Specialized Network for Non-Profit Advocacy and Public Relations

Followers of this blog may be aware of Action Strategies' special social network for those interested in learning best practices in the sector.  As some may be aware, Ning (where this network is hosted) has changed the service agreement for hosting groups such as this.  As a result, the location of this network has now been changed to http://actionstrategies.spruz.com.  I wish to thank everyone for joining us here at this location and sincerely hope you will visit our new location and join up with new and even better features available.

Social Media takes "too much time" and that's why it's "not" worth it!

Time and again, when you review the blogs and discussion forums, the question of ROI (return on investment) comes up when association executives think about integrating social media into their communications and public relations initiatives. For many association and not-for-profit organization executives and communications professionals, this medium is completely new territory.  Briefly, they're not completely sure what to make of it.

Here's the thing...social media adds one more important component to a successful communications portfolio of strategies a non-profit can call upon.    In fact, I often call it the "great equalizer" because to be effective in this medium, you don't necessarily need a huge budget as you would in a traditional advertizing campaign.  As with any effort, you get out of something that which you put into it.  Beth Kanter's blog put it correctly when she estimated the time commitments required and while at first the prospect of devoting staff time to this initiative may seem daunting, consider the fact that not-for-profit financial resources are not infinite either.

You do however need consistent passion for your cause.  Consider the following at least from the corporate sphere (from Forrester.com) I believe relays back to the not-for-profit sector:

Many marketers can draw a straight line between investments in social media marketing and financial results, but many more cannot.  This doesn’t mean social media marketing is ineffective; it just means that marketers have to recognize benefits beyond dollars and cents.  Facebook fans, retweets, site visits, video views, positive ratings and vibrant communities are not financial assets -- they aren’t reflected on the balance sheet and can’t be counted on an income statement -- but that doesn’t mean they are valueless.  Instead, these are leading indicators that the brand is doing something to create value that can lead to financial results in the future.

Is this not something critical to the reason for why the sector exists, namely making certain we are advancing our cause's recognition factor?  However, if you are still not convinced consider the following:  Those organizations who have a blog, average 55% more web traffic than those who don't.   As for the time commitments, believe me...with effective training and organization, there are plenty of tools available to streamlined your efforts.

I could go on but I love to hear more from you.  Leave your comments!

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Mark A. Buzan, APR

Principal &; Chief Magnifying Officer

Action Strategies

#3, 270 rue Champlain

Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1

819.770.2899 phone

http://www.actionstrategies.ca

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan

LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas

LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits -http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Are you registered as a lobbyist?

From time to time, I am asked what Action Strategies does.  When I answer that 50% of our work involves government relations and lobbying on behalf of non-profit organizations and associations, one of the inevitable questions that arises is: "Are you registered as a lobbyist (in order to take on a lobbying mandate)?"

Let me make things clear.  Under the lobbying laws of Canada (and all provinces), one does not register themselves in order to become a professional.  Rather, registration occurs at the point at which an organization decides it wishes to engage a professional to represent its interests to government.
With that said, I can state that when the occasion has arisen, Action Strategies has registered with the appropriate authorities when our clients have come to us with a government relations mandate and upon receiving a mandate, it is one of the first things undertaken.
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Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. If you have questions on how you feel your organization could benefit from legislative monitoring services or even undertaking a grassroots advocacy initiative. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca

Where's the Value of Communications Consultants?

Look, I'll come forward and admit it...at face value, public relations can be a subjective affair.  At times, getting to the point of what it clearly delivers can be a challenge.  So let me make it very clear.  If I were to pick one fundamental value proposition good communication strategy delivers, it is reputation.

The challenge however for organizations is getting to understand that reputation is something that is priceless. In fact it touches every aspect of a good functioning cause. Public Affairs consultants are reputation brokers. We build and protect reputations and by doing that we impact on good functioning of marketing by making certain that evert dollar spent is done so strategically. We keep organizations in tune with their stakeholders, clients, and even internally with staff so as to ensure organizations hold onto valuable employees.

