Importance of Public Relations in your business

Public relations professionals do more than draft press releases and build relationships with key

media representatives. They must also be familiar with the attitudes and concerns of consumers, employees, public interest groups, and the community in order to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships. 

In addition to fulfilling their traditional role of getting a company's message out to its audience, those who have completed their studies in communications and public relations may also be responsible for developing and running programs designed to keep the lines of communication open between company and organization representatives and their various audiences. This might include such activities as scheduling speaking engagements for key company staff and speech writing.

Why is Public Relations Important?

At its core, public relations revolves around this universal truth: people act based upon their perception of facts. By managing, controlling, or influencing people's perceptions, public relations professionals hope to initiate a sequence of behaviors that will lead to the achievement of an organization's objectives. When those in public relations successfully create, change, or reinforce opinion through persuasion, their primary objective is accomplished.

How Does Public Relations Work?

Public relations professionals follow a set of principles in order to achieve success. Most campaigns begin with the identification of the problem or challenge, then move on to setting the public relations' goal. In order to achieve the goal, the public relations specialist crafts persuasive messages and implements key communication tactics while monitoring progress and fine tuning as necessary.

Career Opportunities in Public Relations

Those who have either earned their degree from an accredited communications and public relations educational program, or obtained a public relations graduate certificate, have a wide variety of career options. Jobs range from being employed by an individual, such as celebrity publicists, to large firms, such as corporate public relations managers and executives.Public relations professionals do more than draft press releases and build relationships with key media representatives. They must also be familiar with the attitudes and concerns of consumers, employees, public interest groups, and the community in order to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships. 

In addition to fulfilling their traditional role of getting a company's message out to its audience, those who have completed their studies in communications and public relations may also be responsible for developing and running programs designed to keep the lines of communication open between company and organization representatives and their various audiences. This might include such activities as scheduling speaking engagements for key company staff and speech writing.

Why is Public Relations Important?

At its core, public relations revolves around this universal truth: people act based upon their perception of facts. By managing, controlling, or influencing people's perceptions, public relations professionals hope to initiate a sequence of behaviors that will lead to the achievement of an organization's objectives. When those in public relations successfully create, change, or reinforce opinion through persuasion, their primary objective is accomplished.

How Does Public Relations Work?

Public relations professionals follow a set of principles in order to achieve success. Most campaigns begin with the identification of the problem or challenge, then move on to setting the public relations' goal. In order to achieve the goal, the public relations specialist crafts persuasive messages and implements key communication tactics while monitoring progress and fine tuning as necessary.

Career Opportunities in Public Relations

Those who have either earned their degree from an accredited communications and public relations educational program, or obtained a public relations graduate certificate, have a wide variety of career options. Jobs range from being employed by an individual, such as celebrity publicists, to large firms, such as corporate public relations managers and executives.

Public Relations for the Stars: Publicists

Publicists can turn a little known actor into a household word. In essence, they are responsible for nurturing and shaping a star's career by creating an image though various public relations activities. Sometimes known as publicity agents, publicists work to get their clients the right kind of press coverage and help them to restore or "reinvent" their public image if it's been damaged. One of the best known publicists is Lois Smith. Over the course of her career she has worked with stars and film directors including Marilyn Monroe, Meryl Streep, Rosie O'Donnell, Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Hopkins, Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford, and Steven Soderbergh.

Working For Companies: Public Relations Firms

While some companies keep the function of public relations entirely in house, others opt to outsource all public relations functions. Others strike a balance in which in-house public relations efforts are complemented by the work of an outside agency. A good example of an agency campaign that has increased product sales while raising awareness and establishing a company as a concerned corporate citizen is Yoplait's "Save Lids to Save Lives" campaign. This unique breast cancer awareness and fundraising campaign has Yoplait making a donation for every pink yogurt container lid mailed back into the company. The campaign has not only raised awareness and funds (Yoplait has donated over $10 million for breast cancer research), it has also given the brand added visibility and resulted in increased sales.

Considering a Public Relations Career?

It's no secret that communication skills are important for those considering a career in the public relations field. Pairing an English or Journalism degree with courses in marketing, sales, public relations, and business can be an effective way to prepare for a career in this industry. There are also many excellent online communications and public relations degree programs and public relations graduate certificate programs to choose from which can make learning about this exciting industry convenient and rewarding. 

Sources: 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) / www.worldwidelearn.com/business-career/article/the-importance-of-public-relations.html 

City’s women entrepreneur gathering at one place

Launch of Unique StartUp Program for Women

• WOO StartUp program classes starting from 30^th August 2016
• Learn to have flexible work timings, better work life balance and most importantly the job satisfaction after completion of the course.
• Launch your own StartUp at the end of the program

WOO – Women on Own initiated and has organized a unique StartUp program named WOO StartUp program for the budding entrepreneur of the city. A perfect launch pad for women as this program is especially designed for women who dream to have their

own StartUp but do not have much support system and face problems and challenges on their way to StartUp like time and funds WOO StartUp Program is starting from August 30^th 2016 and has been specially designed by The Entrepreneurship School taking care of women’s specific requirements. The unique feature of this program is the practical approach, instant loan facility to begin operations and customized business templates.

