Hamsters are just rats with positive PR
by Startacus Admin
"Hamsters are just rats with positive PR” or so says President Putin
Spin, PR, hype or just the old concept of the emperor’s new clothes, business positioning is and always has been massively important to a 
successful enterprise.
From the start of any venture and throughout its existence, maintaining a positive image is all important but it's also essential to recognise the fragility of such promotion.
Positive image can be destroyed so much more easily than it is created. One bad restaurant review, one negative theatre critique can more often than not destroy the enterprise despite the numerous contrary opinions.
Service and product buyers can be fickle and in this economy price is often still a deciding factor when faced with a like for like choice.
When I started my business I was told that I would only ever be as good as my last deal, that advice still resonates today. For me this has meant I am constantly striving for improvements and aware I need to shout about such successes.
The British mentality is one of the most reserved in the world when it comes to shouting about our success; by and large we are naturally self-deprecating. Frankly if this is you, you just need to change your mind set. It’s tough out there and if you are great at something then start to shout about it, it’s not a sin to be successful.
My word of caution is to stay grounded because if you have a fall from favour, be it for a justified reason or not, it’s always a long way to fall.
Positive PR is not hard to garnish, engage with the local press, they are always desperate for column inches. Social media is free and brilliant when used correctly for spinning out messages but be careful though about over hyping it all up and then not delivering. It is always best to under promise and then get the PR on the over delivery.
The key to promotion is always a hook that looks not like self-promotion but information and education. Make it look less like a direct complement and more like a bask in reflected glory. It's worked for me for many years.
I don't think I have ever paid for any PR and have had 1000’s of pages of it over the years. Although I would add it’s not free in every sense, you may not need actual cash to secure a good media presence but you do need to devote personal time and energy into the creation of the information.
Jo Haigh is a Partner at fds Corporate Finance and Cracking Boards
Email: Jo.haigh@fdscfs.com
Telephone: 01924 376784 / 01484 860501
She is the winner of the Sunday Times NED of the year award, Claridge’s 14th March 2013. Her latest book: The Keys to the Boardroom, how to get there and how to stay there, due for release October 2013.
If you like what you see here on Startacus, why not become a member of our growing community? It's free! And you'll get all this - exclusive access to our Business Toolkit, discounts and offers galore for your business via our member only business deals, the chance to network and connect with loads of fellow self-starters, and maybe even become our celebrated 'Self-Starter of the Week' and tell the world your startup tale! Join right here for free
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Frolo is a social networking app on a mission to connect single parents to likeminded single parents living in the same area.
Know Your Money, the independent financial comparison website, recently conducted research to find out which UK cities are best to start a business outside of the capital.
University digital academy SurreyIDEA, to scrap tuition fees like a conventional university, for investment in their students’ enterprises.
Starting up a business is difficult. To help, here are 5 things you need as a startup business.
Creating a website can be both costly and time-consuming. So here's 7 ways you can build a budget-friendly website.
Premium fashion resale service Cudoni secures £1.4m investment to support brand growth internationally at a time when the secondary fashion market is booming fuelled by consumer concerns for sustainability.
ESTHER, a pocket-to-pocket giving app which allows a user to give directly to an individual living in poverty, wins an all-expenses paid trip to New York.
The FinTech startup that's using blockchain to make the financial side of filmmaking easier
The London based startup that's created a game that inspires children to code and teaches professional programming skills.
So much is written about how people should go about starting a business, but little is said about whether someone should start one! These are the question we should be asking...
Published on: 9th September 2013
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- ESTHER set for success with New York prize 24th Jun 2019 ESTHER, a pocket-to-pocket giving app which allows a user to give directly to an individual living in poverty, wins an all-expenses paid trip to New York.
- Experiential learning initiative mTech.Academy to build on year 1 success 20th Jun 2019 NI experiential learning initiative mTech.Academy announces plans to expand it's programme for the 2019/20 academic year.
- Stashbee announces £1.6m funding round on Seedrs 17th Jun 2019 Stashbee, the online sharing-economy platform for storage space, has announced a £1.6m funding round on leading European investment platform Seedrs.
- The upSTART finalists at Digital DNA 2019 13th Jun 2019 upSTART, the startup pitch competition at Digital DNA 2019 will see over 20 disruptive NI-based startups pitch to determine who will win an all-expenses paid trip to explore the New York tech scene.