This is what I called Omnifluence in a previous post: the measure of our effectiveness in influencing the entire stakeholder universe. Communications/ Public Relations Consultants are brokers of influence. Those organizations that can capitalize on this knowledge base are the ones that will see mutiple benefits in the end.

Do you have the internal staff and expertise to commit the internal resources to your public relations, marketing, advertising efforts? 

If you have the internal staff, and they understand Guerrilla PR principles, then there may be no reason to hire an outside agency. Paradoxically, the busier you get, the easier it is to parlay, or "set aside" consistent, important PR activities. Don't get caught in that trap! 

You may need PR, and you may even have the people to conduct your public relations, marketing, advertising campaigns but that's not enough. To be truly effective, your PR campaigns must be conducted with PASSIONATE CONSISTENCY.  It is for this reason that why I believe it makes good business sense to hire a public relations firm to market your product or service.

Many people think of consultants as expensive. However, a good consultant can save money. First, because hiring someone in-house with that much expertise could cost much more (think fixed expense vs. variable expense). Second, because they have highly specialized knowledge difficult to find in an employee, consultants can identify areas of vulnerability—such as illegal claims made on your product packaging or gaps in your quality control program—which, if not addressed, could cause a financial nightmare down the road.

Good Marketing = Good Lobbying

One of the biggest issues non-profit executives identified to me in a recent survey of the challenges faced in government relations is identifying the right contacts in government and then building the right case that fits into the government's agenda.

Many will say that the secret to Lobbying success relies on one’s contacts. In my mind however, lobbying is much like a very focused marketing campaign. Good lobbyists have an understanding of the process and the people in legislative role but most importantly, they are the ones who understand the basics of how to make a convincing case...much like a marketer! Let me explain.

Lobbying falls into five stages. These are:

1. Identify your target: who are you going to lobby
2. Research them thoroughly
3. Set Objectives: what results do you want from your action
4. Action: get on and do it!
5. Feedback: share the results with others in the campaign

The first two principles represent the essential elements of market research, aspects at which I have placed a good amount of my career in as a consultant and employee in the non-profit sector. Before you write (or speak) a single word to your target audience in either marketing or in government relations, do some background research. For starters, it is worth understanding a little bit about what MP's actually do and what in their background might build some affinity to your cause. This is essentially what market research is about. Without knowing your market, no amount of contacts or emotion in your appeal will make a difference.

The second two points essentially lay in place the planning section of your campaign. This may seem a fairly obscure point. Surely EVERYONE knows what lobbying is for? Not so. Once you know who you are going to talk to and where they are coming from, it is absolutely essential that you decide what it is you want to achieve as a result of your dialogue with them. Good lobbying is about creating a relationship with your target, which you will then use, in future, to further the campaign objectives. In the final analysis, lobbying is communicating. As a profession, it is an odd marriage of teaching and sales. A good lobbyist has to be an excellent communicator. And in today’s world, that means both the written and the spoken word. It is no longer enough to be a good schmoozer. Have you integrated your marketing, communications and public affairs into a common plan? How will they work together? Without a plan, how will you expect to get to where you need to be? Don’t expect legislators to figure that out for you! Good lobbying practice requires a good marketing plan on how your objectives fit into the broader scheme and WHAT marketing initiatives in particular you intend to take to make things happen.

Finally, as with any marketing campaign, you need to measure, measure and evaluate. Are you hitting the mark? How is your outreach effort to legislators being perceived? One of the most important roles for lobbying is to gather information. That information needs to go back into the campaign. Not for any especially sinister purpose. But so that others can use it.

It helps to know what sort of majorities are shaping up for certain government propositions. This allows us to determine where to attack (and where not to). It also allows us to target any future communications more directly.

What are your thoughts?

