and we love spreading their good news.

Five years has seen a change in scenery in terms of office space. I started out in the spare bedroom of my home and held client meetings at local coffee shops. It worked then and I’m convinced it’s still a good business model today. But in 2011, I felt the urge to move out. I wanted this business to be a part of Downtown Lakeland. I jumped at the chance to have space at Tennessee Carriage Lofts. Moving out really took this business to the next level, and in five months it became apparent that more space was needed. Thankfully, a bigger space was available in the same building, so we moved next door in July 2011.

Operating your own business isn’t easy. It causes sleepless nights, seven-day work weeks and 16-hour days at times. It’s stressful and frustrating. It sometimes can make you want to throw in the towel.

But it’s also so very rewarding. Thank you to everyone who has helped us be successful.

That is a question we get asked every so often.

I simply don’t subscribe to the belief that all knowledge should be held close to the vest. After all, if everyone did that, how would any of us be good at what we do today?

Our public relations blog is filled with a variety of information. Sometimes we brag on ourselves. Other times, we share some do-it-yourself tips and tricks of the trade. We like to spotlight our interns occasionally. Part of the reason we do all of this is that we are doing what we pound into the minds of our clients daily- developing fresh, new, relevant content.

When we provide step-by-step instructions on how you can make improvements to your website that will help your search rankings and get you more business, or how you can be your own PR pro, we know not everyone will take heed.

We’ve learned that by providing helpful information, people who read it tend to put themselves into one of three categories:

I suggest that you do the same on your website’s blog. I think you’ll find that people will categorize themselves. Some people will take your valuable information and run with it, but some will also get the notion that you know what you’re talking about and they’ll entrust their business to you.

Photo courtesy of WendyPops

Dr. Jurbala is a pretty brilliant guy. He invented a device called the Trigger Tome that corrects in the office what once could only be fixed with surgery.

Prior to this, we didn’t even know what trigger finger was. But now that we do, it’s nice to know that if we or anyone we know ever is diagnosed with it, there’s an expert right here in Central Florida who can fix it in an office visit and prevent the need for surgery.

For more information, please visit: www.triggerfingerdoctor.com.

That is one reason why we recently launched a very simple blog called PerfectlyPR. It’s not flashy or fancy. But it enables us to do something important for our clients- it houses press releases and articles we write, and enables us to spread the word via social media, regardless of whether other media outlets pick it up.

Here’s a real-world example: we recently helped a new business get the word out about opening in a large city. We didn’t have a great deal of luck getting the news into major newspapers in the area. But by posting the business’s release on PerfectlyPR, it gave us an opportunity to post information on Twitter and Facebook, complete with a link to the entire press release. It gave us an opportunity to tell our client’s story our way. And it’s easy for us to show the client how many people responded to the tweet and Facebook post and retweeted/shared it. All of this helps show ROI.

Our hope is that this will generate great results for a variety of clients. We intend to use this for most clients at least for the near future, just to see what shakes out.

Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s Webspam team, recently produced a video in which he discussed the value of content over search engine optimization.

In that video, he said that as a business owner, you can have great content on your site, but be completely lacking in good SEO, and still wind up with a site that ranks well on Google.

Ali Husayni, CEO of Master Google, agreed with that assessment, and so do we.

“By virtue of being great content, it will attract quality, inbound links,” Husayni said. “Sites that write great content on a regular basis attract visitors as well as Google spiders.

Google ranks old and new pages of these sites above their competitors, which should eliminate the need for anyone to even attempt black hat SEO techniques.

That is what Matt was getting at in his video. Just because someone is an SEO expert, it doesn’t mean they are good at creating great content. And even if you are the best at utilizing all the little SEO tricks of the trade that will make your site friendly for Google spiders, that still has its limitations.

At the end of the day, a Google spider won’t buy your product or service. You need real people to visit your site. And once they get there, you must give them a reason to stay. You either need to provide something that helps them make a buying decision, or you need to have useful information that educates and informs.

