PR is not just for big companies. Small businesses and sole traders may not have a huge budget for a PR agency, but they can benefit from writing their own press releases.

Here's the why, when, how and where of PR for small businesses:

Why you should write a press release...

• Set yourself up as an expert.
• Back-links to your website and helps with SEO.
• Increase visibility.
• Increase web traffic.  
• Instant exposure.

What will be different about your business in one year? What will be different about your health? Your relationships?
 
I'm sure we have all heard quotes like "you can't hit a target that you can't see", or "if you are not sure where you are going, don't be surprised if you don't like where you end up", yet most people are not clear on where they want to be in a year's time.
 
While it's good to have long-term goals, I think 12-month goals can be much more motivating. When a goal is five years away, it can be very easy to procrastinate! 12 months is long enough to make a real difference, but short enough to create some urgency.

Ask yourself the following questions ...

Thanks to the lovely Abby Pickles from HappiMe for her Guest Blog on looking after your mental health. 

When is a good time to consider what you are doing to take care of your mental and emotional health? For many busy business owners, this often comes at the bottom of their list of priorities. 
 
If you are anything like me five years ago, you might have a glass of wine on an evening, occasionally hit the gym (like, once a year!), or maybe you sit outside and read your book once every blue moon. The truth is, we all know we should be doing more to take care of ourselves, but we get stuck, claim to be too busy, lose the motivation or simply forget.

As Twitter is currently the 3rd most popular social media site (after Facebook and Instagram), with over 326 million active users and 500 million Tweets per day, it may be worth exploring whether Twitter can help your business.
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​Here are 29 top tips on how to get the best out of Twitter: 

• Fill in your Twitter profile properly. Put some effort into it! Include a link to your business website or FB page. Have a good quality icon.
• Have a great header image and change it regularly with different promotions, product news and events.  

This is a great efficiency tip for those of you who visit your clients at their homes or premises. 
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Booking multiple meetings on the same day forces you to be more effective and efficient, and less likely to waste time. It also helps you to stop over-servicing too much. 

• Have a clear agenda of what you want to cover and stick to it.
• Take control of the meeting in a friendly, assertive way. 
• Give yourself a realistic time slot for the meeting.
• Use a strong positioning statement to set the scene.
• Set your alarm on your mobile. I always say something along the lines of "As I can chat for England, I'm going to set my alarm to go off 15 minutes before I have to leave. That way, I can make sure we cover everything we need to cover."

To your success!

Jo x