_______________

Mark A. Buzan, APR

Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer

Action Strategies

#3, 270 rue Champlain

Gatineau, Quebec  J8X 3S1

819.770.2899 phone

http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan

LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas

LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book:  Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits - http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. If you have questions on how you feel your organization could benefit from legislative monitoring services or even undertaking a grassroots advocacy initiative. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca

5 Reasons Why and How Public Relations Impacts Non-Profit Revenue Generation

Too often, non-profit organizations and associations relegate public relations to the "nice to have" category without focusing on it's direct impact on fundraising, membership engagement, sponsorship campaigns, and revenue generation. In this video, Mark Buzan explains 5 reasons Why & How Public Relations Impacts Non-Profit Revenue Generation.

In brief, it breaks down to 5 issues:

1. Donor and member communications - your supporters need to hear from you and you need to hear from them!
2. What's your brand value if you're not communicating?
3. Are you singing your organization's praises? Public relations and communicating regularly with good strategy puts the "gas" behind your call to action.
4. Good public relations strategy builds good partnerships for revenue generation possibilities
5. Good public relations strategy integrates your calls to action into all your points of contact where you ask for support. In the end, this magnifies and multiplies your message and chances fo more funding!

What are your thoughts?

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Mark A. Buzan, APR

Principal &; Chief Magnifying Officer

Action Strategies

#3, 270 rue Champlain

Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1

819.770.2899 phone

http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan

LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas

LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits -http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Before sending your Press release....

Non-Profit Execs beware...Here's a fabulous article I just fund that tells it all when planning your next media release:

Despite a recent survey’s findings, laying the groundwork is key to your pitch’s success

Seventy-five percent of journalists find well-targeted news releases with high-quality content useful, according to a new survey of 750 journalists conducted by Oriella PR Network, an alliance of 15 PR agencies around the world.

Surveys like this drive me crazy. Out of all the press releases journalists receive, they find the well-written, relevant ones most useful. Really?

Do they want to receive news releases? Do they find news releases the best source of information for finding story ideas? No and no.

While the news release isn’t going away anytime soon, I can’t believe how many people still think it’s an effective form of communication (especially if you’re trying to interest a journalist in writing about you). Take a break from this blog post, and head over to one of the news wire services to read today’s headlines. Let me know when you find a release you’d like to write about if you were a journalist.

What’s the alternative?

You know what works better than a press release? Try having a real conversation with a journalist—when you’re not under the gun trying to score coverage for a client. Learn what they write about and when to contact them. Learn what they hate about PR people. Learn how their organization works.

Don’t rely on “pitch tips” in media databases, and don’t assume you know what a journalist covers because you’ve read one story they wrote.

If you’re relying on news releases for publicity coverage, you’re never going to generate any level of meaningful coverage. Never. That’s not where the great stories come from.

Here are some other tips I’ve found useful:

• Blog. Your blog is your own media outlet. Share everything you can think of about your industry, passion, company, products and services. Don’t make it too commercial, or nobody will care. On the other hand, you’ll be surprised by how many people actually care about the widgets you make. Journalists read your content when they’re looking for sources, too.
• Meet. Seek out journalists at conferences and events. Attend networking events in your area that journalists are known to attend (a local press club or media freelance network, for example). Don’t attend to pitch them a story; attend to meet them. Just be yourself. Try not to act like the stereotypical PR person. If you don’t know what I mean, you’re probably acting like one.
• Listen. I’ve said it time and time again, but follow and engage with journalists through Twitter and other social media. You can learn so much about their interests and preferences by getting involved in the conversation. Don’t be a stalker. Listen and learn. If you pay attention, you’ll come across more opportunities than you can imagine.
• NO. Don’t send out news releases that suck. This might not sound like advice on how to increase your coverage, but it is. If you send crap to journalists, they remember. When you have something newsworthy to share, they won’t see it (because you’re on a PR spammer list or they’ve marked you as a person to ignore). If you are asked to write a news release that is missing “news,” or chock full of gobbledygook, figure out a different angle or don’t send it.
• Target. Whether you’re pitching a story on the phone, via Twitter, at a cocktail party or via a press release, make sure you’ve got the right outlet and contact. Why waste your time pitching an outlet that’s never going to cover your news? The Wall Street Journal doesn’t care that you launched the latest version of your accounting software or that you celebrated you’ve been in business now for 10 years.