That is where good content comes into play. Good content is original and relevant. Good content answers a question; meets a need; paints you as an expert in your field.

So while it’s no secret that we are huge believers in the power and benefits of SEO, we also are solidly behind Matt Cutts in his assessment of great content. SEO and content should compliment one another. 

“Great content also needs great SEO to get ranked better,” Husayni says. 

Understanding people’s interests plays hand-in-hand with writing great content. For example, if you are opening a massage therapy center, but you’re unaware of the most popular types of massage therapy, you will lose your business to your competitors who have a clue.

When you have lots of ideas for great content on your site, you need to be diligent in posting it to your website frequently. Google loves websites that add new, useful information often. This tends to be where many of our clients stumble. Sometimes they struggle to come up with good ideas. Other times, they have ideas, but lack the time to write the content.

We come to the rescue on both fronts. Our writers are as skilled at generating ideas as they are at writing about them. If you want to put your website to work against your competitors in 2012, call us. We can help- 863.614.0555

Something happened recently to a friend of mine in Lakeland and she attempted to get the situation corrected by working directly with the business owner. After five days and an apparent lack of cooperation from the business owner to right the wrong, she weighed her options. Small claims court, where there was a 50-50 chance of winning. Or social media, where she felt she could at least warn others so they could avoid being a victim of an apparent scam. This is what she wrote:

Friends in Lakeland, please be careful if you ever do business with [COMPANY X]. The owner says that he sells Rolex watches, but BEWARE. All of the Rolex links on his website are no good and there is no documentation other than he has a Certified Rolex-trained technician that can help with service and repairs. He advertises all over town on billboards, bus benches and else where that he sells Rolex watches. We thought he would be legit, but we were mistaken and TAKEN by him. We purchased an upgraded Rolex face for my watch and it started to look dirty so I took it to a Rolex dealer to have it cleaned. Well, it’s not dirty, the paint is coming off. Paint????…You got it, he sold us an aftermarket face and it’s FAKE! I purchased it from [COMPANY X] for almost $700 and it’s FAKE!!! But the real kick in the teeth is that he is refusing to make good on it. Never mind he has my real Rolex face that he replaced the fake with. No wonder he can afford to advertise all over town, he’s ripping people off. My only legal recourse is to file in small claims court. The filing fees are $175 and an additional $40 to have him served. I find it hard to believe that he can get away with doing this to consumers. I’m really not extravagant, this was a 20th anniversary gift from my husband….a special purchase that had a lot of meaning and the owner knew it. Should have known better when he refused to give us the Rolex paperwork saying that he would file everything for us. His wife would fill in the serial number and do the paperwork as a courtesy to us for being his customers. What a scam artist. I wonder if he’s just started doing this recently or if he’s been scamming unsuspecting customers for awhile?

One factor worth mentioning is that she didn’t go straight to social media in a fit of anger. She tried to get the problem corrected. I would recommend that everyone put themselves through a bit of a cooling off period before posting something that potentially could damage a business. She is a small business owner herself, and didn’t want to ruin a business’s reputation. She just wanted to not be taken advantage of.

I’m using this as a public relations teaching moment for businesses. In my opinion, this is what a business that finds itself in this situation should do:

- Take action immediately when a customer comes to you with a complaint. Customers in this situation likely are angry and feel taken advantage of. You need to listen to them and allow them to vent. They need to feel as though their concerns have been heard and that you care about correcting the problem.

- If you’ve done something wrong, say so. Apologize. Make it right. In the situation above, perhaps it’s possible that this jeweler believed he had purchased authentic Rolex parts and unknowingly scammed the customer. If that was the case, voicing that possibility and vowing to investigate it might have helped calm the situation.

- If you find that a disgruntled customer has taken to social media instead of allowing you an opportunity to rectify the situation, reach out. Invite the customer to come in so you can try to correct the problem.

