10 Practical PR Tips for Raising your Brand Awareness (and Becoming Shockingly Successful!)

Are you looking for a way to raise your personal or company brand awareness? You can take the usual route – advertising, email blasts, telemarketing – or you can try some of the PR tips I’ve gathered below.

PR is often overlooked when it comes to brand development, which is probably a good thing because it would be hard to stand out from the crowd if everybody was trying to, well, stand out from the crowd. It can pay to try something unique and unexpected when 90% of the others lack the imagination, or will, to try something new.

Here are my ideas on how your company or personal brand can be viewed as a visionary leader in your community, industry or field of work.

Write an article: It doesn’t involve a huge effort, or cost any money, yet it’s a great way to be perceived as an expert on a topic and gain an audience for your ideas. Some magazines and newspapers take guest contributions, so identify what publications best suit your interests and make the appropriate inquiries.

Throw a party: You can celebrate a product launch or anniversary by inviting members of the press, customers and influencers to a kick-ass party with good eats and sips. Oh, and make sure you have a band for shock and awe – forget those weenie wine and cheese events. Go all out!

Sponsor a non-profit event: Get behind a well-known non-profit, or a promising up-and-comer, in a big way to get your brand associated with doing good for the community. If possible, make sure the event you sponsor pertains to your industry in some way. For example, Whole Foods here in Austin doesn’t know it yet but they’re going to sponsor a food trailer event I am organizing next spring to help fight hunger with healthy food. Why are they going to participate? Because a core belief of Whole Foods is everybody should have access to high-quality, healthy food so they can live healthy, productive lives. (Plus, I'm going to ask them real nice and beg if I have to!)

Meet the Governor: Put a target on the governor of your state and make it your mission to get an audience, preferably in the form of a visit to your place of work. Short of that, attending a public event in a formal capacity will do. The guvnor’s bound to have several reporters in tow to help his or her profile, which will help yours, too.

Go Green: Start a Green initiative at your work place and make a big deal about it. There are still very few businesses out there that have completely embraced a Green workplace. If you do go Green, then you can be one of the first in your industry or community, and get props in the media for doing it.

Be nice to reporters: Reporters are good people to know. They do the thankless work of society by holding people and companies accountable to higher standards. Clark Kents and Peter Parkers though they may be, they still need a helping hand from time to time. Befriend a reporter and let him or her know you can be counted on for feedback in your particular area of expertise – if and when it’s needed. Be sure to stat in touch with them with the occasional email or buy them lunch once in a blue moon. You may find yourself quoted in a newspaper more frequently than you ever imagined.

Lead a Committee: Every community needs volunteers. Local school boards, chambers of commerce, government – all of them form committees to study issues and make recommendations. Get on one and try to either lead it or get a spokesperson role in order to stand-out.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Nothing gains the attention of media and the public in an industry quite like the announcement of a merger or acquisition. Just look at the cat-fight ensuing between Dell and HP over 3Par. Journalists and bloggers can’t resist a breaking news story like this and will respond immediately. Obviously, the merger or acquisition has to make business sense, but it will make a big splash for your brand.

Write a book: It sounds like a daunting task, and it pretty much is, but if you can write a book then it’s a ticket to media coverage. The media enjoys talking about new books and authors and quoting them in their articles and interviewing them on radio and TV. You can do book-signings at local bookstores, or turn the book launch into a mini-book tour the way John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing fame recently did with the publication of his latest book The Referral Engine. Groups will invite you to stand up and talk about yourself, your company, your brand. Hey, if Michael Dell can write a book, so can you.

Volunteer your company: Set aside one day a month where you’re whole company pitches in to help out a local charity. Go one better than that by leading your employees on a mission to help victims of a natural disaster. One thing that’s certain in this world – apart from the usual death and taxes – is that natural disasters will continue to occur and the victims of those disasters will need help. Follow this tip and you will establish your company as a great place to work and also receive credit for your leadership.

These tips are not a blueprint for successful branding. Nor are they a checklist to be ticked off so you can feel good about yourself as you rake in the cash. It must result from an authentic effort and permeate your brand if it is to be perceived as genuine by the public and media.

If you have some tips you can share, please let me know. I’m always looking to expand my PR repertoire.