As a closing thought, think objectively about survey data. Use your noggin. Although the fact 75 percent of journalists find news releases valuable sounds great, that doesn’t mean 75 percent of journalists want to read your release.

Then again, if it’s relevant to what they cover and it’s well written, maybe they do.

Jeremy Porter is a veteran public relations professional with more than 10 years of experience developing and managing strategic public relations programs for clients. He is the founder of Journalistics.com.

One's "Contacts" are not the sole indicator of Government Relations Success

What counts more for you in developing effective government relations: the level of contacts one has or the basis of understanding one has for the political process? Over the years of working with associations in advancing their cause before government, one of the common threads that comes up is in the following question: “What contacts do you have in...?”

Clients can tend to be impressed by the contacts you have but at the same time, I get rather nervous when the focus is on that and in fact, I believe the point of their question misses the mark.

Let me explain. First, one’s network is one spends a long time building and my natural inclination of anyone who goes around name dropping is to be suspicious. There's a risk that this can come back at you when those with whom you have built a rapport use their friendship with you in a way they might not have approved of originally. Second, there's always the risk you can get into problems even if based on perception that you're in the business of influence peddling.

My experience is that understanding of the process will trump contacts most of the time. People change in posts but a good solid understanding of what make the system work and where the opportunities exist is the mark of a truly successful government relations professional. Now, I won't say that someone who has never worked in politics can be an immediate success. However, contacts will get you only so far if you don't first off have the relationship building skills to build the rapport needed for trust to occur.

In my years of experience in public affairs, I have been successful in advancing non-profit causes because of my background in the causes they represent, my understanding of the principles of good policy development and how to communicate them to legislators.

What are your thoughts?

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Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. If you have questions on how you feel your organization could benefit from legislative monitoring services or even undertaking a grassroots advocacy initiative. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca

Change Management, Focus Groups, and Communications in Associations & Non-Profits

Change Management is a hot topic for many non-profits and associations. Navigating through this challenging environment however requires good communication strategy based on understanding your stakeholders. In what is now officially our 200th post (we’re quite proud!), I decided that more needed to be expanded on from my last post on this subject. In this video, I talk about how good focus group practice can open up the lines of communication so that change can occur smoothly.

What re your thoughts? How much have you integrated good communications planning and focus groups into change management issues?

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Mark A. Buzan, APR

Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer

Action Strategies

#3, 270 rue Champlain

Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1

819.770.2899 phone

http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan

LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas

LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits -http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Good Communications Planning Delivers Good Change Management

With my involvement in the Canadian Society of Association Executives Ottawa-Gatineau Chapter, I’ve had the privilege of sitting on a number of committees including the chapter’s events committee. Year after year, one of the hottest topics remains change management in associations. Obviously, anytime one brings up the prospect of bringing about an important change in an organization, there are important governance issues to be considered. However, the mark of good organizations and how they manage that change in my mind comes from good communications planning.

By learning to identify stakeholders, select effective communication strategies and create ownership, today’s leaders can become successful change agents. Communication channels that allow those effected to feel as though their concerns are learned are the ones that facilitate the process most. With all that said and done, good communications planning will help an organization significantly navigate through what can otherwise be an organizational land mine. However, not all communication plans are created equally and many miss the mark. Communication should be more than just an occasional, sporadic activity.

If your current communications plan does not take into consideration how an important change will take place in a form that will engage everyone, the time to revisit it is now. In doing so, some of the best practices for ensuring everyone is on the same page include:

• Developing a written communication plan to ensure that all of the following occur within your change management process.
• Communicate consistently, frequently, and through multiple channels, including speaking, writing, video, training, focus groups, bulletin boards, Intranets all that is known about the changes, as quickly as the information is available.
• Provide significant amounts of time for people to ask questions, request clarification, and provide input.