I’m a firm believer that just as you want to read positive comments about your business in social media, you NEED to read the (hopefully) occasional negative comment. If some aspect of your business is not as good as it should be, don’t you want to know that? Don’t you want an opportunity to address it and make it right?

I keep a note on my computer so I will read it often. It reads, “Be transparent. Be authentic. Be humble.”

Six words can pack a great deal of meaning. If you will be transparent, authentic and humble in your business dealings, I’m convinced you will achieve success.

Photo Credit: Gipiosio

Taylor Flumerfelt and I connected through the student chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association at Southeastern University, where she is a junior. Once Taylor discovered that she would graduate a year earlier than anticipated, she called on me for help at the end of her sophomore year.

Taylor says she knew this was the right public relations firm for her because of our “level of skill and professionalism.” Color us flattered!

“I know this will be an enriching experience in building my PR skill set and widening the breadth of my knowledge of PR,” she says.

Taylor is majoring in journalism/public relations and minoring in psychology. She has gained experience in event planning through Southeastern University’s Student Body Leadership Council and working with local companies such as Kreative Kartel. Taylor is the president of the student chapter of FPRA at Southeastern University and a member of the Dick Pope/Polk County chapter of FPRA.

The job market in the PR field has become increasingly competitive and PR firms are looking for graduates who don’t need additional training to fulfill the responsibilities of the jobs they’re interviewing for. That’s why internships are so important—they complement the material students learn in the classroom and prepare them for what they will face after graduation.

We know Taylor well enough to know she loves to learn, and she’s excited about the experiences she’ll have during her time with us.

Upon graduating from Southeastern University’s Honors Program in May 2013, Taylor plans to earn a Master of Science in Public Relations and find an event planning job.

We’re excited to help Taylor make the most of her college education and prepare her for the next stage of her life. We’re also excited that she joins two other interns who elected to stay with us for another semester: Melissa Rodriguez and Karen Snir.

In addition to these crazy-cool bragging rights, VCC also was awarded $600,000 in prize money.

Why does a public relations firm in Lakeland care about this prestigious honor? Because our very own PR maven Lanette Strong is a Valencia graduate who went on to graduate from the University of Central Florida. Clearly, the school turns out some talent, and we’re reaping the benefits of that.

So thanks, Valencia! Keep up the great work.

We’re sharing them with you as we prepare for 2012, in hope that you’ll leave them behind when you welcome the new year- and avoid being on the receiving end of our Evil Eye Lasers of Death, lest we hear you utter any of these while in our presence.

So from us- Lanette, Lorrie, Karen and Melissa- to you, we present our three most hated public relations approaches:

1. The Best Kept Secret
If your business is the best kept secret, we predict you likely won’t be in business for long. The former president of a local university once called his school a best-kept secret. We once saw a restaurant that had that slogan on their marquis. A. RESTAURANT.

Guess what? Today that restaurant is out of business.

If you feel like this slogan is a good one, please call us. We want to help you. And we promise not to beat you senseless.

2. We Have a Combined __ Years Experience
We find this heinous public relations approach used frequently by law firms. And we positively shuddered when we saw it used on Ragan’s PR Daily recently in reference to layoffs at the Denver post: “The Denver Post, for instance, accepted buyouts from 19 staffers, whose combined experience at the paper was 470 years.”

Why do companies think this approach demonstrates experience? It’s not like a “combined 117 years’ experience” means anything to cynics like us in this public relations agency.

I hear a statement like this and I think of the handful of weathered lawyers in the firm who likely have 25-30 years’ experience each, but then I think of the young punk fresh out of law school who’s been an attorney for five whole minutes. I don’t want that guy or girl. If I’m ready to kick butt in the courtroom, I’m just fine with the attorney who’s been at it only 30 years.