Besides launching their own startups by the end of WOO StartUp program, aspiring women entrepreneurs will also have opportunity to pitch investors and opt for incubation and mentoring at The Entrepreneurship School.

Ms. Himanshi Lydia Singh, Founder at WOO said that “Promoting women entrepreneurship is one great way to address unemployment among women and increase work participation. Women owned enterprises are observed to be more women friendly in hiring and retaining women workforce. Being on your own has multiple benefits. You will have flexible work timings, better work life balance and most importantly you will have job satisfaction as you pursue your passion. WOO StartUp program is one step ahead in our commitment to see more and more women be on their own”.

The Entrepreneurship School is an incubator and startup school and has helped 40+ startups take off, grow and be successful. “What makes WOO StartUp Program unique is the approach of 75% walk and 25% talk that blends education with incubation. Our objective is to enable the women candidates to launch their own startups by the end of the program”, said Mr. Sanjeeva Shivesh, co-founder and CEO at TES.

About WOO (Women On Own) : WOO is a movement with a vision to foster Women Entrepreneurship, Growth and Self Reliance through education &learning, community building and providing marketing platforms to women business owners.A fast growing community of 2000+ women business owners, WOO holds regular meet ups & events to help women become more successful entrepreneurs. 

So, call out to all the women of the city to join us and be your own boss.

WOO StartUp Program

Dates: 30 August 2016 till 30 November 2016

Timings: 10 am to 1 pm once a week

Venue: The Entrepreneurship School

L- 27/12, DLF Phase II

MG Road, Gurgaon - 122001

5 Ways to Create a Positive Work Environment

To get the most out of your employees, you have to create a positive work environment for the entire

team. When people feel encouraged, accepted and happy, they become more motivated and perform better. Isn’t that a nice formula?

Yes, it takes time out of your day, but the process of creating a joyous workplace brings a sense of purpose to your work and results in dedicated performances. Plus, managers are responsible for nurturing their team, not just producing great project outcomes no matter the cost. All aboard?

Here are five tips to create a positive environment for your team:

1. Engage in meaningful (in-person) dialog

When you make the effort to connect with your team members in person—individually and as a group—you’re establishing a position of caring that motivates individuals in all sorts of crazy-good ways. It’s easy to send short messages in emails, and then rely on these small exchanges for most of your communication. Or, you can focus on what needs to get done next and forget to take a breath, look around, and get to know your employees. Don’t fall into this rut. Instead, ask your team members about their immediate goals and project interests as well as their career objectives.

Also, remember: We’re all human, and most humans respond well to the real thing—in-person communication that says “you matter.”

2. Show your appreciation

One of the biggest complaints from employees is that they don’t feel appreciated. The second someone gives us a “nice job” or “you made a difference on this project,” we feel like we matter in a way that  gives our work a sense of purpose. If you’re not so inclined to give out verbal gold stars, an easy place to start is with a simple “thank you.”

The next step is to give meaningful appreciation. Thread the high-fives and “nice jobs” with a more detailed picture behind your acknowledgment. This way, your employees can understand what they’re doing well, and do more of it. Also, detailed praise shows you’re paying attention and not throwing around empty phrases. When people feel like they’re doing good work, they want to rise to the occasion even more.

3. Listen to everyone’s ideas

Your entire team has great ideas. They’re in the trenches all day, bringing their own experience and perspectives to the part of the project they’re focused on. For example, if there’s a way to make spreadsheets more efficient or cold-calls more productive, the team members know how. It’s tempting to stick with protocol because you know that works well. But these days the world moves so fast nobody can afford to stay with a status quo for too long. So instead, make it a policy to listen to new ideas (you could structure appropriate time periods for this, too), and this will tell everyone they’re a valuable part of the team. Give the good ideas a try; you never know what might happen—other than the team becomes more invested in their work and the project outcome, for starters.

4. Trust your team members

This is a harder rule to practice for some more than others. So try to default to the assumption that your team is made up of adult, responsibility-taking, competent workers that don’t need to be treated like children. (In the end, people act the way they’re treated.) In action terms, this means that when you delegate, really let go and let the individual own the task you gave them. You can also communicate trust by asking team members to make decisions for their part of the project, like:

Suggesting when and if meetings should happen

Anticipating road blocks and communicate those to the group

Assuming that your team wants the best for the project. And if you sense the beginnings of some negative juju kicking up, invite  discussions about office policy; see what the majority thinks.

5. Be spontaneous and have a little fun

Everyone wants to have fun at work—even though everyone defines “fun” a little differently. Still, if you can keep the previous four tips in action, then fun—or a sense of enjoyment and being able to be yourself at work—becomes a more natural part of everyone’s job. Fun happens when  people feel well-connected with a team where there’s mutual respect, open communication, acceptance of who people are and everyone’s collaborating and working toward the same goal. When teams are working well together, it makes it easier to be spontaneous and have some fun – whether it’s a last-minute Football Friday party after a project launch, or a brief pause in the afternoon to tell stories and have a few laughs over topics that have nothing to do about work.

Sometimes we all need a break from the seriousness of business.

And remember—whether you’re a team leader or team member, everyone plays a role in contributing to your work environment.

Very formfitting article

By - Tatyana Sussex  
Article published in liquidplanner.com - http://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/5-ways-to-create-a-positive-work-environment/