What Small Businesses Can Learn From "The New Rules of Marketing and PR"

Learning to play by new rules is never easy, but the rewards have never been greater for small businesses that adapt to The New Rules of Marketing and PR. In his 2007 best-seller, David Meerman Scott demonstrates how the Internet has dramatically disrupted the marketing and PR of the past -- forcing companies and organizations to change.Before the Internet, small businesses rarely had enough money to compete against the big players because of the high cost of advertising and the exclusivity of what was considered news. But all that has changed."Marketing is more than just advertising," Scott writes. "PR is for more than just a mainstream media audience."One important new rule Scott shares is that businesses no longer have to wait for a reporter to tell their story. Now you can tell your own story.With such catch phrases as "You are what you publish," and "think like a publisher," Scott encourages all businesses and organizations of any size to get into the heads of their buye
rs and create content that focuses on them, not your company. Instead of telling buyers how good your products are, research their needs and replace self-serving promotional material with information that speaks directly to their problems and needs.Scott encourages companies and organizations to embrace the new richness of the web which includes everything from blogs and Podcasts to wikis and squidoo lenses. In other words, pick the media that are right for your business or organization, and use them in creative ways to take your messages to the world.As critics have been quick to argue, Scott's ideas are not entirely new. The Internet is evolving, and with it many new ways for small businesses to interact with their prospective customers. But Scott was one of the first to truly articulate the demise of the old rules - while showing how to use marketing and public relations in entirely new ways. He did it so well that his book was the most requested marketing book at Amazon.
com in 2007.He was correct in assessing that the old "one-way interruption marketing" has given way to a strategy of reaching many previously under-served audiences right at the time of need with micro sites that speak directly to them. Yet that is a message that many small businesses have not yet heard.Where "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" shines is in its use of real-world examples that illustrate Scott's rules. It is not an e-book with links to related sites, but Scott includes the internet addresses for the examples he mentions, making it easy for you to learn from them. If you are trying to determine how to fill your website and email newsletters with content that will make your visitors keep coming back, you will want to visit the websites he refers to in this book.We all are struggling to adapt to media that is changing at the speed of a locomotive. It is easy to get lost in the new media. Scott reminds us to maintain our focus on what really matters as we wade th
rough this sea of change."PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV," Scott says. "Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. . . It's about your buyers seeing your company on the web and . . . your organization winning business."These are especially important insights to keep in mind as you plan your strategies for the New Year. As Scott explains, "People want authenticity, not spin. They want participation not propaganda," and it is our challenge to determine how we can best create a world on our websites that is inclusive and focuses first on the people we are trying to serve.Although Scott's rules apply to businesses of any size, much of the book and many of the examples seem corporate. But small business owners that take the time to read The New Rules of Marketing and PR should be rewarded with ideas you can use to promote your company on the Internet.David Meerman Scott, The New Rules of Marketing & PR How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting,
Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. John Wiley & Sons. Hoboken, New Jersey. ©2007.

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