3. Building Buzz
OK, so we’re including this one begrudgingly. Although we here at Lorrie Walker Communications don’t recommend that our clients take part in stupid gimmicks that generate publicity but not sales, the truth is that we use this term. However, out of love and reverence for the great Peter Shankman- who hates this term- we feel it’s only fair for us to give up a lame saying of our own if we’re asking you to do the same.

Peter once said this in a webinar:

I think it would be really good if we could kill the word ‘buzz.’ Unless it’s generating revenue for your company, you’re wasting your time.

Fine, Peter. You win. And you have a point.

Public relations isn’t about stupid stunts, even though there are some crazy things people do that generate publicity and revenue.

At the end of the day, our clients want to make money. A large part of making that happen has to do with getting the word out about their business; making it known that they are the subject matter experts; demonstrating that they have a quality product by garnering earned media for the client.

If you want to accomplish any of these things for your business in 2012, call us. We’re here to help. Here’s wishing you a successful, fulfilling year ahead.

Scenario: a person owns a business. The business has a Twitter account. The business owner has a personal Twitter account. Someone posts a tweet via the business Twitter account and uses the #Lkld hashtag. Then the business owner retweets the tweet and keeps the #Lkld hashtag.

Even if I lived under a rock and had no access to TV and newspapers (but had Internet access, obviously) I could tell you who owns what businesses in Lakeland simply by following the #Lkld hashtag.

Day after day, I see business postings, followed immediately by the owners of those businesses retweeting the posts. And if the person owns more than one business, Katy bar the door! Be prepared to read several identical posts, all in a neat little row.

Business owners who are on Twitter are all after the same thing. We want to get the word out about our businesses. We want clients and customers. Recently, I wrote about writing reviews for businesses and how if we’re not careful, those reviews come across as disingenuous. I feel like these retweets also can fall into that same category if we’re not careful.

The original intent of the retweet was to re-broadcast information that users felt would be of interest to their followers. Mark Evans over at Twitterrati has an interesting take on the value of the retweet.

I think we need to look at the value of our retweets. Business owners, when someone else retweets something you post, all who see that RT see it as coming from an objective third party. That has value, in my mind. I liken it to an advertisement vs. a mention in a newspaper article. Given enough money, you can say whatever you want to say about your business in an advertisement. But people are savvy and often won’t even read an ad. If you can get a reporter to write a story that says those same things about you, readers buy into that. Why? It’s seen as more objective.

So what’s the solution? As a business owner, of course you want your business to succeed and you absolutely should use every tool in your marketing/PR/publicity tool kit to help make that happen- particularly if the tool is free. And believe it or not, I’m not saying you should not RT the tweets posted by your business. But why not give those retweets some legs? If your business tweet uses the #lkld hashtag, why not change it to a different area when you RT it? That way, you help ensure that new eyes will read it, which is your goal in the first place, isn’t it?

If you don’t change your approach, here’s one thing that you’ll never accomplish- building “buzz” for your business (My apologies to Peter Shankman, whom I adore, and I know he despises that term)

These are just my thoughts on the topic. I’m sure there are those who disagree with me. I would love to hear your feedback on this, whether or not it aligns with my opinion.

I like customer reviews. When I’m searching for a product or service and can find where someone has reviewed the company, I take notice. But recently, I noticed that my hair salon was the victim of a disgruntled client who recruited three additional people to write unfavorable reviews on the salon. You get a pretty good idea of the organized effort simply by looking at the dates of all the reviews on the salon’s Google Places page. There’s one from 2009 and two from 2010. Then four on the same day in 2011- all negative.

Because my Lakeland public relations firm also provides occasional PR services for this salon, I was a bit concerned for their reputation. Honestly, if a person feels as though they don’t have a good experience at a business, it is their right to write a review that explains it. But I find it unfortunate that the person recruited additional people to write unfavorable reviews. It goes to show that someone with time on their hands and an ax to grind can do a number on your business. Thankfully for this hair salon, the reviews never seemed to have caused any harm. But they could have.