Change is a constant in today’s organizations and increasingly leaders are required to manage both planned and unexpected changes triggered by both internal and external events. Helping an organization maintain a sense of stability while championing change can be an extremely difficult challenge. On that note, Action Strategies has produced a number of very successful and thorough communications plans. If your organization is undergoing significant change management, you can learn more about our service by clicking here.

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Mark A. Buzan, APR

Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer

Action Strategies

#3, 270 rue Champlain

Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1

819.770.2899 phone

http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan

LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas

LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits -http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Canadian Society of Association Executives - Ottawa/Gatineau now on LinkedIn

In my many efforts to give back to the industry that has served me so well, one of the areas I give back to is my local chapter of the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) - Ottawa/Gatineau chapter. After some negotiating and coaching, I'm happy to announce that my local chapter is now on LinkedIn! As of now, the membership is still small but I believe with time, this will grow. If you are in the National Capital Region of Ottawa/ Gatineau, I fully encourage you to drop by the group and partake in the discussions. The LinkedIn group can be found at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=3144037&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Social Media and Media Relations Can and Needs to be Integrated

As mentioned two weeks ago, I was invited to speak before MARCOM, one of Canada’s leading marketing communications forums for the Public and Non-Profit sector. In my chat, I made the point that organizations need to stop thinking of social as a “bolt-on” strategy. One of marketing’s biggest failures has been what has been called the “bolt it on” approach. This approach refers to a lack of integrated marketing and the tendency to bolt on new marketing disciplines such as e-mail, social media, etc. However, most organizations fail to do the one important thing: ask how these efforts integrate with the work they are already doing.

When it comes to media relations, there is no exception. I make the argument that every time an association or non-profit organization issues a traditional press release, a social media press release needs to be issued at the same time. What does a social media press release look like? While many examples are available, I’m personally a fan of the following model originally proposed by Shift Communications:

What are your thoughts on the matter?

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Mark A. Buzan, APR

Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer

Action Strategies

#3, 270 rue Champlain

Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1

819.770.2899 phone

http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan

LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas

LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits -http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Getting clear on your outreach campaigns

One of the challenges non-profits and associations come across when considering either a government relations or public relations campaign is identifying the parametres around which it will operate. For example, what will the budget be? What will be the measures of success? What challenges will be encountered that might hinder success?

Regrettably, this is a situation I come across from time to time when approached from non-profit executives. They are intrigued by the opportunity to make a better name for their organization but all too little informed on what is involved in undertaking an outreach campaign. As consultant however, I can say that if you don't really know what you want, my job becomes rather difficult in helping you!

So, as such, it dawned on on me that a few pointers might be useful in helping non-profit and association executives better get a grasp on their own public relations, outreach and lobbying needs. Before going out to a call for proposals or RFP, you can help both your organization and a prospective consultant by undertaking the following:

1. Get clear on your budget! How much can you reasonably spend? The worst thing you can do is state, "send us a figure and we'll consider whether we wish to move forward". That can mean many things! As a consultant, I can offer you a program or campaign worth anywhere from $500 to $100,000 and more! It all depends on scale and as a consultant, I can be of more help to you if you are truly honest with me on how much you can afford.
2. Do your research. In relation to your budget, it's natural for your organization to want the value of a $1 million campaign but if you only have $50,000, be reasonable in your expectations. Further on research, if you are looking for a particular tactic or strategy to be undertaking, be clear as to why you want it. Is it something you have clearly seen work for another organization or are you really sure that this will reach your audience?
3. Understand your audience or at least be willing to allow the consultant to conduct that research for you. The best awareness and outreach strategies are those that make a clear effort based on research. Communicating without a plan means putting out a flood of messages that could be unrelated, disconnected, contradictory, unfocused, with no clear purpose or direction. Sadly, many nonprofits get so wrapped up in their daily activities that they can lose site of the forest for the trees. At Action Strategies, we cut through the clutter to ensure your communications and public relations lead to more donations, more memberships, greater member retention, support and awareness for your cause from whomever is your audience (click for more info).
4. Be clear about your brand. No matter what strategy you choose, your brand is the essence of your campaign. If you don't know who you are, don't expect your audience to figure it out.

