That's like asking if advertising is all about type faces andphotography. The answer to both questions is a teeth-clenched "of course not!"

What public relations IS all about, rather than hollow images, is the very real business of dealing effectively with target audience perceptions and behaviors that have a major effect on an organization.

For example, members who believe you're not servicing themadequately; sales prospects who perceive your product asoverpriced and are busy taking their buying power elsewhere;or employees who believe you don't give a tinker's damnabout them and have dangerously reduced your productivity;or local citizens who believe, true or not, that you dump badstuff into the river, thus keeping a negative media spotlighttrained on your organization,

To answer the headline one more time, public relations is allabout insuring that such results don't happen in the first place.

First, if those involved in the examples above had beenregularly monitoring those target audiences, they wouldhave had ample warning and the time needed to take correctiveaction.

So regularly monitoring those key external audiences is a must.What are they thinking about your business, if anything? Areperception problems looming? Are follow-on behaviorsdeveloping as a result?

The answers to those questions allow you to set a publicrelations goal, generally corrective in nature. Examples:you determine that your prices are not only fair, but belowseveral competitors and you plan to publicize and promotethat fact; or you plan to meet regularly with employees,listen to them and do something about their complaints,if you can; or you meet with the activist group and share withthem the State Environmental Agency's finding that youare in complete compliance with disposal regulations.

With the public relations goal set, we obviously need astrategy designed to reach that goal. And this could be theleast complex step in the problem solving sequencebecause there are only three possible strategies available tous - create opinion where there is none, change existingopinion, or reinforce it. That's it! It must be one of those.

In the three cases outlined above, you clearly would beaiming to change existing opinions.

Next on the public relations agenda are the persuasivemessages needed to change that existing opinion. You mustdesign them carefully and creditably to counter themisconceptions you uncover, such as those above. Runthem by folks outside your organization so that you get anidea of just HOW persuasive they are (or are not!).

Now, we need to assign a few "beasts of burden"communications tactics to actually carry our persuasivemessages directly to the eyes and ears of our key targetaudiences. Fortunately, we have available to us scores oftactics. Everything from newspaper interviews, on-cameraappearances, live radio interviews and in-person meetingsto brochures, speeches, op-eds, special events and editorial board meetings.

Which suggests that you consider working with a professionalpublic relations advisor because you probably have neitherthe time nor expertise to handle this work.

Now, it's back to the monitoring chore to measure how manyindividuals received the message (and through what medium),and how many are aware of the message content. Monitoringat this point also let's us make mid-course corrections byadjusting both message content and the mix of communicationstactics.

As time passes, and your monitoring of target audience opinionprogresses, you will begin to notice growing signs of awarenessof your business, of yourself as its proprietor, and of its rolein the marketplace and the community.

It is now that you will become a believer in public relations'sability to strengthen your business relationships with thoseimportant, external audiences. People who hold in their handsnot a hollow image of your business, but through their patronageand support, the actual success of your enterprise.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in yourezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy wouldbe appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.

Robert A. Kelly © 2003.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit andassociation managers about using the fundamental premise of publicrelations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR,Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR,Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com; bobkelly@TNI.net