I see reviews as a way of giving a vote of confidence to a business, or pointing out an area that needs improvement. Businesses ought to know when they’ve done something right- or wrong. But to recruit a handful of people to write negative reviews seems mean-spirited, particularly when a small business is the target. A large chain can absorb a few mean comments. Small businesses seem to take the blow a bit harder.

Conversely, I find it disingenuous to ask people to write favorable reviews for your business when they’re just a family member or friend and they’ve not used your services or purchased your products. I get asked to do this every so often.

If you own a business, should you ask people to write reviews for you? Of course. But ask your clients and customers, not your mother and your Junior League friends. Ask people who have experienced your stellar customer service or benefited from your useful product. Those are the people who will sing your praises the best.

Because reviews are playing such a prominent search engine optimization role these days, more businesses are scrambling to get people to write them. But the more you tap family and friends to write them instead of your faithful customers, the less relevant they will become.

Earlier this month, my husband and I visited his family near Tuckasegee and I learned the story behind the apple butter. I couldn’t help but marvel over what an excellent lesson in marketing and public relations is demonstrated by their apple butter sales process.

Every year, people clamor to place orders for the church’s apple butter. They don’t simply purchase it by the jar; many people buy it by the case. The pastor stops taking orders at 250 jars so he can ensure that people who show up the day the apple butter is made have a shot at purchasing some.

So what does any of this have to do with marketing and public relations? A lot. Congregants of this church make their apple butter just once per year during North Carolina’s apple season. That means those who want some have a tiny window in which to buy it. Between pre-orders and sales on the day the apple butter is canned, every single jar they make is sold.

I don’t love the analogy, but this marketing approach reminds me of McDonald’s and its McRib sandwich. The fast food chain rolls out the McRib sandwich for a limited time every so often. People come in droves to buy the sandwiches. And when it’s removed from the menu, McRib lovers wait in anticipation for its return.

Once an item is introduced and people grow to love it, pulling it out of arm’s reach seems to have an incredible effect on our human desire to want that which we can’t have. Lots of analysts have argued that were the McRib on the McDonald’s menu full-time, it wouldn’t be as popular. In fact, MSN Money wrote a great article on this topic recently.

The members of Tuckasegee Wesleyan Church don’t can apple butter only once a year because they want to follow in the marketing footsteps of McDonald’s. The fact is that making apple butter in such a large quantity is a time-consuming, two-day process that involves just about every member of the church. It’s a lot of work. But I love how they benefit from the “limited time only” nature of their operation.

Karen Snir is a junior majoring in public relations and minoring in Spanish. Karen says she views this internship is a great step forward. We agree. There’s nothing like learning by doing, and that’s what we offer college interns- a chance to apply what they learn in the classroom.

So far, Karen has helped out with promoting some events for one of our Lakeland non-profit clients, and she has increased her knowledge of press release writing. She’s a no-nonsense hard worker who comes in each day and gives us her best effort.

Originally from Re’ut, Israel, Hebrew is Karen’s first language. She also is fluent in English, and is conversational in French and Spanish. She loves to apply her worldly knowledge to her PR work.

Although she grew up in a small town, Karen always has wanted to see the world. Her family relocated to Washington D.C. when she was 13, and she attended a public school in Maryland for a year. From that point, she dreamed of returning to the U.S. to earn a college degree.

Karen isn’t just a student; she’s also a teacher. She teaches Hebrew at Temple Emanuel in Lakeland in her spare time, and she belongs to Kappa Delta Sorority, in which she takes part in a number of philanthropic activities.

When she isn’t studying, teaching or volunteering, Karen loves to travel. She visits different states during each of her school breaks, and she has visited more than a dozen countries.

“I love learning about other cultures,” she says. “I am hopeful that my education and experience will give me an advantage when the time comes for me to seek full-time employment.”