Sadly, I believe that it's the lack of up front thinking through the issues before engaging the idea of outside help that creates frustration on the consultant's side. It also presents the potential for misunderstandings and disappointment on the non-profit's side in the end when results might not measure up to expectations. There are at least some of my experiences. What are yours?

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Mark A. Buzan, APR

Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer

Action Strategies

#3, 270 rue Champlain

Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1

819.770.2899 phone

http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan

LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas

LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits - http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Maximizing Non-Profit marketing, sponsorship and fundraising opportunities for more revenue

How to do we maximize our marketing opportunities for more revenue for our organization? When it comes to sponsorship and the fundraising that results from it, good PR strategy cannot be ignored. In fact, potential sponsors expect you to have a solid communications strategy! I hope from this recent video that if you have had any doubts about the relation between solid communication strategy and its impact on revenue generation for your organization, that doubt is now removed!

ShareThis

Please let me know your thoughts! What has been your experience? Please leave a comment.

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Mark A. Buzan, APR
Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer
Action Strategies
#3, 270 rue Champlain
Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1
819.770.2899 phone
http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan
LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas
LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits - http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

The Importance of Public Relations in Fundraising

Back in June of 2007, I recorded this podcast interview with Lisa Crowe of Itancan on the essential value Public Relations and Communications Strategies play in assuring non-profits are financed and why/how sponsors are attracted to supporting organizations. Given the responses I have been receiving from my recent survey of the challenges non-profits and associations face in their public affairs, I realized the need to bring out again from the archives this very informative exchange that shows exactly how PR impacts on revenue generation for non-profits.

The video only covers the first 10 minutes of the exchange (Youtube limits) but if you are interested in seeing more, you can catch the entire vodcast by clicking here.

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Mark A. Buzan, APR
Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer
Action Strategies
#3, 270 rue Champlain
Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1
819.770.2899 phone
http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan
LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas
LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits - http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations

Omnifluence - The Value of Public Relations Consultants

Last week (May 18), I spoke before the Young Communications Professionals Group - Ottawa. This group gathers largely as a means to share stories and gain advice from experienced individuals in the field of public affairs. Naturally, I was very honored to be invited to provide my input on how they could build their careers.

The number one challenge I feel communicators face is demonstrating exactly how the work they do directly impacts upon the bottom line of an organization. Getting there, there are several levels of where many organizations operate. Often, organizations operate at what can be called the functional and business level. Basically, this is where leaders are most worried about day to day operations. The criticism of public relations however is that its most effectiveness occurs for those organizations who are willing to look at matters with a longer term perspective on matters - at the enterprise and strategic level.

The challenge therefore for organizations is getting to understand that reputation is something that is priceless. In fact it touches every aspect of a good functioning cause. Public Affairs professionals are reputation brokers. We build and protect reputations and by doing that we impact on good functioning of marketing by making certain that evert dollar spent is done so strategically. We keep organizations in tune with their stakeholders, clients, and even internally with staff so as to ensure organizations hold onto valuable employees.

This is what PR 2.0 Universe has called Omnifluence: the measure of our effectiveness in influencing the entire stakeholder universe. Communications/ Public Relations Consultants are brokers of influence. Those organizations that can capitalize on this knowledge base are the ones that will see mutiple benefits in the end.

Mark A. Buzan, APR
Principal & Chief Magnifying Officer
Action Strategies
#3, 270 rue Champlain
Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3S1
819.770.2899 phone
http://www.actionstrategies.ca (Action Strategies website)

LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/markbuzan
LinkedIn Group for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitideas
LinkedIn Group for Government Relations: http://tinyurl.com/nonprofitlobbying

Please take a look at my just released book: Online PR and Social Media for Associations and Not-for-Profits - http://www.onlineprsocialmedia.com/associations