Picking the Perfect PR Agency

A Public Relations (PR) agency acts as an efficient medium to reach mass audiences and expand the reach of your products and services.

The process of managing communications is as significant as communications themselves, which makes the role of PR agencies vital. Be it be your own PR staff or an outside agency, they have an inevitable influence on your organization's reputation, growth, corporate identity, branding and overall success. 

With so many reputed PR companies around, choosing one that suits both your brand and budget is like finding a needle in a haystack. 

The following tips can help:

Research

Make sure you have done your homework before zeroing on a final branding agency. Do a thorough market research about all reputed advertising agencies and choose the one that meets your needs.

Experience & Skills

Be very particular about the experience and the projects handled by the PR Company!

How much value did the PR agency added to its previous projects? What are is the level of expertise and skills of the agency? How well do they meet deadlines and handle pressure?

These are questions you should have answers for when you consider hiring a PR agency for your projects.   

Reputation

The market reputation of a PR company speaks volumes about its credibility and efficiency. Consider the “word of mouth” for the company. If people say good things about the agency, there must be something good in it.

Social media

Enquire about the channels that the PR Company has the access to for promoting your company or the brand. Go through the agency’s website and blog posts to ensure if they are present at social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Being the talk of the town and presence in headlines, always work when it comes to promotion.

Seek assistance at CEO Conference

A leadership conference is a useful forum where you can get some tips for choosing the right communications and PR agency for you.

 A management conference or CEO peer group combines the experiences of stalwarts from non-competitive organization under one roof allowing you to get insights into the basics of product marketing. 

Take the opinion of CEO peers and share your ideas in your CEO peer group to get practical advice on the best PR strategies you can employ.

We will be discussing some more points in our next blog. Watch this space!

Realize the Importance of Business Ethics

In the present world, every organization requires a code of conduct or business ethics to have an identity of its own. A business code of conduct clearly defines organizational value system and the behavioral guidelines for the people who are associated with the organization.

Implementation of business code of ethics – establishing a set of core values and behavior for staff – boosts organization’s corporate governance efforts. It helps staff stay aware of the right course of action; hazards of following unethical behavior pattern; and the hierarchy for the flow of information.

Business ethics defines core values to maintain a harmony in the organization. Since business ethics represents the company’s stand towards corporate social responsibility, the reputation of the organization also depends on it.

Here are some ways that can help a CEO establish business ethics in his organization:

Prepare the Policy Document

The management should ensure that there is a detailed structure of the ethics program clearly mentioning the code of conduct for employees. The business ethics should include additional policies that address diversity, sexual harassment, workplace aggression, equal opportunity at all.

Design Implementation Strategies

The success of a program depends on implementation strategies. It is the responsibility of Human Resources (HR) department to ensure that code of conduct is mentioned in the appointment letters so that new joiners know the importance of business ethics.

It is a good practice to display the business ethics on notice boards, entrances or other preferred sites. HR should also conduct workshops, quizzes and training session to make sure that employees are aware of business ethics. Business ethical issues should be dealt strictly and serious action should be taken against the defaulters to set the example.

Training & Awareness

Communication is the most effective technique to implement the Code of Conduct successfully. There are number of ways to ensure that staff and external stakeholders are aware of business ethics and are following it.

A few are listed below:

•  Design and develop class room training material including PPT presentations, handbooks, teaching  manuals and illustrations for educating the employees on the detailed policies.

•   Take the help of questionnaires, ethical tests, and case studies to check if your staff cares about the     business ethics.

• Publish relevant cases of ethical dilemmas on the intranet

• Make sure the business ethics doc is available on intranet and every staff member has an access to it.

• Let your staff know how much you are serious about the business ethics by circulating the information if someone is terminated for misbehavior.

If you are looking for detailed guidance about drafting and implementation of business ethics for your enterprise, executive coaching can help you. CEO club offers executive business coaching on how to run your business operations smoothly. Apart from guiding you on business ethics, a CEO group provides you practical solutions for different business issues.

Take Advantage of Social Media For Your Business

Over the past decade, the way people communicate and connect with each other has changed radically thanks to social networking platforms.

No business owner or a serious marketer can overlook the importance of the web. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and the newly launched Google+ are the top most platforms for creating a buzz about your products, services, events or announcements.

Unfortunately, many business owners fail to take proper advantage of such mediums. Creating a strong online presence for your brand or business, you would have to be visible on social media sites. The biggest advantage of a social media site is that it connects you to your target audience directly- potential customers, shareholders, and rival companies.

You can post comments on Facebook, post tweets and re-tweet on Twitter, or start a discussion on any of the sites. In real time, you are able to get in touch with potential customers, understand what they are looking for, present them solutions in the form of your products or services, find out if any of your customers are unhappy with your products and respond to customer queries.