After college, Karen says she hopes to combine her love of language, culture and public relations to find a job in the international relations field. For now, she is focused on graduating from Florida Southern while having gained as much real-world experience during the process as possible.

Melissa Rodriguez is a senior at FSC working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree in advertising, public relations and journalism. This is her first internship.

“I’m very glad I found an internship so close to school,” Rodriguez said. “I get real world PR experience in the mornings, then I go to class and learn about it some more.”

At Lorrie Walker Communications, a Lakeland and Tampa public relations firm, Rodriguez took off with a running start, writing press releases, blogs and promoting the recent Hair for Hope event at Michael Rose Hair Designs. Promoting the event was an enjoyable learning experience, Rodriguez said. She has experience in event planning and promoting through her participation in various campus organizations throughout her college and high school careers.

“I love that I am not fetching coffee and making copies,” Rodriguez said. “I’m actually learning. I’m really grateful Lorrie has given me this opportunity.”

Rodriguez said she can tell her writing has improved during her short time at the PR firm. As a senior, she is focusing on the advertising aspect of her three majors, and doesn’t get to do much writing in the classroom. Rodriguez thinks it’s good for her to work on her writing skills.

“Classrooms don’t offer the same opportunities to gain experience that an internship can,” said Lorrie Delk Walker, owner. “Students can really develop their skills in public relations much better through an internship because they get to apply what they’re learning.”

Walker also believes the staff in her office benefit as much from the interns as the interns benefit from the on-the-job training.

“I love to find out about what they’re learning, and I’m always interested in their take on social media,” Walker said.

When she isn’t busy balancing an internship, a job and a full-time course load, Rodriguez enjoys going to concerts and movies and relaxing with her friends. Ultimately, her life goal is to be an adventurer of the world. After spending seven years living outside of the United States, Rodriguez is addicted to keeping up with current American pop culture.

“Usually I check my Twitter feed before I even get out of bed in the morning,” Rodriguez said.

Checking various social media sites also keeps her in touch with the worlds of advertising and public relations. She enjoys reading posts from PR Daily and AdAge.

After graduation Rodriguez hopes to find a job in Florida working in the communications fields in which she has been trained.

The client asked if we could send the press release to the media on a Friday afternoon. Here’s what we said:

The short answer is No. It often is a death kiss to send a press release out on a Friday for a couple of reasons.

Doing so virtually guarantees that no media outlets will pick it up. Why? 1) It’s Friday and reporters are people too; they’re thinking about the weekend. 2) TV stations run skeleton crews on the weekends, and those crews typically are there for breaking news, not feel-good feature stories.

Every good PR professional knows what I stated above, and they often use this to their advantage. If a company/organization has something negative or unflattering that must be released, they’ll often pull what we in the industry call the “Friday afternoon news dump.” They send a release at the end of the day on a Friday and cross their fingers that the story will die down over the weekend, or by the time a reporter sees it on Monday, it will be old news and no one will want to cover it. It can backfire horribly. Here’s a great article on the topic.

So when should you send out a press release? Releasing something on a Monday morning is a great idea. Reporters are back at work from the weekend and have morning meetings in which they will be expected to pitch a couple of good story options for the day. If your story doesn’t get selected for coverage that day, there’s a possibility it could be picked up later in the week.

If you have something newsworthy going on in your business and you want help spreading the word, give us a call. We can help.

Lanette is a 2009 graduate of the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations and a minor in marketing. Although she has acquired work experience in marketing and advertising, it was the writing that brought her back to public relations.

“I knew going into PR that it wasn’t anything like Samantha Jones on Sex and the City,” Lanette says. “I knew it was a lot of writing and few celebrities, but the results I get for my clients outweigh the hours I spend typing away at my computer.”

I am incredibly happy to have Lanette on staff. Her personality is just a perfect fit for our company and she brings so much to our office. Many clients have already mentioned how much they like her writing style. Having her around is a joy and a tremendous help.

