10 Tips for Summer to Get Your Company Ready for its Close-Up
Yes, it’s the dog days of summer and autoresponder messages are hitting my email box like bugs on a windshield. But, instead of kicking back and waiting for everyone to return from their summer vacation, now is the perfect time to take a pause, refresh, renew and reinvigorate your plans. By using the slower summer months wisely, you can get ready for a PR push in September, when everyone else is just catching up on old emails and trying to remember what they were doing before they left for vacation.
Here are 10 things that you can do before Labor Day that I compiled with a little help from a few of my favorite colleagues/super public relations pros:
1. Write several blog posts and schedule one a month through the end of the year.
2. Create a cool giveaway/gift box for prospects – i.e. A list of tips for staying cool during the summer with items like sunscreen, swim goggles and a small hand held fan.
3. Review all your social media channels and update them. If they’ve been neglected, use the time to build your followers, schedule updates and make a point of following 10 new people every day.
4. Pick a cause or charity that you want to support and devise a way to get your entire company on board. Then share your story in the press, across your social media channels and encourage others to join you.
From Bonnie Morris, president, Company B (www.companyb-ny.com):
5. Review your website and update it.
6. Write a short article/blog post and submit it to an editor when they are starved for content.
7. Make a new media friend and take him/her for coffee or lunch at the newest, coolest place in town!
From Dorothy Crenshaw, founder, Crenshaw Communications (www.crenshawcomm.com):
8. Write or update your business plan.
9. Host an off-site brainstorming with staff or professional colleagues to determine your new/next/best business direction or expansion.
And, from Julie Livingston, managing director, Livingston Marketing & PR (for associations and nonprofits):
10. Pitch your company spokesperson as an industry expert and participate as a speaker or panelist in a 2015 trade event. Look for conferences that are a good fit for your industry and identify a “hot topic” that your company spokesperson can speak on. Announce on all social platforms and look to schedule media interviews before, during or after the event.
If you’ve got other ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments below. See you in September!
