I hope these articles actually equip you with real tools, rather than a glossy overview. After my recent series on Advertising, I find it only fitting to follow with some dedicated print on Public Relations (PR), the other big hammer in your marketing toolkit. In this series, we’ll explore what PR is and isn’t, how to develop a mind and a plan for promotion, and how to get your message out onto the streets. In this issue, I’ll try to reveal some facts that will hopefully remove the cloud of mystery around PR.

The two most effective and least expensive ways to find new opportunities:

• Existing clients
• Be the expert with a teaching spirit

If you’re a long-time Getting Informed reader, you will remember multiple previous references to the importance of web statistics, or stats, in understanding the effectiveness of your web site. In the past, most web site owners were just happy to see that cheesy hit counter increasing…you know, the one that looked like a digital readout. Today, it seems that the statistics being provided are bigger and better—and quite overwhelming for most site owners. And just to confuse things, the term analytics comes along to see if you’re paying attention. Analytics are statistics in a way that speaks to the average person rather than to the classic statistician. In short, analytics are where the rubber meets the road. But for the purposes of this discussion, information about site viewing data will be called statistics.

Most business owners know that a print ad is only as valuable as the circulation of the publication, and a radio ad is only as valuable as the station’s listenership. But somehow these same people think that just having a website is sufficient. A website is only as valuable as the number of interested parties viewing it. Today we’ll take a look at some ways to get more people to view your website, making it more valuable to your business.

First, ask “what group of people do I want to serve with my website?” Is it prospects, existing customers, wholesale customers, retail customers? Are they male, female, married, single, 18 years old, 35 years old? Where do they live? If you’re a traditional retailer, just think about the faces of your best customers.