Using social networking sites for business purpose is cost-effective. Not only does it help you attract new customers and keep in touch with the existing clients, you also can hire new employees. You can even recruit potential candidates by posting job vacancies in your company on Twitter or Linkedin accounts.

You will be amazed to receive a good number of responses in real quick time. You don't have spend money on recruitment consultants. A job post on Linkedin social networking site where qualified professionals are always on the lookout for good opportunities is a good source for hunting for skillful and talented people.

Social media has changed the way people read, discover, and share information, and news. You just need to use your corporate business skills to take advantage of social media and launch a successful marketing campaign.

Apart from social media, you also have to look out other avenues to improve yourself and upgrade your knowledge. As a business owner, you need to keep updating yourself to stay ahead of the competition. Joining an executive business coaching or a corporate business coaching can help you get in touch with experts, share ideas and learn innovative ways to take your business to new heights.

Make sure the language you use on the social networking sites is simple and appealing to your particular target audience and captures the ethos of your firm. For instance, on Twitter you can use casual language whereas on Linkedin, your style of writing needs to be professional and business like, so post your content accordingly.

Foreign Market Calling? Consider these Tips Before Making the Move!

Global trade has no dearth of opportunities for your business, provided you prepare yourself adequately to enter foreign markets. 

The success of the companies like Sony, Samsung, LG, Reebok and Volkswagen – that have their roots in Europe and Asia -- in different countries across the world has also encouraged many enterprises to walk on their path. 

Even the small businesses can make their way to the global market through different routes. They can, for example, market their products via local distributors, sell to customers based in export territories directly, enter into joint ventures with local business enterprises, or offer products through a website. 

Though opportunities are there, success is not guaranteed. At the end of the day what matters the most is how your strategies worked in an unfamiliar market. 

Here are some tips that can help you prepare for your big stride into new markets.

Understand the Culture

Before you design your strategies to promote your products and services in a foreign market, update yourself with customs and business etiquette of the market you are planning to venture into. It can even include -- the history of that country, salutations used to greet someone, and the lunch hours or the prayer timings (in case of Middle-Eastern, African, Asian and countries). 

Stay Updated With the Foreign Trade Policies and Other Economical Details

Study in detail about the foreign trade policies of that country and figure out how it would facilitate your business. It is crucial to keep yourself informed about how the country’s currency has fared, its value fluctuations, and import/export timelines as it is always advisable to avoid speculation and work on locked in currency rates and delivery dates.

You should also stay updated with the business-wise foreign direct investment limits of different countries. It will help you choose the right country – the one that favors your business model and potential for profit. 

Join a CEO peer group when you plan to expand your business across the global borders. The CEO group – a rendezvous of industry leaders – offers corporate executive coaching that increases your chances of making profit as you get guidance from somebody who has achieved this feat with success. 

We will be discussing some more points on the same topic in our next blog. So watch this space!

Basic Elements of a Joint Venture

In our last blog, we talked about the preparatory steps needed to enter into a joint venture. In this blog we will be discussing the basic elements of a Joint Venture, which one should be aware of while binding into a contractual agreement.

The Ways You Can Enter Into A Joint Venture

A joint venture can be structured in four major ways – when a foreign investor buys an interest in a local company; when a local firm acquires an interest in foreign firm; when both local and foreign companies forms a joint enterprise; and together with public capital and/or bank debt.  

Choosing Right Partner Is Very Important

The success of a joint venture depends on both the partners, which makes it important to choose your partner carefully. For this, you need to do a screening of all the prospective partners. Make sure you have checked the credentials of your partner before signing the agreement. The marketing and distribution network, R&D, technical knowhow, infrastructure and reach of the company should also be considered before signing the joint venture agreement.

Maintain Contractual Integrity 

Every joint venture partner has a fiduciary responsibility – a duty to act for someone else's benefit while subordinating one's personal interests to those of the other person – and has the duty to act in Good Faith in matters that concern the common interest or the enterprise.

A joint venture can terminate at a time specified in the contract – upon the accomplishment of its purpose, upon the death of an active member, or if a court decides that serious disagreements between the members make its continuation impractical (Source: TheFreeDictionary).

All the participating parties in a joint venture share some mutual responsibilities and goals, and have a set of certain rights and duties. The parties have a mutual right to share the profits and control the enterprise, and a duty to share in any losses incurred. In order to avoid any trouble in later stages, the parties should be aware of all the terms, conditions, and clauses of the agreement. 

The Right Guidance

Every initiative requires effective guidance from the expert and experienced. CEO coaching provides you the requisite guidance and knowledge you need to have before entering into a joint venture. There are a number of reputed CEO Associations that holds expertise in providing CEO training. You should consider joining a CEO club to understand more about a joint venture.