Lanette views public relations as an ever-evolving industry that has totally captivated her. She feels as though her diverse background gives her a unique perspective on the industry because she can pull from everything she’s learned. I agree. That is one of many things I liked about her when she interviewed for the position.

As the daughter of Watson Clinic anesthesiologist Dr. John Lafferty, Lanette has lived in Lakeland her whole life. She found her passion for writing while taking part in the theater program at The Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. While there, she honed her writing skills by writing and editing plays. This made her realize she could express herself best through writing.

Lanette’s love of words seeps into her daily activities. She keeps up with the world by reading Ad Age at least twice a week, and the Ledger every day. Of course, as a PR whiz and a lover of words and information, Lanette also checks social media sites for news daily.

She understands that social media sites are a great way to learn about what is going on outside our office.

When she has time to relax, Lanette loves spending time with her husband of a year and a half, Cody. Together they like to go running, scuba diving in the Keys and also like to hangout with their three pets. She also enjoys reading anything and everything. Lately Lanette’s favorite books are those of mystery writer Harlan Coben.

Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc. has joined the Downtown Lakeland Partnership.

Since we are a downtown Lakeland business, becoming a member of the partnership means we receive the many membership benefits DLP offers.

Lakeland is our home; we are always looking for new ways to connect with our community.

Joining DLP is something I’ve wanted to do since I moved my business downtown. I have always appreciated the manner in which downtown businesses work together and promote each other, and I am eager to be a part of that.

Our Lakeland PR agency will use the membership to interact with and help downtown businesses, as well as businesses throughout the city, promote themselves and their products to increase their customer bases.

By hosting events like First Friday, the DLP grants downtown businesses the opportunity to interact directly with each other and attract customers in a fresh way.

DLP is a non-profit organization. Its primary goal is to advance and promote downtown businesses to residents and other businesses in the surrounding area.

Benefits we receive as a DLP member include: the ability to be a part of First Friday events each month, email marketing opportunities, the ability to post information on the DLP website, and access to DLP social media. DLP benefits provide downtown businesses much like ours a venue to advertise their information to a large audience. DLP’s site receives more than 250,000 views a year.

There are three levels of DLP membership: partners, diplomats and ambassadors. Partners are businesses that are located downtown. Diplomat businesses fall outside the DLP boundary. Ambassadors consist of businesses, such as hotels and universities, directly interacting with tourists.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the DLP, visit their website: www.downtownlakelandfl.com.

Danielle, a senior at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee majoring in public relations, actually is splitting her internship between our Lakeland public relations firm and the Downtown Lakeland Partnership.

After returning from a trip with Lee University’s Communications Department to Germany and Austria, Danielle found the perfect place to gain PR experience in her hometown of Lakeland, she said. She began her internship the following Monday.

“I’m really excited about working with an agency and the Downtown Lakeland Partnership; this way I can get a lot of diverse experience and I’m still close to home,” said Danielle. “I’m already writing blog posts and working with social media, and I’ve only been here for a few days.”

Internships offer knowledge and experience that classrooms can’t. By exposing those pursuing careers in the public relations field to real-world situations and experiences, students can learn by doing, not solely by reading about it in a textbook. An internship is a great way of developing a student’s skills in the art of public relations.

I’m happy to have Danielle here for the summer. When I learned that Julie Townsend at the Downtown Lakeland Partnership also could use some help, we decided we could divide Danielle’s time to also give her some experience working with a non-profit.

While attending Lee University, Danielle has gained experience in event planning through her involvement with the Student Leadership Council. She also is a member of Lee University’s Public Relations Student Society of America chapter.

“I’m always seeking opportunities to learn and Lee University has given me those opportunities, in and outside of the classroom,” Danielle said. “I know Lorrie is no exception and will definitely give me real world PR experience unlike any other that I’ve had before and I’m excited to learn more about what public relations entails.”

After graduating, Danielle plans to handle public relations for a non-profit organization and eventually start her own PR agency.

We are excited to make Danielle a part of the team here, and will expose her to a wide range of PR activities so she leaves us with the proper knowledge she needs to pursue her goals with confidence.

We’re also excited to have two interns this summer. That’s a first for us. So in addition to being able to provide them with the type of on-the-job training they desire, we’re getting some much-needed assistance. We welcome that.

We want to make that happen, too. This post covers some basics of photo shoots:

1. Remember the purpose of the photo

A photo in a publication isn’t always about providing recognition to you, your group, business, product, etc. Frequently, it accompanies an article and depicts action of some sort. Sometimes it is designed help promote your event. So keep that in mind when the photo opportunity knocks.

What does that mean? It means that you likely won’t get to have all 17 of your employees in a photo that accompanies a story on your new project launch, so don’t be disappointed when the photographer just wants a photo of a couple of people.

2. Understand the publication’s expectations

If you’re working directly with the publication/photographer, these are questions you need to ask of them; if you’re working with a Lakeland or Tampa public relations expert, this is information they need to gather for you:

- How many subjects does the photographer want in the photo?
- When/where will the photo be taken?
- If this is for a production or performance, do the subjects need to be in costume?

3. Set yourself up for success
- Make sure the publication has the name, phone number (including a mobile number) and email address of your point of contact. The more methods of contact you provide, the better.

- Find out whom to call to confirm that you’re still on for the photo shoot. If your PR advisor has scheduled the shoot, ask her to confirm the date/time one last time.

- Make sure the photographer has the address of the location where the photo will be taken.

- Contact those who will be photographed and remind them the day before and the day of the photo shoot, and make sure everyone arrives on time.

Remember that the photographer may have something come up- breaking news trumps a photo shoot for a feature story. So understand that the shoot may be postponed or cancelled. Just make sure you are not the reason for the cancellation because your point of contact couldn’t be reached, or the people who were supposed to be in the photo were no-shows.

Photo courtesy of ►CubaGallery

Some say a good journalist doesn’t necessarily make a good PR pro. For me, I feel that having been a reporter and continuing to write for newspapers and magazines is precisely what provides an edge over other PR agencies when it comes to media relations success for clients of this Lakeland public relations firm.

Something happened recently that prompted this post, and I’m sharing it in hope that it helps you in your business dealings, whether they be with clients you’re trying to sell something to or media outlets to whom you’re trying to pitch.

I had an interview scheduled with someone for an article I was working on. The meeting was on the books for weeks, and a photographer was booked to accompany me and get photos during the interview. This person is incredibly busy, and her only availability was a couple of days before the story was due.

The day of the interview, I called to confirm that we were still on. Bad news. They had tried for days to reach the publication and reschedule. The person I was to interview had gone out of town.

I was aware of the magazine’s looming deadline. I knew there was no story “in the can” to take the place of this story I was supposed to write. I simply didn’t have the option of not getting the interview done. Determined not to take “No” for an answer, I asked for a cell phone number so I could at least conduct a phone interview. In person interviews always are best for a feature article, but in a pinch, a phone interview would have to do.

I got the interview. The story is done. The photo is rescheduled. The publication doesn’t have to scramble to fill empty space.

When I take off my writer hat and put on my PR hat, I can see so many similar occurrences. So often, PR pros simply accept “No” as an answer. I see it with my PR clients, too.

We call and email media outlets to pitch stories and the reporters aren’t interested. Our clients call us with press release ideas and we shoot them down if we think they suck.

What would happen if we all would quit accepting “No” as an answer? I suspect we would find a way to accomplish whatever it is that we want to accomplish.

If “No” is not an option, failure is removed as an option. You will find a reporter to like your pitch. Or you will create a better pitch.

So even when the odds seem against you, find a way. You’ll be surprised at how a change of mindset and a refusal to accept “No” will change the outcome.

Photo by Elena777.